The Tale Of A Shaded Comet

by Fythla_

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark, Human, Romance
Length: 98185

How far would you go to protect everything you knew, know and will know?

How far would you go to protect everything you knew, know and will know? John, pushed to his mental and physical limits in the body of a misunderstood and unfairly judged pony, will have to gather help from all available sources to combat the rooted evil of Chrysalis and the chaos of Discord, fighting battles inside his own mind and, eventually, in reality. Part One of Three.
This is the first fan fiction I ever wrote. I'm going to upload each chapter individually; but it's just under a hundred thousand words.
I understand that amount is daunting to some, but it isn't here for you to read as such. It's here as a testament to how my writing has evolved over the course of three months, and how I have improved as a younger (than most) author. When I first set out writing chapters for this, they were sketchy, without a clear storyline, lacking finesse (as some more competent author friends of mine have put it). Each chapter is currently undergoing revision, which is another reason why it's here. If you are willing to lend me a helping hand, I will graciously accept it. I'm currently writing the sequel, so far posting two chapters on FanFiction and getting some really positive and encouraging feedback, but I still think I require some assistance. If you are willing to help, please, message me. Also, I'm not ashamed to admit it: I am not very good at writing romance scenes, as you will probably see.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-14 10:10:01 UTC

The Messenger

Rainbow Dash was worried, to say the very least. As much as she had been brave at Canterlot, she and her friends had just been thrown into the deep end. Sweating, she shook her rainbow coloured mane, and looked at Shaded Comet. He was calmly strapping on his armour, looking as if he didn't even notice the changlings. This worried her even more.

Gulping, she then looked towards her friends. Rarity was still out cold from shock and Fluttershy was shaking with fear, attempting to hide behind her pink hair. Applejack was just like normal, staring out of the window. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.

She is probably just being Pinkie. Rainbow thought. She then looked for Twilight. She was looking at Shaded. "Twilight? What's wrong?" Twilight turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash, clearly thinking. "Nothing is wrong, Dash. I'm just thinking about somepony..." Rainbow looked at her, clearly wanting to know more.

"Who is it, Twilight?" Rarity was up, and she seemed to have heard everything. Twilight motioned towards them, signalling them to come closer. They did, and she pulled them in closer.

"It's Shaded! How can he be so calm?" She whispered, clearly confused. Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof, muffling a laugh. "Darling, all colts are like this. He is actually scared. He's just putting on a brave face."

Rarity couldn't have been more correct. Shaded was actually in the middle of a mental maelstrom of thoughts and fears. Trying to keep his face set in stone, he finished putting on the rest of his armour.

One thought seemed to find his brain, and forcefully entered it. I swear. I swear on my blood, my heart and everything of any value in myself, that no harm will become of you or your friends, Rainbow Dash.

Shaking his mane, he caught Rainbow staring at him again. Studying her, she looked really worried. This wasn't like her, he noticed. She was actually acting like a filly for once, rather than a colt.

His eye twitched. NO!Not again! He couldn't help himself. He winked at her again. CELESTIA DAMN IT! He screamed at himself inwardly. Trying to avoid her eyes, he looked out the window again. A streak of black appeared in the corner of his eye. A Changling had spotted them, and was going into a dive.

For Shaded, everything slowed down in time. He had no time to lose. He ran at Rainbow Dash and her friends, tackling them to the floor as the Changling dove at the window, blasting a hole at where they previously were.

The train rocked with the impact, slipping on the tracks, metal screeching against metal. There was an audible groan as the train's wheels bent under the pressure, snapping on the axle. Veering wildly on the tracks, the carriage began to flip.

Rainbow Dash felt the carriage move of it's own accord underneath her. Shaded had just tackled them to the ground, saving their lives. But now the train was straining under the attack, beginning to roll.

She grabbed Rarity as Fluttershy picked up Twilight. Together they lifted them out of the now rolling carriage, and landed next to the tracks. Neither of them seemed to be hurt. Pinkie was beside them, breaking the rules of reality again.

Straining to look, she couldn't see Shaded or Twilight. In the distance, the train had stopped rolling and was skidding along the ground on it's side. She put the white unicorn she was carrying down, and flew to the wreckage, tears forming in her eyes.

What if they didn't make it? What then? Pushing the thoughts aside, she looked around the area for any sign of Twilight or Shaded. There was plenty After about a minute, she heard a feminine groan from a group of bushes. She pulled Twilight out, landed and checked for Shaded. Not seeing him, she began to cry.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight stood over her. She knew what was wrong, but couldn't bring herself to ask, or tell her about Shaded Comet.

*******************************************************************************************

Shaded had attempted to fly her out of the carriage after making sure that the others were already out. It was obvious that he was now scared as his eyes gave everything away. After picking her up, they escaped to the outside of the train.

He was quickly hit by a Changling, knocking him back  into the carriage. He dropped Twilight in a bush as he was attacked, before being swarmed with a large amount of Changlings that charged into the train's wreckage, gnashing their teeth in anticipation.

And that's when Twilight fainted.

*******************************************************************************************

Rainbow Dash was dead inside. Shaded was dead. There was no way he could have got out in time. Her eyes were beginning to hurt from the tears, stinging as if they had been stung. But she couldn't stop crying.

Shaded had saved their lives, at the cost of his own. "He died a hero's death, Rainbow. That's what he would have wanted." Twilight sat down beside her, nuzzling her. At least he saved our lives. Thank you, Shaded Comet. She began to sob again.

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and she looked up. It was a grey pegasus in blackened guards armour. "SHADED! YOU'RE ALIVE!" She tackled him in mid air, hugging him tightly.

Shaded winced and returned the hug, letting the cyan mare cry into his shoulder. He was definately relieved to see her alive, but still, why was she crying? He was hurt, but not that badly. That was an understatement. In truth, the pegasus was in a great deal of  agony. "I thought you wer-were dead Shaded!" She sobbed into his shoulder. Ah, that explains it. He looked up, hearing wings.

There was blood red pegasus mare above them. She landed besides them, and shook her spiky black mane. Her eyes were a deep blue, and she studied them, clearly worried. "You okay? I saw the wreckage." Her eyes were now grey, with what seemed to be rainbow specks in the irises.

Wierd. Shaded thought to himself.

The pegasus removed her headphones, revealing two piercings in each ear. "Name's Rewire Stitch. I was flying overhead, and I saw the train flip." Rainbow shakily got to her hooves, and introduced herself. "Name's Rainbow Dash. Ponyville's weather manager and fastest flier."

Rewire shook her head in disbelief. "The Rainbow Dash? The winner of the most recent Cloudsdale Young Fliers Competition?" Rainbow nodded. "I'd like to race you soon." Rewire then looked at Shaded. "You are?" Rainbow introduced Shaded for her, saving him the awkwardness of the situation. "He's Shaded Comet, one of my weather co-managers."

Rewire Spark didn't fall for the lie. "Why's he wearing Royal Guard armour then? Is he a weather guard? Or did he find it in a cloud?" Her sarcasm made Shaded grind his teeth in anger, hurting him even more.

Twilight changed the subject. "Why did your eyes change colour?" Rewire looked at her. "My eyes reflect the mood I'm in and it's intensity. For instance, my eyes turn to a pink colour if I am annoyed, and the same shade as my coat if I am really angry." Twilight nodded, then motioned at her cutie mark. "What's your cutie mark?"

A pair of pink eyes gazed at her. " A chain scythe and a bass guitar." Twilight looked confused. Rewire sighed. "I like fighting and music." With that, the blood red mare began to hover. "Since you guys look alright, I'll see you around. If you need me, I'll be in Cloudsdale." She flew away towards Cloudsdale, putting her headphones back on.

Shaded couldn't actually hold himself up any longer. He collapsed to the ground, hearing his broken wing bones crunch. The group of mares didn't even see him fall. He was in too much agony to make a noise. His mouth was open in a silent scream. And then he blacked out in pain.

There was a dull throb in Shaded's head as he slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was white. White walls, white beds, white equipment, Rainbow Dash, white- Wait a sec. Rainbow Dash? She was staring at him, relief in her magneta eyes. "Wakey wakey. You're lucky you weren't on a cloud this time."

Shaded sighed and rolled his eyes, humouring her. He tried to get up, and pure agony sprung up in his wings, forcing him back down onto the bed. "Heh... Shoulda warned you about that." Rainbow chuckled at him. "Doc! He's awake!" The doctor came in.

He was a green pegasus with a blue mane. His cutie mark was a red cross in front of a pair of white wings. "Good afternoon Miss Dash." He spoke with a clear and precise accent, with a moderately deep voice. "My friend, what you did was heroic to say the least. I congratulate you. Anyway, getting back on topic, you broke multiple bones in your wings, fractured your left foreleg and have a few new scars."

Shaded nodded at him, but then cocked his head to the side. How long?, He wondered. Rainbow answered him. "A week. You've been in a coma for a week." "You're in Canterlot." The doctor added.

Shaded closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. He heard everypony go silent, and Rainbow say "Princess Celestia." Shaded bit his lip. Oh no. He gulped and opened his eyes. Princess Celestia was in front of him, her pastel mane flowing as if there was a breeze. She looked serious. I need you to come with me, Sergeant. She said telepathically.

May I ask why? Shaded was stunned. That was the first time anypony had referred to him by rank in four years. I will explain on the way. Her horn touched his skin as she tilted her head down. I'm going to heal  you. Her horn became enveloped with a yellow-white glow as she rearranged and fixed his broken bones.

Bones. And nothing else. She looked up, somewhat stunned at Shaded's reaction. Are you sure? She asked cautiously. Yes.

When she had finished, she turned to the doctor, who was in shock, and calmly announced that we were leaving immediately. "Sergeant Comet is coming with me, as will Miss Dash." Rainbow Dash's jaw practically hit the ground in astonishment. "Sergeant?" She asked, clearly confused at Shaded's title.

Shaded guiltily smiled at her.

Shaded, a Sergeant of the Royal Guard? She was actually quite sad, rather than confused. He might not even come back to Ponyville! Ever! She hid her thoughts away as she felt Celestia put a hoof on her, guiding her out of the hospital, Shaded following behind.

"I will explain later, Rainbow Dash." Celestia seemed disturbed. Rainbow heard it in her tone. "What's wrong Princess?" Celestia stopped in the street.

"The Changlings have sent an ambassador to deliver a warning. I know not of the content of this warning, but I have assembled Twilight and your friends, the Elements of Harmony, in the court."

It was Shaded's turn for his jaw to hit the floor in surprise. He looked at the Princess, and she answered. "Loyalty. She is the Element of Loyalty."

Rainbow giggled to herself. Nobody actually knew aside from her friends and the Princesses. "I'm going to teleport us to the court." Celestia's horn glowed again with the same colour of light. With a flash, they were in the court, beside Twilight and her friends.

Shaded listened closely as Rainbow whispered to the others, confusion on their faces. He was worried about her. Celestia noticed, and led him outside. "What's wrong Shaded? I thought you liked your rank. Or is it Miss Dash?" Shaded sighed, and replied. "I like her Princess Celestia. A lot. But I'm not sure if she feels the same..."

Celestia winced at the raspy, constricted voice that had just spoken. She looked around, wondering who had just spoke. "Princess? Are you alright?" Shaded was concerned now. And then he realised he hadn't spoken in about four years. She wouldn't recognise his voice.

She then looked down at Shaded, shocked. "Sorry Comet. I haven't heard you speak in a long time. You sound like a male version of Rainbow Dash." She apologised, chuckling slightly. Shaded smiled grimly. "We'll talk more at a later date." They walked back in.

"Let's see what this messenger has to say. Send it in." Celestia announced. "It?" Shaded whispered. "We don't know it's gender." She replied.

The doors opened, and the Changling walked in. It seemed scared. And in pain. The black monstrosity stood before the Princess, and began to speak in an insectiod, but male, voice.

"I come to deliver a warning." The Changling shuddered, as if in pain. "I am doing this of my own accord, not on the behalf of the Changlings, as I am no longer, strictly speaking, a member of the Changling populace." It motioned towards where the horn of a Changlin g should be, but wasn't.

"Why are you here?" Celestia asked the Changling, confusion evident in her voice.

"The city which you call Cloudsdale is about to be attacked." It repilied, still in pain. Celestia walked over to it, and her horn glowed. The Changling tried to run, but Shaded held him whilst Celestia healed it.

Shuddering in relief, the Changling smiled. "You will be given a room in the castle to stay until you feel better. We will continue this later." The Changling nodded, and was led out of the hall.

Twilight turned to Shaded. "Why was his horn missing?" Shaded in turn looked at Celestia. "It means that they are a disgrace to the Changling population. Those that survive the removal are cast out to starve to death without the aid of the community. The fact that he managed to find us is extraordinary."

He wasn't here on his own behalf. I think it's a trap, personally, of course. Celestia spoke into Shaded's mind. I agree. He replied. But this cannot be ignored. It's the perfect strategy. Celestia went outside, and motioned for Shaded to follow her.

When they were, Celestia spoke. "Why is it the perfect strategy?" Shaded replied, his face downcast. "Only those that can fly can land and live on clouds, therefore only pegusai can fight back this time. We need to heed this warning." His voice cracked, and immediately his face was contorted in pain.

"Why do you not let me heal your vocal chords?" Celestia asked, curious. Shaded Comet looked up. "It is a reminder of my stupidity that night. You know why." She nodded, and raised her head. "Bring Captain Armour here. We need to dispatch troops to Cloudsdale immediately."

The Rainboom

The newly reinstated Sergeant Comet paced nervously, listening to Princess Celestia and Captain Armour were discussing. The Changling outcast had to be a fake. It just didn't make sense.

Shaded stopped pacing, and thought about what the Changling had said. The city which you call Cloudsdale is about to be attacked. Why Cloudsdale? What would they possibly achieve from gaining Cloudsdale?

And then it clicked. Cloudsdale makes the weather. Control the weather, keep the pegasai down, and achieve air dominance. It was so obvious! Shaded quickly looked around the hall, and not seeing Rainbow Dash or her friends, began to motion towards the Princess.

Seeing this, the Princess began to communicate telepathically again with him. What is it Sergeant? An unfamiliar presence touched his mind as well. Captain Armour? He asked. Yes. What is it Sergeant Comet? Shaded made the mental version of a gulp.

The Changlings, if this attack comes to pass, will gain air dominance if we lose Cloudsdale. It's obvious really. I can't believe we didn't realise it. Princess Celestia looked at Captain Armour, realisation dawning in her eyes. Are you sure? Armour asked, now worried.

Shaded nodded, breaking the mental contact. The Princess was now staring at Cloudsdale in the distance. "We need to create a pegasus army." Captain Armour looked at Shaded. "With your permission, Princess, I would like to mobilise a battalion of pegusai, with Sergeant Shaded as the commander."

Shaded gazed, confused, at the Captain. The white unicorn's face was set in stone. There was to be no messing about. Celestia nodded in acceptance. "Congratulations Commander Comet. You've just been promoted to flight commander of the Royal Guard's 1st Airborn Battalion."

Captain Armour motioned towards Shaded. "You will need a flight captain. May I recommend Spitfire of the Wonderbolts?" Shaded snorted. "No. She's arrogant. I would like Miss Rainbow Dash as my captain." His raspy, almost pained voice echoed around the hall.

Captain Armour looked startled as Shaded began to have a coughing fit; it was now getting painful to speak. As he coughed, he noticed blood in his saliva. Celestia also noticed. Her horn began to glow. "No. Don't." Shaded stared at her, anger evident in his blue eyes.

Why do you not let me heal you? Celestia was now really confused. It won't kill me. And I need to leave for Ponyville immediately, with the elements. The white alicorn looked away, as if in pain as Shaded Comet took off down the hall, zooming out the doors.

Rainbow Dash was looking out the window of the train. It was getting dark, as Princess Luna prepared to raise the Moon. She was still reeling over Shaded; he had just flown away towards Ponyville without saying anything.

Well, not saying anything was an understatement. He never spoke anyway. He had just looked at her, and took off. He was definitely troubled over something. Or somepony. I hope he's alright. Sighing, she looked towards Twilight. She also seemed troubled.

They were more or less at Ponyville's train station by now. As she prepared to leave the carriage, Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. As she looked round, Twilight smiled.

"Princess Celestia said that she was sending a letter to Spike for you." Rainbow Dash just blinked. "It's about Shaded." Rainbow simply nodded, too tired to actually thank her. I wonder what the letter's about. It better have some answers.

As they left the carriage, Rainbow loooked up. The moon was actually quite beautiful tonight. As she calmly walked back to her cloud mansion, she let her thoughts overpower her.

Why was Shaded so quick to leave? Why is Cloudsdale going to be attacked? She thought about that last one. "If they think they'll be able to take Cloudsdale, they got another thing coming." She murmered to herself.

As she arrived back at her mansion, there was a wierd feeling that bloomed inside her. Ignoring it, she went inside and up to her bedroom. Then she saw a package. It was a box.

Shaded must have left it. She smiled, and opened the box. There was some lightweight gold armour with a cyan streak across the chest inside. Her jaw dropped. As she lifted the chestplate up, a note fell out. She began to read it.

Rainbow Dash,

Sorry I sorta broke into your house to drop this off, but you're going to need it. I requested for you to be my flight captain. And the Princess agreed. Meet me in at the Cloudsdale barracks tomorrow at noon. Congratulations, you are now flight captain of the Royal Guard's 1st Airborn Battalion. You will be serving under me, but rest assured, I won't boss you about that much.

Shaded Comet, Royal Guard 1st Airborne Battalion Flight Commander.

"So that's why he left in a hurry. Huh. Wait a sec... Flight Captain?"

Shaded was hovering outside Rainbow Dash's cloud house, listening to her reaction. Peeking in through the window, he saw the cyan pegasus put the armour on, giggling at her reflection.

I hope she's not too annoyed. She is practically a higher authority than the Wonderbolts now... He sighed, and flew back to Cloudsdale. The clouds around him were soft, and yet strangely disturbing. The barracks were quiet, apart from the snores of the battalion inside. His armour rustled in the wind.

The sounds of wings, lots of wings, began to fill his ears. The buzzing increased in volume, slowly but steadily. Shaded looked up, expecting to see pegusai. He didn't. Increasing his speed, he got to the center of the barracks, and shouted as loud as he could.

Rainbow Dash heard the shout from her mansion. It was a raspy, male voice, strangely familiar. "CHANGLING ATTACK!" She gasped, and picked up what seemed to be gauntlets. They were like what Shaded had; they had blades attached. They even had her cutie mark on them.

She quickly put hem on, and flew outside. It was no lie, there were Changlings beginning to surround Cloudsdale, but they were barely visible in the dark of the night. Speeding up her ascent, she arrived at the barracks, in time to see everypony dash outside and get into position on the newly constructed walls. Damn. That was some quick building. Taking position next to the barracks, she looked around for Shaded.

He was easy to spot. He was in gold armour, much like Rainbow Dash, and wore no helmet. His armour had a electric blue stripe pattern on the chestplate and shoulder pads, essentially showing everypony his status as Commander.

He was pointing at troops, and using various hoof signals. Each pegasus followed every silent order unquestionably. Apart from three. She landed beside Shaded, and studied the three. It was Hoops, Dumb-bell and Score. They seemed to be arguing with Shaded.

And Shaded was getting angry. So were Fleetfoot, Soarin' and Spitfire, who were standing next to Shaded with the rest of the Wonderbolts nearby. They wore similar armour to Rainbow Dash, but had Sergeant symbols on their shoulder pads. She listened into the conversation.

"Commander Vomit, I really don't know what you are trying to say. I don't understand sign language." Hoops continued, a smirk on his face.

"Commander Vomit, I really don't know what you are trying to say. I don't understand sign language." Shaded began to get really angry. Vomit? Is that the best they can do? He motioned towards the assembled Wonderbolts, who were all under his command.

Hearing wings, he saw Rainbow Dash land besides him. The Wonderbolts, seeing her rank, immediately saluted. Dismissing them, she looked up at him, and Shaded nodded.

"HOW DARE YOU QUESTION COMMANDER COMET'S DECISION! I SHOULD HAVE YOU ALL BROUGHT BEFORE PRINCESS CELESTIA FOR INSUBORDINATION!" She roared at them, spit flying from her mouth. Celestia above, she's cute when she's angry. Shaded allowed his thoughts to wander.

"Shut up, Rainbow Crash. This doesn't involve you." With that, Rainbow Dash sprung forward, rage evident in her eyes. "THAT'S CAPTAIN DASH TO YOU!" And with that, she punced him in the mouth. The Wonderbolts just stood there in shock. "GET MOVING, NOW!" She finished, angrily shaking her mane. The three flew away, now scared.

Shaded's mouth fell open, and he had to forcefully push it up with his hoof. Wow. Soarin' broke the silence. "Well handled, Captain Dash." She looked up, now remebering her fan-girl side.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow Dash shouted. The other Wonderbolts began to hover, amused by her ouburst. A loud "INCOMING" resonated in Shaded's ears. The Changlings were now attacking!

Shaded and Rainbow took off, and led the Wonderbolts in the counterattack. They flew in tight formation and the black haze obscuring the moon. Gaining speed, they began to spin, rotating in their positions, their hoofblades extended out in front of them.

Spinning even faster, they hit the army head on. And the battle began. Tearing through the ranks of the Changlings, the Wonderbolts split off from Shaded Comet and Rainbow Dash, flanking them. Rainbow Dash tackled a Changling in the air.

Shaded's heart lept into his mouth. He was scared. Not for himself. For Rainbow Dash. He swore that nothing would hurt her so long as he was alive. And he would hold onto that promise until his dying breath.

He was suddenly knocked out the air by a rainbow coloured streak. Rainbow Dash? Regaining altitude, he was attacked by Rainbow Dash again. What the hay! Catching her off guard, he grabbed her hooves and pulled her into a dive. Rainbow Dash struggled, and a burst of green pushed him back.

Looking around for the source, he saw Rainbow Dash laughing at him. That is not Rainbow Dash. A pillar of green energy erupted from her, and she phased into a familiar figure. "Chrysalis" Shaded growled. She said nothing, and phased into...

Rainbow Dash finished off the Changling that she had tackled, and looked around for Shaded. Under her, she noticed that there were two Shaded Comets. Which one is the real one? She saw the one on her right give out a burst of green magic, and she made her choice.

Flying up as high as she could, she looked down. The real Shaded was defending himself pretty well, until the other Shaded managed to duck under his guard, and slashed at his hind legs. The blow connected. Rainbow Dash went into a dive, building speed.

Shaded had felt more pain than this, but it still hurt. Continuing to trade blows to each other, they dodged, weaved and caught each other off guard. Both Shaded and Chrysalis had injuries, but Shaded had the worst.

His strength now deserting him, he weakly tried to defend himself, feeling more pain as the Changling Queen  battered at his chestplate. His limbs weak, he blocked once more, and his gauntlet rang with the strength of the blow. Staggering back, Shaded randomly looked up. This is it. He closed his eyes, preparing for the end.

...

...

...BOOM.

He opened his eyes in time to see a Sonic Rainboom approaching them, Rainbow Dash spinning with her hoofblades poised to strike. Shaded Comet felt himself picked up, and he weakly struggled against Chrysalis, as she pushed him into the path of Rainbow Dash...

Her eyes went wide as her blades cut through his armour like paper, shredding the flesh. They hit the cloud, bounced and limply slid across the surface, blood streaking behind them. The battlefield became silent, as tears streaked down her face, her heart pounding as she realised what she had done.

"No..." Grabbing him, she called to Soarin'. "HELP!" Soarin' grabbed Shaded with Rainbow Dash, and together they lifted him gently, rushing him to a medic. The medic looked at he wounds, quickly tearing off his armour, or what remained of it, anyway.

Shaded looked up, and coughed, blood splattering against Rainbow Dash. With the last of his willpower, he pulled her close. Rainbow was, by now, full out bawling. The medic injected Shaded with something, and he went limp. "Adrenaline. Get him to Ponyville; only they will be able to help him now." Rainbow Dash nodded weakly, still sniffling, and swiftly carried him down to Ponyville.

Shaded was fading in and out of reality. Blurred colours flashed in front of his eyes, and faded, hushed voices spoke around him. Fully coming round now, he focused on the first thing he saw. Rainbow Dash. She was crying heavily, and there was a purple unicorn trying to calm her down. They didn't see him wake up.

"I just stabbed him! He might die! He lost so much blood!" Rainbow Dash was still in her armour, but the gold was obscured with red. Sobbing, she flung herself onto the ground. "I love him, Twilight! And I just stabbed him!" Oh. My. Sweet. Celestia. I'm fine Dashie. I just wish I could tell you that..I...Love you... He blacked out, fading from life...

The heart rate monitor began to bleep frantically, and Rainbow Dash died inside. He's going to die. NO! HE WON'T! Twilight grabbed her, and steered her towards the others. "There's one thing we can do to try to save him."

They walked over to Shaded, the monitor now bleeping even faster. The elements around their necks began to glow. Rising into the air, they were engulfed in a white light. Dash looked down at Shaded, his crumpled body filling her vision. A rainbow appeared out of nowhere, and hit him in the chest.

The Nightmare

Shaded Comet jerked backwards violently, his head hitting the back of the bed. The rainbow was healing him. Painfully. But still healing him. His ragged breathing slowly became regular, and he could taste blood. He felt the silky smooth texture of the bedsheets. He felt the presence of Rainbow Dash. And, most importantly, he felt alive.

As the elements began the task of replenishing his lost blood, and repairing the torn flesh and sinew, he had time to think to himself. Rainbow Dash really does love me. Wow. I didn't think she did. But, she almost killed me. It wasn't her fault. You messed with her mind. And for that, Chrysalis, you will pay. Dearly.

He opened his eyes, slowly. The cyan pegasus who he had came to love over the past two months was there to be his first sight. He rainbow mane was messy, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. But she was looking over him, clearly happy and relieved. Smiling, she stared into Shaded's electric blue eyes. Shaded returned the smile, staring just as deeply into her magneta eyes.

Rainbow Dash cautiously leaned in, still looking into Shaded's eyes. Their faces were now only just apart. Shaded moved a lone lock of rainbow hair off her forehead, and she giggled in retaliation. "Ahem. Awkward." Shaded heard Twilight say from what seemed to be the doorway.

Damn. So close. Shaded mentally cursed his luck, turning to Twilight whilst Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. "Heh... Uh... I'll leave you two alone then." Twilight walked back outside, blushing. Rainbow looked down at him. "Now, where were we?" Shaded shrugged, teasing her.

"I was just so worried. I stabbed you! I almost killed you! You probably hate me now. I'd understand if you hated me." She was now crying again, her tears landing on Shaded's chest.

Shaded couldn't stand it any longer. He pulled her into him, and kissed her on the lips. There was a moment of resistance, and then she returned the kiss. They stayed like that for about a minute. And then Shaded forced himself to break the kiss.

"I could never hate the mare I love, Dashie." He whispered to her, his voice no longer raspy. The Elements had forcefully healed everything. The deepness of his voice surprised him; he was used to speaking with the rasp and pain of his old voice. She closed her eyes, and snuggled closer to him.

As they lay there, he felt Rainbow Dash lay her head on his chest. He welcomed the gesture, and he soon felt sleep tug at his brain. He didn't resist.

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Shaded dreamt he was flying. Rainbow Dash was with him. They casually raced in the night breeze. They flew up into the sky, the wind blowing in his face, chilly and bracing. Increasing his speed, they stopped abruptly in front of the moon. Shaded lowered his hoof, stroking Rainbow's mane. "I love you." Shaded felt better than he had ever felt before. He was alone with the mare he loved, on a beautiful night where the very stars seemed to dull in her presence. He had wanted to do this for a long time. He searched in his bag for the box, and pulled it out, the soft velvet rubbing against his skin.

"Rainbow Dash, you are the most amazing mare I know. You have been a beacon through the darkness, a light that has filled my entire being in the time that we have spent together. I love you, with all my heart." Shaded opened the box, revealing a gold ring with a cyan diamond encrusted in the middle. "Rainbow Dash, will you do me the honour of marrying me?" Rainbow Dash started to cry passionate tears of joy. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I will marry you Shaded Comet!" She hugged him, their lips meeting in a deep kiss. As Shaded put the ring around her left forehoof, he noticed a ripple in the air.

He looked up from Rainbow Dash's hoof, and saw an extremely mismatched creature grinning at them, an indecipherable look on it's face. It held up a lions paw, and pointed at them. Shaded Comet couldn't take his eyes of the creature, as it began to speak.

"Ugh! This is soooooo boring! Time for a little chaos, I think!" Breaking out of the creature's gaze, Shaded watched him as it clicked it's fingers and disappeared. He looked back to Rainbow Dash. And recoiled in shock. She was grey.

"Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't want to marry you anymore. In fact, I don't want to see you again." She snarled at him, baring her teeth. She tore off the ring, and threw it down to the ground. Shaded hung his head in disbelief and sadness, and watched as the mare he loved flew away.

The creature appeared again, in a laughing fit. "Oh, the look on your face! Priceless!" It continued to laugh. It stopped suddenly, and looked at him. "Listen closely." It pulled Shaded's head up, forcing him to look the creature in it's eyes.

The eyes then changed colour, mesmerizing him. "If all love does is make your heart break, then maybe no heart will cure the ache." All of Shaded's emotions faded away, leaving his heart as cold as a rock. Rainbow Dash. He snapped out of the trance, and looked at himself. he was grey, even greyer than he was to start with. Even his mane.

Without Rainbow Dash, he had nothing. He made his desicion. He let his wings snap to his body. And he fell. No screaming; he had no fear. He actually began to laugh hysterically. Seeing the ground approaching, he greeted it. He even saw the thieves from Canterlot.

*******************************************************************************************

He awoke with a gasp, sweating and panting. Rainbow Dash was still, thankfully, peacefully asleep. He couldn't get up, as Dash was still on him, resting. Shaded put his hoof on her shoulder, and nudged it.

"Ughh..." Nudge. "Five more minutes..." Nudge. "Fine... I'll get up." He nudged her anyway. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at him. "I said I'll get up. Now stop it." She punched him playfully.

Rainbow Dash yawned. She still couldn't believe that he had spoke. His voice is beautiful. She kissed him on the cheek as she got up, shaking herself awake. A stray thought passed her by. Cloudsdale.

"Oh buck! Cloudsdale!" She quickly helped Shaded up out of the bed. As his hooves touched the floor, she turned towards the door. He followed her quickly, dismissing the doctor with a single hoof. They quickly took off after they had left, not leaving any time for discussion as they flew as fast as possible into the sunrise.

It didn't look good. There were dead pegusai everywhere, and even more wounded. But there was about two dead Changlings for every dead pegasus. That got her hopes up. Until she reached the barracks, with Shaded close behind.

Chrysalis was holding Soarin' by the throat. The other Sergeants were all knocked out, all seemingly interrogated in the same way. They were surrounded by the dead of both armies, but the Changlings were massing behind Chrysalis, looming over the few pegusai that remained.

Soarin' struggled valiantly, but the lack of oxygen soon got the better of him, and he passed out. Chrysalis turned to her army, and hissed one chilling order.

"Break their wings. All of them." Rainbow Dash hid behind a cloud. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Shaded put a hoof on her, and turned away, not wanting to see the rest. She looked into his eyes. They were, at the moment, cold and harsh. Anger and determination blossomed inside them.

Rainbow Dash began to sob, and she let her head rest on his shoulder. He hugged her. And that's when there was a loud "YEAAAH!".

Shaded looked over the edge. It was Rewire Stitch. She wore a black cloak, and had a bow and arrow. She fired, her accuracy precise, and the barbed arrow hit a Changling straight in the head. The Changlings quickly formed ranks, and began to move forward. The blood red pegasus just continued firing arrow after arrow at the advancing horde.

When they were a suitable distance away, she pulled out a bright silver blade, and readied herself. The Changlings began to speed up. She just stared them down. Shaded's jaw fell open, as did Rainbows, at her bravery. Then the Changlings hit her.

Shaded immediately took flight, and tackled the nearest Changling to the floor, punching until it gave no more resistance, and moved onto the next. He looked over at Rewire. She was blocking blow after blow, and slashed under their guard after each unsuccessful attempt to bring her down. Changling bodies began to pile up around her, but there was more coming.

He and Rainbow began to pick up the unconscious Wonderbolts, lifting them to safety. When Soarin', the last one, had been hidden, they turned towards Rewire, expecting to still see an army.

Instead, all they saw were dozens of dead Changlings, and one moderately unscathed red pegasus. She casually walked up to them. "Pest control is here." Rainbow chuckled, but Shaded was unfazed by the joke. Rewire looked directly at him, her eyes red. "Cloudsdale is lost. There are a lot more Changlings than you think in the city. We need to alert the Princess. The majority of the Battalion is dead. We failed." Shaded nodded.

"Evacuate all survivors to Ponyville." Rainbow looked round at her, and Rewire Stitch nodded. "I'll get help. You tell the Princess." Shaded closed his eyes, listening to the screams of the pegusai as they were butchered in their homes. In their city.

A tear formed in the corner of his eye. Rainbow Dash noticed, and gently wiped it away. "It's okay... What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes searching him. Shaded sighed, and motioned for her to follow him. Shaded quickly took flight, and landed under a tree, about a mile away. When Rainbow landed next to him, he hushed her.

"I'm just thinking back to about four years ago, Dashie. When I got my cutie mark." Shaded stopped, studying her.

"How did you get it?" She whispered, looking into his elecric blue eyes.

"I killed a pony. A pegasus, to be exact." He sighed, turning away. "Why?" Rainbow Dash was still wanting an answer. "He and another pony broke into a shop, murdered the owners and tried to escape..." Shaded scanned the horizon, looking at the bright sun. "How did you kill him? I mean, your cutie mark is a comet, so how can it have anything to do with... oh."

"Exactly." Shaded didn't need to say any more. Rainbow Dash sat next to him, shocked. "I broke the sound barrier and the visible light spectrum, much like when you performed your Sonic Rainboom at Princess Cadence's wedding. Except, when I broke the visible specrum, it turned from light energy into heat energy."

Rainbow silently nodded, letting Shaded advance the story. "After creating a sonic boom and engulfing myself in flames, I caught the thief in mid-air. He screamed so much, Dash. It was obvious that I was hurting him. But I didn't stop. I couldn't control the flames. He died painfully in my arms, his entire body covered in soot and scorch marks."

Shaded turned back to Rainbow Dash, tears in his eyes. "And that's when I was promoted to a Royal Guard Sergeant. But the pegusus' screams still haunt me. I see him in my dreams. I see him when I open my eyes." He blinked back the urge to weep, as Rainbow Dash hugged him firmly.

"It's all in the past now, Shaded. You don't need to worry." She kissed him on the cheek. Shaded was aware of a pony behind her, and regarded him with a glare.

He was a white unicorn, with an ice blue mane that partially covered one of his eyes. His eyes were a cold, icy blue that made his blood run cold. His cutie mark was three icicles, which were the same shade of blue as his mane. And Rainbow Dash recognised him as she looked round in confusion.

"Frostbite..." She growled at him, and then adopted a wide grin. "Good to see you, bud! How's it been?" Frostbite chuckled, and replied with an equally wide grin, "Good to see you too, Rainbow Dash!" The two regarded each other as old friends.

Shaded got up, and raised his hoof to shake Frostbite's hoof. He complied, and Shaded introduced himself. "I am Flight Commander Comet of the First Airborne Battalion." Rainbow giggled. "But you can call me Shaded." He finished, and looked at him. "Well, Shaded. I'm Frostbite. One of the last Cyromancers in Equestria." He replied, with a smug expression.

"I thought that Cyromancers lived in Antarticolt! What are you doing here?" Shaded questioned him, looking into his ice blue eyes. "Learning from a Cyromancer instructor in Manehatten. And trying to find the perfect mare." Frostbite yawned, clearly bored. But his eyes were centered on Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow was blushing furiously; two of the most handsome stallions she had ever seen were in front of her. My heart belongs to Shaded, though. She looked up at the tree, listening to the calming birdsong. "Look. If you ever need me, I'll be in Manehatten." Frostbite spoke to Rainbow Dash. She nodded in confirmation, and waved him away. "Yeah, I heard ya."

"See you around, Commander" He nodded at Shaded, his sarcasm emphasised. Shaded passively stared at him, ignoring his sarcasm. With a breath of icy wind, he disappeared, fading into nothing as he teleported. "He seemed nice." Shaded turned to Rainbow Dash, sarcasm evident in his tone.

She shrugged off the comment, and shook herself. "We need to warn the Princess. Playtime's over."

The Heartbreak

Chapter 5 - The Heartbreak

Rainbow Dash couldn't have been any more correct. Playtime was over. No more messing around; this was an act of war against Equestria. The Changlings had taken it too far. Attacking Canterlot and Cloudsdale was unacceptable, unforgivable and unquestionably stupid.

Not only did the Changlings have an entire population of particulary angry, and not to mention somewhat powerful ponies to face down, they now had it's extremely angry and extremely powerful goddess rulers to deal with.

Luna was very angry, which in all fairness, was an extreme understatement. Her horn blazed with energy, and the floor cracked around her when the news was brought forward. Her wings were spread wide, making her seem larger than she actually was.

If it was even possible, Celestia looked even angrier, though she was a lot more careful in how she showed it. Her eyes glazed over, and some of the light disappeared from her normally luminous irises. Adopting a cold and very harsh stare, she looked into the distance.

Shaded followed her gaze. She seemed to be staring at Manehatten. It was only just visible in the landscape, and seemed to be aglow with life.

She sighed, "May I speak to you in private, Flight Commander?", beginning to calm down. Shaded nodded, still slightly depressed from their defeat in Cloudsdale. He had not only missed an opportunity to kill the Changling Queen, but he had also placed Equestria's population into a war for survival that they didn't want by losing the city.

The Pegasai not present at the battle were furious, and took out their anger on the remnants of the Battalion that Shaded commanded. He had lost the city. Not anypony else. By now, he was despised among the ranks of the Battalion for deserting them, who were resented because he lost the city.

Even though he single hoofedly took on Chrysalis and sustained injuries that had almost killed him, he had still deserted them, and as a result was more or less shunned by many members of the Pegasus community. Even Rainbow Dash was partially against him.

Sometimes he was even attacked. For instance, he had a check up at Canterlot hospital a few days ago, and was savagely confronted by a group of Pegusai when he left. He had disarmed them, and when they still continued, knocked them out. He even broke a few of their bones, particularly when the leader had charged him.

Shaded had grabbed him by the hoof, and twisted him over his shoulder into the ground, hearing a sickening and very audible crunch as he shattered every bone in his right foreleg and wings.

Following Princess Celestia out of the throne room, Shaded considered asking her to talk to the Pegusai. After all, they would have to listen to her, as she was their Princess, their ruler, the one they trusted.

But no, it was his mess. His failure. Even all of the Wonderbolts, apart from Soarin', had rejected him, regarding him with icy stares that froze him to the bone. Soarin' had even explained that Shaded and Rainbow Dash had saved their lives, with the help of one certain blood red pegasus, but they still shunned him and Rainbow Dash.

The Princess had stopped in the Chamber of the Elements, the stained glass windows depicting famous events distorting and colouring the light that streamed inside. Turning to face Shaded, Celestia let her head drop.

"Shaded. Can you go to Manehatten as soon as possible? I have reasonable sources and theories that all hint towards the Changlings attacking there next." She seemed to not want to say it, regretting the question as soon as she had said it.

Shaded Comet walked to the window, deep in thought. He came to a decision.

"I shall. But I won't get any willing help from Pegusus residents. Not after losing Cloudsdale." Celestia closed her eyes, leaving her in the confines of darkness, alone with her thoughts. One in particular stood out to her.

"I can supply you with a magical disguise. Only those who have control over magic, that is to say, Unicorns, will be able to see through the ruse. But there is a problem..."

Shaded curiously looked back at her, discussing the problem with himself mentally. "Okay... What is it?"

"Your cutie mark will stay the same, and any major physical alteration to the disguise will render it useless." Celestia answered with a tone that Shaded found disturbing.

"You make it sound as if I will be ripped apart by Pegusai if it fails." He muttered, trying to keep the rest of his opinions in his head.

"Only if you get wounded in battle." Celestia retorted, hearing Shaded talk to himself.

"Or in a fight if they see my cutie mark." Shaded shook his head in sadness. "I've lost the support of most Pegusai in Equestria. Rainbow Dash is literally the last one left who still believes in me, and even she is close to the limit of her trust."

Celestia didn't say anything. With a sigh, he turned back to the window.

"Do it."

The room flashed with a bright white light, and there was silence.

Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the other Elements were talking in a low-key, hush-hush sort of style. Twilight in particular, looked really guilty about the nature of the conversation, whilst Rainbow Dash just ranted on. And on. And on. The rest more or less just stood there, not contributing, thinking about who the agent that was being sent to Manehatten could be.

"For the love of Celestia, Rainbow Dash! He tried his best!"

"No he didn't! The idiot let us down!"

A lone brown pegasus stood nearby, listening intently. His blond mane rippled in the breeze from the open windows, and his blue eyes were beginning to go red from silently crying. A blue fireball with a grey core adorned his flank.

"Dash! He loves you for pony's sake! He might be listening!"

"He won't be, he's too busy talking to the Princess."

The cyan mare looked really angry, and was on the verge of tears. Her wings hung limp at her sides, and she was trembling ever so slightly.

"Are you saying you don't actually love him? For hoof's sake! You slept with him!"

Rainbow Dash was silent, and her shoulders sagged. "I'm an outcast now, Twilight. The pegasus population in Canterlot made that pretty clear. Even the Wonderbolts hate me." She was crying now. "He's ruined my life..."

Shaded couldn't take it anymore. Openly crying, he rubbed his hooves against his eyes. Beginning to stop his tears, he walked round the pillar he was standing behind. He didn't even raise his head as he approached the group.

Twilight and Rarity looked at Shaded, and immediately saw through his disguise. Gasping, Rarity turned away in shock. Twilight almost made the transition between purple and bone white as her eyes opened in fear. The others were quick to follow. With the lone exception of a certain cyan pegasus and Fluttershy...

Rainbow Dash looked round at the newcomer. She didn't know who he was, nor did she care. Until she saw his eyes. They were bloodshot, and filled with tears. His wings were open, ready to fly off at a moments notice. Maybe he just recieved some bad news.

"If...If that's how you really feel Dash... I'm sorry..." The brown pegasus stallion spoke in a low voice, barely louder than a whisper. She couldn't understand the sentence, but everypony else stood there, dumbfounded by the statement.

Before she could say anything, the brown pegasus turned away, tears streaming down his cheeks. And then he was gone, sailing into the wind, his blond mane pulled back from his head.

"Who was he?"

Rainbow Dash glared at the others, waiting for an answer. Twilight gave the answer, in a really sad, almost sympathetic voice.

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash... But that was Shaded."

Rainbow's eyes opened in shock, and she recoiled in fear of the situation. Her eyes quickly scanned the horizon for any sign of him. "You're lying..." She whispered, her voice hoarse.

Twilight shook her head slowly. "No... I'm not." Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, her eyes begging her. "Is it true...?" Applejack nodded, not looking up from the floor.

Rainbow fell to the floor sobbing. "No..." She whispered to herself. Shaking uncontrollably, she lay there, the others trying to comfort her as she began screaming with the force of her sobs.

I should have listened to my common sense instead of my heart. His tears had long since dried away, and there was no more to be shed. His eyes stung from the speed he was travelling at, speeding away from the castle.

Manehatten was in the distance. The lights of the industrialised city lit up the night sky like a beacon. Celestia's offer now seemed more appealing.

Princess Celestia looked at the pegasus. The brown pegasus returned the stare. Celestia broke the silence.

"Perfect. You are now a completely different pony. Pegusai won't be able to see through your disguise."

"What about Earth Ponies?"

"I altered the spell so they could differentiate your normal self from your disguised self. So yes, they would be able to see you."

Shaded sighed. He needed to make up for his failure. He was the agent Celestia was sending to Manehatten, to organise a defence. He was also being sent alone, as to not arouse unwanted attention. This could be the last time he saw Rainbow Dash.

"Can I speak to Rainbow Dash before I leave?"

Celestia immediately frowned. "Are you sure? I can read her mind, and you're not going to like what she saying."

Shaded nodded mutely. "I'm going to talk to her. But if I send you a message asking you to, when I arrive in Manehatten, can you erase all memories of me from her and everypony else's minds?"

Celestia nodded in agreement. "That may be for the best. Even Rainbow Dash?"

Shaded nodded again. "Especially her."

"If a push comes to a shove, would you like me to give you a completely new life Shaded? So you can start again." Celestia asked cautiously.

Shaded stared at the sky with uncertain eyes, thinking.

"Only if I ask."

Manehatten was below him now, the skyscrapers piercing the clouds. The lights of the city illuminated the ponies below in multiple colours. As he landed, he noticed a stand that looked out of place.

It was selling cloaks. And it was perfectly convenient. The vendor, a female earth pony, regarded him as Shaded browsed for something to cover his cutie mark. A black cloak caught his eye, and he pointed towards it.

"How much?" He asked the vendor.

"Ten bits." She sighed erratically.

"Bad day?" Shaded questioned the vendor, curious.

"Yeah... You're actually my first sale." She replied, obviously bored.

Shaded Comet pushed 25 bits towards her, and took the cloak, putting it on before she could try to give him the money back. Smiling at her, he refused her offer to give the money back.

Walking away, he decided to find a hotel for the night. Price was irrelevant, as he had 500 bits for supplies from Celestia. Seeing a candidate, he entered.

The atmosphere was one of friendliness. But there was a heated debate between a familair white unicorn and an extremely angry blue pegasus mare, who happened to have a crowd surrounding her,  watching with excitement.

"He did all that he could, Stargazer. It wasn't his fault." Frostbite 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 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 Frostbite 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!"

Frostbite 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.

Frostbite laughed. "Cold outside?" He sniggered.

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

Frostbite 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."

Frostbite's mouth fell open.

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

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

"Listen, I have a room. Do you want to stay with me tonight?" Frostbite 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 Frostbite's room, one thought continuously penetrated his mental barrier.

Dashie.

The Prophecy

Chapter 6: The Prophecy

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 couldn't let himself get distracted now. He had to be vigilant. He had to be strong. He looked up into the sky, breathing in the crisp, cool air. Something seemd 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.

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.

Twilight was talking with Princess Celestia, in complete disbelief. The sun had set, and the stars were beautiful gems, pinpricks of light in the dark. But they held a darker reasoning behind them than just being there for decoration.

"Shaded he asked for WHAT before he left for Manehatten?" Twilight's mouth hung open in surprise. It was lucky that they were alone, as she had just practically screamed out the question.

Celestia sighed. "He asked me to wipe Rainbow Dash's memory of him. Specifically Rainbow Dash and the pegusus race as a whole." She blinked at Twilight, who was frowning in confusion.

"Is it even possible to do such a feat?" Twilight advanced towards the Princess, who was looking in the direction of Ponyville.

"Yes. But only I can do it. And he asked for me to do it if he asked, not if I felt like it." Celestia scraped her hoof against the balcony. She and Twilight were outside, on the overhang on her tower.

Twilight nodded slowly. "Okay... But still, why?"

"He felt as if he had betrayed the pegusai. I told him about the nature of Rainbow Dash's conversation with you, but he wanted to hear it for himself." Celestia closed her eyes, breathing slowly. "He wanted to start anew, but aspired to try by himself to begin with."

There was a sudden, frantic knock at the door to Celestia's chambers. "You may enter." She called from the balcony.

"Princess Celestia! Manehatten has been destroyed! The agent failed!"

The guard who had entered was none other than Lieutenant Gage, Shining Armour's best friend. Twilight hadn't seen him in ages, but couldn't bring herseld to look from the floor, her eyes dripping with tears.

"No... Shaded..." She whispered into the night. Celestia's eyes shot open, and she turned to face the guard. The light brown pegasus shook his dark brown mane in confusion, his green eyes searching her. "Excuse me?"

Celestia motioned towards Gage. He approached her, evidently doubting his own ears. "The agent was Shaded Comet, Lieutenant. I'm sorry."

"Oh." The pegasus drooped, hiding his eyes from her view. Gage had known him since Shaded had joined the Royal Guards at the age of 16. He was, at the time, 14 years older than him.

Shaded was a little brother to him, and they slowly grew more and more distant since Shaded had stopped the thieves. His heartache over Shaded leaving the Guards was barely tolerable.

Gage roared at the top of his lungs, expelling all of his sorrow. His voice, it was said afterwards, could be heard at the other side of Canterlot.

"SHADED!" He drew it out until his breath deserted him, anger replacing the void that had just left. "I will avenge you... They will pay..." He lowered his head, letting his tears splash against the floor.

"We'll recover his body." Twilight had a grim expression in her eyes. "After we tell the others."

Celestia, who was silently thinking whilst this was happening, made a decision. "I will tell Rainbow Dash, my faithful student. I won't erase anyponies' memories of him." With that, she started to walk a slow, sombre walk to the door.

Twilight was silently waiting for her friends, with the exception of Rainbow Dash. When they arrived, absentindedly chatting amongst themselves, Twilight raised her head, showing her tears.

They immediately hushed themselves, and stood around her. Rarity gasped at Twilight's appearance. "Darling? What's troubling you?"

Gage entered the room in a state similar to Twilight. Twilight nodded at him weakly. His eyes were red from crying, but he had the air of somepony who has found true determination.

"Manehatten has been destroyed. The agent failed, and was killed in the fray." He rasped, his throat in pain after yelling. They all bowed their heads in respect. "Who was the agent?" Rarity whispered.

"Sha...Sh...Shaded." Twilight sobbed, choking on her words. "Twilight. Ah think we need to tell Dash." Applejack looked up, her face white. Shaking his head, Gage looked at he horizon. There was a plume of smoke in the distance, just visible in the early morning sun. It was coming from Manehatten.

"The Princess is telling her. We need to retrieve his body, and bring it back. Twilight, if you would kindly teleport us to Manehatten."

When the purple light subsided, the group looked at their surroundings. Nothing but rubble, so far, but there were several buildings in the distance that were moderately damaged, but still standing.

They were in the City Center, Applejack remembered from her fillyhood. Smoke still rose from the razed remnants of the once proud Manehatten plaza, painting the sky. There were no visible Changlings, and so they split up, and began to search.

Galloping around the piles, she looked for any sign of Shaded. she looked in every nook and cranny, every corner, every room. After about an hour of searching the center, there was a shout from Twilight.

"I've found him!" Dashing towards her, she couldn't believe her eyes. Shaded was lying in a crumpled heap, leaning against a wall. His wings were shattered and burnt. There was a pool of blood massed around him, starting at his shoulders. His eyes were glazed over, and were now an eggshell white. He was barely recognisable; his skin was covered in burns.

But what shocked her more was the unicorn guarding it, his eyes darting from girl to girl, his horn glowing a startling icy blue. His white coat was splattered with blotches of deep red. And he was surrounded by three pillars of ice.

"Please stand aside, Cyromancer." Gage asked, spitting out the last word as if it were poison. The unicorn snorted at him. "Never." The girls exhaled in anger, drawing their hooves across the dirt.

The Cyromancer looked at Twilight. "Element of Magic. I take it you are here to remove his body." Twilight lowered her head.

"Yes. Please step aside, Frostbite." The unicorn looked shocked, but retained his expression moments later.

"How do you know my name?" He hissed, his horn glowing brighter.

"Shaded talked about you. His descriptions of you were accurate, it seems."

Frostbite lowered his horn, expelling the magic. "I want to help carry him back." His eyes held a pained expression, holding Applejack's gaze. Twilight nodded, and Rarity lifted Shaded's body into the air with her magic. Frostbite then took hold of him.

"Twilight. Teleport us back to Canterlot. The gates into the city." Applejack didn't even ask why Gage had asked Twilight to teleport to the gates. Twilight lifted her head into the air, and teleported them back.

The gates were open, as usual, and a little rain was falling. The guards on duty nearly fell from their posts when they saw the group appear out of nowhere. Lieutenant Gage was with them, so they let the matter slip.

Until they saw what two white unicorns were carrying. They rushed down from their posts, and approached Gage. "Sir? What is going on?" Gage turned towards them. "Assemble every on duty pony here now. Alert Captain Armour, and say I requested his presence here as well." The pair nodded, and rushed into the barracks.

Rainbow Dash felt horrible. Her head was pounding, still reeling from what Princess Celestia had just told her.

"Flight Commander Shaded Comet talked to me about his feelings for you many times. He felt as if he had betrayed Cloudsdale when he had to leave, and then didn't return until it was two late. So I sent him to Manehatten."

"But, Rainbow Dash, he had one last wish before he left, and I wish to discuss it with you."

"What was it?" Rainbow Dash looked round, letting her head droop.

"He wished for me to erase every pegasus' memory of him."

Rainbow Dash started to sob again. He had wanted her to be happy, to not be an outcast. But she had ruined her chances of actually becoming his marefriend when he had heard her speaking with Twilight.

"I am not going to uphold his wish, as it was conditional. But I want you to do something for me. Tell the pegasai what happened in Cloudsdale. And apologise to him when he returns."

She looked out towards the gates into Canterlot, which were just beyond the barracks. They would be back soon.

The men assembled, and Gage gave them the order to form ranks around the elements, Frostbite and himself. When Shining Armour arrived, he saw immediately what they were doing. "They're not going to like this, Gage. The crowds will not like this at all."

Gage nodded, and announced a second order. "Alright! We are to defend this body as much as possible. We are moving it to the castle." The soldiers nodded in confirmation. "MARCH!" Shining Armour shouted, leading the progression.

Apon entering the city, they were met with mixed reactions, most of the public thinking that it was just a routine. And then they saw Shaded Comet's body being held in the air by a combination of three unicorns.

The pegasai, most of which were refugees from Cloudsdale, immediately started an uproar. The progression calmly marched onwards, openly crying. If they looked up, they would see a familiar pegasus stallion in a Wonderbolts costume join the group.

Soarin' saluted the body, and flew overhead at a slow pace, respectfully watching the body. The pegasai fell silent in awe. A blood red mare left their ranks, and flew next to Soarin'. Rewire Stitch felt a single tear leave her eye, watching it hit the body softly, mixing in with the dried blood.

The crowd followed in curiousity, some of the Wonderbolts among them. The steady march of the Royal Guards was the only sound that could be heard, as most of the crying was silent. About halfway through the city, the group slowed down even more, walking together.

In the tower, Rainbow Dash gasped. Shaded was being carried to the castle by about 100 plus ponies, all of them silent. Frostbite was carrying him aloft with his magic. Soarin' was flying above, marking their position.

But she couldn't see Shaded clearly; the crowd was blurry, the distance too far too make out minute details. Stretching her wings, she quickly flew down to greet Shaded, to say sorry for the pain she had caused him.

"No..." Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-flight, seeing Shaded up close. His body was covered in burns, his ears were bleeding heavily, and his eyes were white. His wings were virtually gone, the feathers scorched and the bones jutting out of the skin.

His mane and tail were moderately okay, but covered in blood and layered with soot. His mouth was open, and blood was trickling out slowly. His skin parted around the shoulders, exposing raw flesh and blood to the cyan mare.

He was dead. Silently, tears dripping from her eyes, she lifted Shaded's crumpled body out from Frostbite's magical grasp. Complying, he released the magic, letting the body drop into her arms. Soarin' descended from the sky, and supported his right side, whilst Rainbow held the left, cradling his head, letting her tears hit his face.

Together they marched and soared at a respectable pace to the castle, where Princess Celestia stood waiting, a tear rolling down her face. Bowing her head, she touched Shaded with her horn, letting her magic encircle him.

Rainbow Dash watched in awe as Princess Celestia cast the spell. Shaded's body was lifted out of her arms, and she landed and watched as Celestia raised his body above the crowd.

Shaded disappeared in a flash of light, blinding the onlookers. When the brightness subsided, there was a statue depicting Shaded in front of her. Wide eyed, she looked down to the plinth on which it perched. There was text engraved, and she read it aloud.

"From nothing to greatness, ashes to ashes,

He will be back soon, at lightning's flashes.

The soul of an innocent, the body ravaged,

To combat pure evil, the holder savage.

Remembered, disgraced, a persona displaced

Shaded Comet, you cannot be replaced.

Until you return, your body shall remain,

Locked into stone, broken through magic super-mundane."

She looked up, confused. Princess Celestia answered their silent questions.

"It is a prophecy, my little ponies."

The Return

Chapter 8: The Return

John's eyelids fluttered, the world around him blurry. The pain he had experienced had knocked him out cold moments after he was thrown into the bush. He couldn't feel anything, bar the crippling agony that burned on his back.

The world faded in and out, the colours alternating between black and red. His eyes focused on his hooves as he carefully raised them, studying the blackened skin and raw flesh. His, what seemed to be anyway, once grey forelegs were charred; the hooves chipped.

He forced his eyes tightly shut against the wave of nausea that flew through him. Opening his mouth, he felt a mixture of bile and blood rocket outwards onto the grass beneath him. Beginning to resist the numbness in his body, he raised himself off the bush, shaking with the effort.

Opening his eyes cautiously, he examined his surroundings. He was in the Canterlot Statue Gardens. The marble and granite sculptures gleamed in the midday sun, shining with a dullness that was remarkably admirable.

He took a shaky step forwards, his legs swaying unpredictably under his weight. As his hoof connected with the grass, a jolt of pain spread up and into his back. Yelping in pain, he fell to the side, crashing into the ground again.

Blinking past the tears that formed in his eyes, he moaned in pain, forming incomprehensible words that came out in a confused mess. Dropping his head, he let the darkness caress him once more.

Gage ran towards the Gardens, fearing the worst. Nopony could explain the sudden lightning strike, and Discord could be loose, due to the intensity of the strike. Dashing into the grassy outside of the castle, he let his eyes scan everything for anything. Seeing no danger, he let out a drawn out sigh.

He turned his head in the direction of Shaded's statue.

"What in the name of Celestia...?" he gasped, realizing that it had exploded in the strike. Only the base remained; the statue and plaque had been reduced to rubble. He stared numbly at the remains, too shocked for words.

A lone tear streaked down his face, leaving his vision watery. He slowly approached the base, raisng his head. Standing in front of the engraved stone, he lay a hoof on the smouldering, splintered remnants of the strike.

Wordlessly, he lay down in front of the bust, silently listening to the quiet birdsong. Absorbing the melody, he drew in a breath.

Something rustled behind him. Startled, he jumped to his full height and flared his wings. Nothing came out, nothing made a sound. Blinking, he muttered, "Must have been my imagination.", and began to walk away.

Turning his gaze towards a bush, completely at random, he noticed a streak of blue amongst the green. Coming closer, he began to see a mixture of red, black, grey and blue submerged in the leaves.

He spread his wings, and jumped into the air. Diving into the bush, he dragged out the anomaly. It was an unconsious stallion, presumably a pegasus; his wings were burnt down to the bone, with only small amounts of skin holding them together.

He put a hoof to his jaw as he set him down. There was a very weak pulse. Gage turned him onto his front as to not damage his wings. Then he noticed the stallion's flank. His cutie mark was a comet. Blue, with a grey core.

"Shaded...?"

John was floating in the darkness yet again, letting his senses drift wherever they may. He felt the presence of others around him, but he couldn't see or hear them. Peacefully, he turned in the void, mesmerised by it's depth, focusing on what was in the distance.

A strange sensation of being pulled away startled him, making him lose his concentration. He sniffed, smelling hospital steriliser, and breathed deeply. Opening his eyelids, he noticed a purple and blue alicorn standing over him.

Trying to speak, he coughed violently. His speech had temporarily deserted him. It seemed... Familiar. If anything else, the original Shaded was like this. Staring up into her somewhat creepy blue eyes, he felt fear tickle his brain.

"Good evening Shaded." A soft voice that he assumed was from her entered his ears. But he didn't see her lips move. Frowning, he tried to speak again, but this time he heard a deep, rich responce.

"Good evening Princess Luna." Luna smiled, but more in understanding than in happiness.

"I am communicating with you telepathically. My sister will be here shortly." John nodded in confusion, understanding her.

"Who's Shaded?" He asked, referring to Celestia's earlier statement.

She simply shook her head, and turned to the door, beginning to walk away.

"That's for Celestia to tell you." She stopped, and turned in the doorway. "Welcome to Equestria, John." She turned back towards the door, and left his room.

Rainbow Dash rapidly ascended towards a cloud. Twilight had given her an unopened letter from Lieutenant Gage about ten minutes ago. When she landed on the fluffy mass, she sat down and began to read it.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I am sure that you saw the pillar of flame from Ponyville, and I need you to come to Canterlot as soon as you are able to make the journey. It is imperative that you do not tell anypony else about this, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle.

I am sorry that this letter is vague, but the information is highly classified.

Lieutenant Gage.

Wordlessly, she got up from her sitting position, and frowned into the distance. The sun was beginning to set, the beautiful orange skyline receding into a deep blue that twinkled with stars.

Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes. Is Shaded really back? A few hairs of her rainbow mane brushed against her eyelids, tickling the cyan skin.

"It's the only actual reason why Gage would need to see me." Opening her eyes, she saw the moon slowly ascending into the night sky, glowing dully against the dark blue that comforted her; it was like a blanket.

Brushing aside the tip of her mane, she read the letter again, to make sure that she had read it correctly. Turning it over, the light blue pegasus saw no extra information. Scowling in frustration, she crumpled the letter into a ball, and tossed it over the edge of the cloud.

Below her, back on the ground, a lone unicorn picked up the ball of paper, levitating it up to his eyes. The leaves above him sheltered him from the wind, and softly obscured the little light the night gave. The icy blue glow of his magic lit up the paper in the murky darkness.

His eyes pierced the viel of black like a knife, the red irises clear in the dark. Scanning the letter, he shook himself awake, glancing at his location. To his right, far off in the distance, was Ponyville. To his left, Zecora's cottage in the Everfree Forest.

Finishing his search for information, he crumpled the letter up once more, and dropped it back into the dirt. As he ended the flow of magical energy, the darkness enveloped him, hiding him from the outside world. Silence quickly followed.

John was, to say it simply, confused. What Celestia had spoke to him about puzzled him, sending his brain into a maelstrom of assumptions and questions to which he hadn't been told the answer.

The soft cotton sheets of the Canterlot Hospital did nothing to ease the pain he could feel in his now equine back. Shaded's injuries, as he were told, were healing after Celestia had cast the spell, but he was too busy thinking.

Shaded had apparently been a victim of a Changling attack on Manehatten. He was then caught off guard in the middle of the battle, and he, along with most of Manehatten's population, had perished in the bloodbath that had followed.

But why was he there in the first place? He had been there for something important; it was obvious that he was a highly valued pony. And why was his body saved by Celestia, unlike so many others who had been left there?

A dull throb in the right side of his head nudged John out of his mind, and back into the painful reality. Looking out of the window, he studied the passing Canterlot ponies. John had already met a few ponies who he recognised, like Nurse Redheart, who had been called to Canterlot to help with his wounds.

It was funny, already knowing somepony before meeting them, even though they had met him before. He had to pretend that he had total amnesia, just so his cover was not blown. Celestia had specifically told Nurse Redheart about his "condition".

John was also amused to find that the real Shaded couldn't speak normally either. Nor had he any interests that Celestia knew of. So John had asked about his own interests. According to the Princess, he would retain any abilities from his human life, such as his musical skills.

Stretching out on the bed, he yawned. He was still able to make basic sounds, but prolonged speech, or anything similar, caused him immense pain. Resting his head against the plush pillow, he began to cough violently. When the fit had ceased, he looked at the door. He would be out soon.

Luna glared daggers at her sister, shock evident in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell him?" She hissed, positively angry.

Celestia stood passively, coolly looking her sister in the eye inside the hospital reception. "He doesn't need to know right now. And anyway, if anypony found out that he was truly back, it would cause an uproar."

Luna slumped, but still looked pissed off. Giving up, she turned away from her sister, and began to walk out. Pausing at the exit, she pivoted on her hooves. "And if he doesn't know, it may cause an even bigger uproar. In particular, at the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala." Flaring her wings, she flew outside, and went back to her tower.

Celestia sighed. Luna had said the exact truth. The Gala was in a week. She was planning for Twilight Sparkle and her friends to see him again then. Guiltily, she looked around, checking if she could see anypony.

Not seeing anything, she re-entered Shaded's room in the hospital. He wasn't asleep, and so, she entered his thoughts.

John?

Yes, Princess?

I am going to heal you. Stay still. This will hurt.

Her horn glowed with the intensity of a thousand suns, causing her to squint. As she charged the spell, she noticed sparks erupting around the edge of her horn. Ignoring them, she continued the spell.

When it was fully charged, she released the spell, lowering her horn to gently touch Shaded's cutie mark. His muscles contracted, forcing him into a quivering ball as his pain intensified.

When the spell finished it's work, she blinked at the sight of Shaded's wings. They were as they should be. His mane was full again, and all his burns had disappeared. John stopped shaking, and hastily jumped out of bed.

Celestia tried to put a hoof on his back, but missed when he bowed. Smiling wearily, she put her hoof on his left foreleg, and motioned him up.

John stood up, able to fully move every joint in his body. Princess Celestia leaned close to him. "You said you were a musician, and you played many instruments." It was a statement, not a question, but he nodded.

"Good. In a week's time you will be playing at the Grand Galloping Gala. Go and see Octavia for instruments." Smiling like a fox, she grinned at him. John was stunned, as he watched her leave the room.

After a few minutes, he finally managed to speak. Or rather, shout.

"WHAT!"

The Musician

Chapter 9: The Musician

John shifted uncomfortably on the cushion he was sitting, averting his gaze from the light grey earth pony rushing around in front of him. The Earth pony's mane and tail were a few shades darker than her skin, and she had a purple treble cleft as a cutie mark.

Her flank was thrust in the air as she searched for some instruments, causing John to strain not to look. The pony in question was Octavia who, whilst excited to have someone new join the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala, still had a duty to perform.

John had expected her to slightly stuck up. But , she was actually really nice, and decently modest about her musical talent. She was eager to find out what instruments John had played and in what style, questioning him on the matter for hours.

When the interrogation was over, she had pulled him into a storage room, intent on finding him the instruments he had mentioned. John looked to his right. There was a violin, a guitar and a piano, which she had pulled from another room on his left, with the help of a few other members of the band that would be playing at the Gala.

When she had finished digging in the forest that was the storeroom, she returned to his side. John turned his head back to the piano, and stood up. Octavia followed his gaze, frowning in confusion.

He began to walk towards the violin, and picked it up. The bow was lying in the case, the wood glistening. As she understood his intentions, she moved backwards and stood next to her own cello, which was resting against the grey wall.

Assuming the appropriate position, John began to play a song that he adored. It was moderately simple, but sounded really nice. As the bow passed over the strings, the song began to take shape.

It was from one of his favourite games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. He couldn't remember who created the theme, only what it was called. It was the violin parts from the Operation Kingfisher theme, from the credits.

As he neared the end, the climax of the moving melody drifting gently into the air, the notes began to get louder. Passing the bow swiftly over the strings, he finished the song. Octavia politely tapped her hooves against the ground.

"That was good Shaded. I think you're going to be perfect for the Grand Galloping Gala."

Octavia watched as he nodded, and set down the instrument, laying it back in the case. Why didn't he speak? Why isn't he talking? She paused, rewinding back to the letter that Princess Celestia had sent her.

It stated that Shaded would see her, and she was to do everything she could to help him express himself musically. That was 6 days ago. The Gala was tomorrow.

Snapping back into reality, she saw Shaded sitting at the piano. Studying him, she also thought of the day, just over a year ago, when his deceased body was preserved by the Princess.

She knew that he was back from the dead, unlike most ponies. He was lucky that the majority of Canterlot's population was Unicorn, and about half of the rest were Earth ponies. And anyway, the only few Pegasai that weren't part of the Royal Guard had never heard of him or his history.

A few chords surged into the air surrounding her; Shaded had begun to play the piano. She closed her eyes, listening to the gentle song flow. Suddenly, vocals joined the song, singing along to the melody.

"Her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining,

Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying,

She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day,"

Octavia opened her eyes, to see Shaded singing along, his voice perfectly merging with the chords.

"Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she won't believe me,

And it's so, it's so, sad to think that she don't see what I see,

But every time she asks me do I look ok, I say..."

Octavia's jaw literally hit the floor as she lost her composure, listening intently to the intensity of his voice. He really could sing.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change,

Cause you're amazing, just the way you are,

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while,

Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are."

"Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she let me,

Her laugh, her laugh, she hates but I think it's so sexy,

She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day."

"Oh, you know, you know, you know, I'd never ask you to change,

If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same,

So, don't even bother asking if you look ok,

You know I'll say..."

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change,

Cause you're amazing, just the way you are,

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while,

Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are,

The way you are, the way you are,

Girl you're amazing, just the way you are"

The notes slowed down, signalling the end of the song.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change,

Cause you're amazing, just the way you are,

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while,

Cause girl you're amazing, just the way you are. Yeah."

John breathed deeply, sucking in air to calm him down. That was the first time he had attempted to sing, let alone speak, in Shaded's body. At least it seemed as if Shaded could actually sing before he died.

Octavia smiled deeply at him as he turned round from the piano. His brain kicked into overdrive as he saw the seductive look in her eyes.

"Whoa. Calm down Octavia." He glanced at her body posture. His voice seemed to have awoken her from whatever fantasies she was having, and she blushed a rosy pink. Shaking her head, she smiled guiltily.

"Sorry Shaded. I don't know what came over me." She apologized, and walked over to him, now a little shy. John looked out of the window, trying to distract himself. The sun was beginning to set. Tommorow was the Grand Galloping Gala.

Closing his eyes, he began to drift in his thoughts as if they were a river, slowly floating along the current. He raised his eyes to look up at the sunrise, and by an impulse, nuzzled Octavia, with the intention of comforting her.

She returned the gesture, and together they went outside to stare at the sunset, the beautiful orange glow illuminating their bodies, standing alone against the backdrop of Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash was fuming. When she had arrived in Canterlot, Gage had simply told her that the Princess requested her presence at the Gala. Literally, he could have told her that in a letter! But no, he had to make her travel for one lousy piece of information.

Nevertheless, she was told that Shaded's statue had been destroyed in a freak spell incident. Fresh tears bubbled under her eyes, streaking down her cheeks. Pouring her heart out, she freely sobbed now that she was in the comfort of her own home.

A small puddle of water began on the floor, her pain being ripped out of her by the sheer strength of the tears. She sat like this for a while, her breath coming in ragged gasps, eventually having no more moisture to expend in her teardrops.

After a few more minutes, her sorrow eventually changed to fatigue, and her head drooped to the side, making the streaks of sorrow shine in the moonlight.

John turned restlessly in his bed. The room in the castle that Celestia had given him was softly lit up with Luna's moon. It was also facing Ponyville. He had a horrible feeling of dread deep inside himself. Quietly, he slid out of the bed, and opened the door next to his bed, walking to the balcony outside.

The cool air calmed him slightly. He looked into the distance, clearly seeing Cloudsdale. He looked specifically below it, significantly to a cloud mansion above Ponyville. Rainbow Dash's home. He was strangely drawn to it, not being able to avert his gaze from the rainbow spouting cloud.

A dull throb began again in his head, slowly increasing in pain. Ignoring it, he continued to look to Dash's home. Suddenly, a blistering amount of agony erupted behind his eyeballs, making him drop to the floor, screaming.

He saw things in his mind, as he clutched his head in his hooves, hearing voices at the door slowly fade as he was immersed in whatever he was seeing.

He- No, Shaded Comet was fighting a mirror image of himself. Blood streaked his gold armour from the wounds he had sustained. Small cuts above his eyes caused him to blink rapidly to rid the blood from his sight. As he did so, a searing cut on his hind legs caused him to yelp in pain.

His sight began to desert him from the bloodloss, his opponent clearly suffering lesser injuries. The fake Shaded grinned evily, battering at Shaded's chestplate, making sparks appear from the dented gold.

Staggering back, he raised his gauntlet, blocking another blow. The metal rang loudly, and silence seemed to envelope the battlefield. John saw Cloudsdale under attack from creatures he couldn't identify as Shaded reeled backwards with the impact of the glancing attack.

Time slowed down as Shaded looked up, closing his eyes gently, waiting for his death. It seemd as if he welcomed it. But it never came. The silence was then absolutely destroyed by a massive roar of energy, his eardrums perforating with the volume.

Shaded opened his eyes to see a multicoloured circle expand outwards, and a rainbow tinted streak erupting from it. Squinting, he saw Rainbow Dash speeding towards them, spinning in the air.

Having no strength left to defend himself, he was helplessly picked up by the other Shaded. John saw Shaded look deeply into his doubles eyes. They flashed green, and he was thrown up as a meatshield as Rainbow Dash tore through the air.

His insides were shredded by the impact, and he saw a pair of magneta eyes go wide in shock. Hitting a cloud, they bounced and slid along it's surface. A crimson splatter decorated their path with grisly results.

John saw her crying, and her mouth formed words he couldn't hear. Shaded was picked up, and temporarily blacked out. When he awoke, he had a spasm, and grabbed Rainbow Dash, pulling her close.

She was covered in blood. His blood. Shaded's blood. And then Shaded's vision went black.

John could see no more, but driven by an unexplainable determination, forced himself awake. He could hear ringing in his ears, words barely audible through the haze.

"I was just so worried. I stabbed you! I almost killed you! You probably hate me now. I'd understand if you hated me."

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

He was covered in a sheen of sweat, and there were several guards standing over him, with worried expressions. Shivering with the cold, they helped him up, and carried him back into his room, closing the door behind them.

Princess Luna was standing there, confused by the screaming. She motioned for the guards to leave, after thanking them for their services. When they had left the room, she knelt down beside John.

"What did you see?" She asked, concerned. Her blue eyes searched his face for any indication of any answer.

"I...I don't know. I saw the first Shaded getting stabbed by Rainbow Dash in the middle of a battle in Cloudsdale. It was an accident, but..."

She pressed him for more answers, questioning him. "But?"

"There was another Shaded. That's all I remember." He lied about the last part, as she didn't need to know that. She nodded slightly.

"I think you had a vision of the past. You are in another's body, so you will develop their emotions, their thoughts and their memories. Especially their memories."

John sighed in exhaustion. Luna cast a spell on him, and levitated him into his bed.

"You will now be able to sleep peacefully tonight. You will need your energy for tomorrow."

She then said goodnight, and left the room, softly closing the door behind her. John closed his eyes, and was immediately assaulted by sleep.

The Grand Galloping Gala

Chapter 10: The Grand Galloping Gala

The moon still hung lazily in the inky sky, glowing with a eerie vibrance whilst the sun began to rise over the horizon. On the marble streets of Canterlot, the air seemed to radiate energy. There was a slight breeze, only just strong enough to make the banners decorating the castle flutter.

It was around midnight, and the city's inhabitants were rushing around in attempts to prepare Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala. The opening events were scheduled to begin a couple of hours, and so last minute changes were being made.

The aroma of bread cooking and cakes baking tingled John's sense of smell. He could practically taste the excitement that had Canterlot in an unbreakable vice. The air around him carried the hopes of the castle ponies, faintly smelling of a multitude of baked goods and pastries.

Breathing in slowly, he let his heart slow down. The balcony to his room was blissfully silent, and he could therefore calm himself. His head pulsed with the intense pain that only a migrain could summon.

John slowly looked down at the castle grounds. The guards were patrolling, following their usual routes. Their horns were glowing in the morning darkness, as they searched every last corner, nook and cranny of the Princesses' residence.

Closing his eyes in concentration, he let himself sit aside in the dark corners of his mind, letting the emotional battle continue. Fear and guilt in one corner, confusion and regret in the other.

In other words, his feelings for Octavia and Rainbow Dash were wrestling for control in the ultimate battlefield: his heart.

John and Octavia had become very close over the past seven days, expressing their fondness for each other through their music. John was once a brony, before he died anyway, and thus knew much about everypony's personality. Octavia was intellectual, funny, well humoured and passionate about their feelings towards each other.

As much as it had not gone any further than the kiss they shared about five hours ago, he had wanted to take it more forwards, but his brain won the fight, and he managed to persuade her to stop before she did something she would regret. But he couldn't bring himself to not be worried about any possible outcomes to their relationship.

Shaded's apparent relationship with Rainbow Dash had also troubled John greatly. He had experienced a heartbreaking memory that didn't belong to him, revealling some of Shaded's past. There was much John didn't know about Shaded. And it troubled him greatly.

What if he did something that Shaded wouldn't have done? He couldn't just tell everypony that he was practically an imposter, possessing a dead body! What if anypony recognises him? What about Rainbow Dash? How would she react to seeing her dead coltfriend walking around and talking to ponies? Shaded had been dead for a year!

Sighing in resentment of his current situation, John put a grey hoof to his head. Past or present? Hide or go? His head began to throb again. The decisions were killing him, slowly eating away at his consciousness. There was an ongoing beat in the back of his head, similar to drums.

The conflict inside him began to subside. He turned back to his room. It was previously decorated in a lavish manner. 'Was previously' being the key phrase. It was practically torn to shreds, every piece of unnecessary furniture piled against the door, preventing the guards from coming in.

John didn't know why he had done it, he just knew that he had. His violin and guitar were in their cases near to the right side of the bed. The mental beat continued, growing in volume. The urge to play a song grew, the performance side of him growing. Baring his teeth, he scowled and looked away.

It was like an unscratchable itch, and he eventually gave in. He was supposed to stay in his room until the opening ceremony. But outside, the preperations were almost complete, and he wanted to have a look. He decided to not bring an instrument with him, and flexed his wings on the balcony.

Pumping the muscles needed, he took flight. It had taken him a while to learn how to fly from various ponies, mainly Soarin', who was apparently an  old friend of Shaded's. He was still learning, but he felt confident enough that he would be fine.

Descending from the balcony, he felt the wind lightly press against him as he slowly flew down. When he was nearer the ground, he landed and began to walk at a slower pace. The lights of every shop were on, every owner rushing about, paying no attention to the grey pegasus as he strolled past.

The air was pungent with the delightful aroma of pies and cakes of many different flavours, and John could almost taste the baked goods. Smiling, he stopped an sniffed, inhaling deeply.

It calmed him, but he still couldn't forget about Octavia or Rainbow Dash. They were always going to be in his thoughts until tonight. A sudden impact from his side knocked him to the floor, making him growl in anger. Looking up, he immediately stopped himself from aprehending the pony responsible.

A strangely familiar earth pony stood over him, looking down with a concerned expression on his face. The pony had a royal blue coat, and an extremely messy mane and tail, both of which were of a medium length. His green eyes were opened in shock and surprise, and his mouth was slightly ajar.

John watched him step back, offering a hoof to help him up. Accepting it, he stood up and dusted himself off. As the pony shuffled awkwardly, digging at the concrete, John studied him intently. The pony returned his gaze, with confused and expectant eyes.

"Who are you?" John asked, cautiously treading towards him. The pony now looked extremely confused. "You don't recognise me?" The pony countered, looking deeply into John's eyes. Shaking his head, John made an apologetic smile.

"It's me, Speedy Recovery." The name didn't ring any bells. "Ohh... Yeah... How have you been?" John stuttered, trying to cover for his stupidity. Of course he didn't know him. Shaded would have, not him.

The blue pony cocked his head to the side, before making the conversation very interseting and scary.

"You have forgotten me haven't you... brother."

Rainbow Dash tugged at her gown inside the carriage they were in. They were all weraing the same dresses as last year's Gala, as they weren't really taken notice of. It was more of anxiety than anything else, and the tension was killing her. Metaphorically, of course.

Around her, the others were all doing the same. There was no idle chatter, no speaking. Only uncomfortable silence. Rainbow Dash had literally just told them about Shaded's statue. Now they just sat there, waiting for the carriage to arrive in Canterlot.

One by one, Dash studied each of her friends.

Pinkie Pie was silent, her normally bouncy mane falling straight. She was slouching in her seat, with a pouty look on her face. Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane, quietly sobbing. Applejack looked impassive, but her face was still a deathly white, as was Twilight's. Rarity was just looking down at her hooves.

Deciding to break the silence, she cleared her throat to get their attention. As they all slowly looked up at her, she began to speak.

"Girls... Shaded wouldn't have wanted us to be like this. He would have wanted us to enjoy tonight." She announced, her voice soft yet reassuring.

"Yeah... Ah think Rainbow's right." Applejack agreed, nodding slightly.

"For Shaded, I promise that I will enjoy tonight!" Rarity added confidently.

Fluttershy, Twilight and Pinkie all nodded. A small smile crept on their faces.

"Let's make this the best night ever!" They all shouted to nopony in particular.

John and Speedy were in John's room, talking. Princess Luna was also there, listening for most of the time, but sometimes adding details.

"So you have amnesia? That explains why you didn't seem to know me." Speedy was sitting on John's bed, whilst John was hovering near the window.

"Yeah... But you still haven't told me why you're in Canterlot." John replied, curious as to why Shaded's brother had came to Canterlot.

"I haven't seen you in a year. Thought I'd come and see you. And I got invited to the Grand Galloping Gala," Speedy answered. "But I didn't know that you had amnesia..."

Luna glanced at Speedy, making him cringe. "I thought that you lived in Manehatten? It was destroyed a year ago. It has been rebuilt since then, but where were you then?" She asked softly, not trying to intimidate him.

Once Speedy had recovered from the shock (I just made a joke! About my own OC! Lolol!), he answered, choosing his words carefully, as to not annoy the Princess.

"I was in Appleloosa, in an athletics competition. When I returned to Manehatten, I had nothing left. Everything was destroyed. So I travelled to Ponyville, in the hopes of finding Shaded. But he wasn't there. I was told that he was doing some undercover work for you and Princess Celestia. So I waited, even getting a job in the hospital. But news never came."

His eyes were glazing over, and his voice was cracking. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

"I waited more. Eventually I forgot that you were gone, until I recieved a letter from Princess Celestia, telling me that you were back. And it came with a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. So here I am."

John put his forelegs around Speedy, hugging him tightly. Giving him a reassuring glance, John smiled. Luna shifted uncomfortably off to his right.

"Would you like to see me perform at the Gala?" John asked Shaded's brother, still uncomfortable about the situation. They may have the same body, but Shaded and John were two completely different ponies.

Speedy scowled. "Whoa. Hang on. You play instruments now?" John nodded, smirking. "Had to learn to do something."

Speedy Recovery nodded, and John led him outside, picking up his instruments on the way. Putting the guitar on his back, he strapped the violin to his saddlebags.

"Come on."

Luna teleported to the throne room. Seeing Celestia alone, waiting for the Gala to begin, Luna apprehended her. "Why can't I tell him about Twilight and her friends? They're coming to the Gala for hoof's sake!"

"Exactly. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are arriving early, by the way."

Luna stood in shock. Had her sister been planning this all along?

"Well... I'm going to tell him. And you can't stop me."

Before Celestia could say otherwise, Luna teleported away, onto the streets of Canterlot. Walking into the entrance to the gardens of the castle, she saw John and Octavia preparing for their performances, whilst Speedy stood nearby.

She ran towards him, knocking over several ponies in the process. As they finished preparing, she saw John stand on the stage, and strum his guitar. Quite a few helpers stopped and gathered round, listening to him beginning to play.

Luna was in a very bad situation. She had promised her sister that she wouldn't use the Royal Canterlot Voice anymore, and she wouldn't break that promise now. Her path was blocked by the ponies, and she didn't want to bring attention to herself.

But she had to tell him! Stopping at the very back, she let herself listen. Letting the music fill her mind, she decided that they wouldn't arrive that soon.

Rainbow Dash walked down the streets of Canterlot. They had arrived about ten minutes ago, and she was planning to pay homage to whatever remained of Shaded's statue. The air was thick with delectable aromas, and there was plenty of tasty food on display.

Her friends had gone straight to the castle, with the intention of seeing Princess Celestia. Apon her insistance, they had left without her, and she began to go to the gardens. In the distance, she could hear a faint song beginning. Listening intently, she honed in on it.

It was coming from the Gardens. Stopping outside the entrance, she began to compose herself, whilst listening to the music. Somepony was singing, but playing the guitar as well.

"You say I love you boy...

I know you lie...

I trust you all the same...

I don't know why.."

The melody made Rainbow attentive, forgetting why she was there. She took a step inside, but couldn't see who was singing. The song made her think about her and Shaded's relationship.

"'Cause when my back is turned...

My bruises shine...

Our broken fairy tale...

So hard to hide..."

"I still believe...

It's you and me 'til the end of time..."

Luna looked behind her, sensing somepony there. "Oh no..." She muttered. On the balcony high up in the castle, Princess Celestia was watching and listening to the music with Twilight and her friends. They could clearly hear the musician, but couldn't see who he was.

"When we collide we come together...

If we don't we'll always be apart...

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it...

When you hit me, hit me hard..."

"Sitting in a wishin' hole...

Hoping it stays dry..

Feet cast in solid stone...

I've got Gilligan's eyes..."

"I still believe...

It's you and me 'til the end of time..."

John closed his eyes for the chorus, letting the music empower him, controlling all his senses. He continued strumming, albeit more loudly.

"When we collide we come together...

If we don't we'll always be apart...

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it...

When you hit me, hit me hard..."

"'Cause you said love was letting us go against what...

Our future is for many of horror...

Our future's for many of horror..."

"I still believe...

It's you and me 'til the end of time..."

Octavia smiled sweetly, enjoying the music. She had really fallen for Shaded over the past seven days. She had even fantasised about him and her! Beginning to blush, she cleared her mind.

"When we collide we come together...

If we don't we'll always be apart...

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it...

When you hit me, hit me hard..."

In an errant thought of ecstasy, Octavia ran up the stage and jumped on him, kissing him wildly. John was more or less forced into the loving embrace, and his thoughts surrounded him. Feeling his migraine increase in power, he saw the crowd disperse after stomping their hooves against the ground, creating a clapping noise.

Time slowed down as he saw who the crowd revealed. He saw a very worried Princess Luna, and behind her... Oh no.

Rainbow Dash felt her wings flap erratically as she saw a grey earth pony mare kissing a grey pegasus. She still couldn't see him properly; the earth pony was in the way. But she felt a sense of recognition when she looked at the pegasus.

Curious, she moved forward. The earth pony had, by now, moved off him, and she could easily see him, but still not clearly. The pegasus had teal and electric blue hair. She had a single thought crossed her mind, and she listened it.

The pegasus put down the guitar, and began to run with a worried expression on his face. Rainbow Dash could clearly recognise him now. Could it be...?

"Shaded...?" She whispered, her voice cracking from the emotional pain. Her wings stopped flapping, and she fell to the floor, watching Shaded run into the castle. Tears streaked her cheeks, dripping into the earth below.

Everything turned into a whirlwind, the world around her spinning in her shock. She felt a hoof on her back. Turning herself over, she saw it was a blue earth pony, strongly resembling Shaded. "Go." He whispered, scowling towards the direction that he had run in.

Rainbow Dash stood up and ripped off her dress, shakily extending her wings. The grey earth pony was nowhere to be seen; she had run after him. Anger gripped her in a vice, and she saw red. Growling in resentment of the pony, she literally burst into angry flames. Diving through the door, wings beating heavily, she spied the pony trying to run away.

Accelerating, she tackled the pony, who she now recognised as Octavia, one of Vinyl Scratch's friends. Baring her teeth, she raised a hoof, pointing it towards her face.

"WHY OCTAVIA? WHY!" She screamed, ready to punch her. They were both crying now, tears freely streaming down their cheeks. Octavia could do no more than wimper, making Rainbow Dash look straight into her eyes. Octavia's pleading eyes did nothing to Rainbow Dash's emotions.

Her hoof connected with her right cheek, sending a dull thud through the hall. Dropping Octavia roughly, she screamed.

"SHADED! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Twilight could do no more than watch in fear and shock, with Princess Celestia next to her, in a similar reaction. They had just watched Shaded Comet run past, soon followed by Octavia. Moments after, Rainbow Dash came out of nowhere and tackled Octavia, screaming at her.

Twilight was too stunned to hear the words spoken, but she heard and felt the punch connect. "Wha...What...?" She mumbled to herself. She felt several hooves on her back, belonging to the other four members of their friendship. All where a deathly white, and completely silent.

They watched as Rainbow was quickly surrounded by the guests, all wondering what they had just seen. Pushing forward, they got to the center, picking up the sobbing Rainbow Dash. Carrying her outside, they placed her softly on the grass.

"Sh...Shad...Shaded...He..." Twilight and the others hugged her, silencing her. Together they cried, and together they let out their emotions.

John slammed the door behind him, and slumped to the floor. "No..." He whispered, staring out of the balcony window, out to the open night. Losing his composure, he raised his hoof, and punched the door. His hoof powered through, leaving a hole in the solid oak. Withdrawing his leg, he felt splinters sticking into his flesh, cutting him deeply.

Ignoring the pain, he let all of his built up sadness and anger.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" He hollered, undoubtably being heard in the gardens, maybe even by the main gates. Noticing how he had reverted to human swears, he facehoofed. Immediately pain crippled him, the migrain exploding into another flashback.

He saw Shaded flying. Rainbow Dash was with him. They casually raced in the night breeze. They flew up into the sky, the wind blowing in their faces, chilly and bracing. Increasing their speed, they stopped abruptly in front of the moon. Shaded lowered his hoof, stroking Rainbow's mane. "I love you." He searched in his bag for the box, and pulled it out, the soft velvet rubbing against his skin. John could only watch, seemingly above them in a bubble away from the world.

"Rainbow Dash, you are the most amazing mare I know. You have been a beacon through the darkness, a light that has filled my entire being in the time that we have spent together. I love you, with all my heart." Shaded opened the box, revealing a gold ring with a cyan diamond encrusted in the middle. "Rainbow Dash, will you do me the honour of marrying me?" Rainbow Dash started to cry passionate tears of joy. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I will marry you Shaded Comet!" She hugged him, their lips meeting in a deep kiss. As Shaded put the ring around her left forehoof, he noticed a ripple in the air. As did John.

John saw an extremely mismatched creature grinning at them, an indecipherable look on it's face. It held up a lions paw, and pointed at them. Discord!

"Ugh! This is soooooo boring! Time for a little chaos, I think!" Clicking, he began to laugh. John watched as Rainbow Dash became grey, losing her identity, reversing her personality.

"Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't want to marry you anymore. In fact, I don't want to see you again." She snarled at him, baring her teeth. She tore off the ring, and threw it down to the ground. Shaded hung his head in disbelief and sadness, and watched as the mare he loved flew away. John felt his pain.

The creature appeared again, in a laughing fit. "Oh, the look on your face! Priceless!" It continued to laugh. It stopped suddenly, and looked at him. "Listen closely." It pulled Shaded's head up, forcing him to look the creature in it's eyes.

The eyes then changed colour, mesmerizing him. "If all love does is make your heart break, then maybe no heart will cure the ache." He snapped out of the trance, and looked at himself. He was grey, even greyer than he was to start with. Even his mane. He let his wings snap to his body. And he fell. No screaming; he had no fear. He actually began to laugh hysterically.

John watched in fear at Shaded's actions, and the vision faded away as he hit the floor.

Waking, the sweat covering him cold, he shook his head. He could still hear Discord's laughter. Wait a second.

He looked up in panic, scanning the room. On the balcony, casually lounging on a cotton candy cloud and drinking a glass of chocolate milk, was Discord himself, laughing heartily.

"Good evening Shaded. Or is it John? Never mind. Guess what? I'm baaaaaaack! And it's all thanks to you!"

"Oh shit..."

Gage flew as fast as he could, directing his flight towards Princess Celestia's tower. Landing, he quickly looked around. She was there, looking startled at the sudden intrusion. The Elements of Harmony were with her.

"Princess! Discord has escaped!" He screamed in fear. They reacted similarly, and he continued the message. "He's in Shaded's room!"

Rarity fainted, Fluttershy hid behind her mane whimpering, Pinkie Pie began to bounce in joy saying "Chocolate Rain! Yay!", Applejack took her hat off in a clearly wooried fashion, and Twilight blinked in suprise. Rainbow Dash just stood there, scowling.

"Oh...Right...Him and Octavia...Oh dear..."

"Why are you back Discord?" John asked, trying to stay calm. The Draconequus simply grinned. "Well...Let's see. You caused one of the biggest acts of disharmony I have ever seen, breaking me out of that statue. And you need my help."

"Do I?" John snarled.

Discord teleported beside him, and looked deeply into his eyes. "Listen closely." His eyes then changed colour, mesmerizing him. "If all love does is make your heart break, then maybe no heart will cure the ache."

John looked at his hoof, feeling nothing as he gave in to Discord's trickery. It turned a darker shade of grey, and he grinned. "Wha...?" Discord was confused at the expression. Then grinned himself.

"I see that you have nopony at the moment. Would you like to be my right hand pony? We can cause massive amounts of Chaos together..." He tried to convince John.

John nodded, uncaring, and let the power sieze him. It flowed like a river, bending around him. The light given off by the magical energy almost blinded him. He and Discord began to laugh And then all was black.

The Elements of Harmony ran up the stairs to Shaded's room as quickly as possible; time was of the essence. Skidding at the door, they could see a hole in the middle, as if something had hit it from inside. Streaks of light flashed through the aperture, and Twilight looked through.

She could see a very dark Shaded grinning, laughing like a maniac. Gasping, she whispered.

"We're too late... He's Discord's now." The others responded with more teary eyes, apart from Rainbow Dash. When Twilight looked again, they were gone.

"We need to tell the Princess! Come on!" She ran back down the staircase that they had originally ascended from, fearing the worst.

Looking up, she could see pink clouds gathering, and brown rain beginning to fall. She sighed.

The Storm

Chapter 11: The Storm - Part 1

John didn't even feel his heart beat anymore. Holding his hoof to his chest, there was nothing. He still had a pulse, but no heart. His already dark grey coat turned a darker shade of grey; it was almost black now.

Feeling his emotions drain away into an abyss inside him, he giggled. It was funny! He didn't care! Looking over the side of the cotton candy cloud he was laying on, he spied Canterlot in the distance. It was surrounded by the cotton candy creations, the fluffy sugar obscuring most of the view.

He felt a very small tingle in the cavity where his heart once was. Guilt. He had caused Discord's release. He was responsible. Gulping, he shook the thought away. He couldn't allow himself to lose the power he had gained. It had been a couple of hours since he had accepted Discord's offer, and it was early morning.

He hadn't seen anypony since then, and thus began to think about what he could do to the first pony he saw. His breathing shallow, he dived off the delectable mass of sugar, gliding down to the hill that Discord was sat on.

He was wearing sunglasses, and was calmly lying on a cloud hammock that he had conjured. The draconequus beamed at John as he approached. "How's the power feeling?" He asked, trying to act casual. John shrugged. He had experimented a couple of times, and could teleport and control the weather temporarily.

Discord immediately became serious. "This time, I won't be defeated by the Elements again! Retrieve them, and bring them to me!" He laughed madly, confusing John. "Items or representees?"

Discord smirked. "Representees. Then items." John nodded.

Stomping his hooves on the grass, he teleported near to Ponyville. There was a large amount of ponies shopping. They were ever so peaceful. Until the clouds opened up and the heavens themselves bled chocolate rain.

It seemed harmless at first, the race to the ground cooling the hot chocolate. John simply grinned, and the clouds dropped a considerable distance towards the ground. Releasing the spell, he let the ponies bathe in chocolate fire, listening to their screams of pain.

The scalding beverage burned many ponies, and made others slip, causing more accidents that added to the big picture. The result made him feel nothing, no remorse, no sadistic happiness. It was weird.

He warped into the middle of the rural town, making the rain pause. Everypony whimpered and knelt down in front of him, afraid to be hurt by the rain's master. He just slowly walked past as if nothing had happened, ignoring the injured.

He could feel the magical presence of ponies he recognised in the town. Hidden away. Searching for the sources of energy, he walked through the town, letting the rain come thundering down again after raising the moon, expelling the sun away. Except this time it was normal rain, freezing cold and very, very chaotic to anypony still on the streets.

John paused, hearing voices speaking.

"We need to get to the Library! Come on!"

In the distance, several guards were patrolling. Celestia must really not want chaos to reign forever.. They must be searching for me. They were looking up at the sky, their golden armour glistening in John's moonlight. He counted three pegusai, five unicorns and two earth ponies, all looking pretty pissed at the sudden rain.

He smiled, and cracked his neck as they drew closer. Standing in the middle of the road, he attempted to let them see him. Failing this, he stompted his hooves against the ground again. The wind picked up speed, and the lights in the street were extinguished, casting the town into darkness. He saw the unicorns using their magic to light the path ahead.

He laughed purposefully, gaining their attention. They advanced on him. The pegasai flew behind him, blocking any hopes of escape. Not that John had any. A unicorn he dimly recognised in the faded light stepped forward.

"By the orders of Princess Celestia, you are under arrest."

Another pegasus landed besides the unicorn. John raised the frequency of the lightning strikes. He scanned each of the ponies in the flashing brightness. The pegasus was light brown, his mane a few shades darker. His green eyes held nothing but disbelief and pity.

The unicorn was wearing purple armour. He was a snowy white, and had a blue mane. He had a vague resemblance to Twilight. It was Shining Armour, he realised.

"On what charges?" John laughed, staring into the brown pegasus' eyes. He was familiar, but not to him. The pegasus shifted uncomfortably, looking down at the ground.

"Will you come quietly?" Shining Armour continued. John stared at him for a few seconds, as he had ignored his question. "Were assault and refusing arrest on the charges?" He grinned at the guards. The pegasus looked up from the ground, giving a slight shake of his head.

"Good." With a flash, John teleported next to the pegasus, and before he could defend himself, picked him up with his magic, and began suffocating him. Starting to choke, the pegasus tried to escape his magical stranglehold, but John just pulled him to the ground, dropping him in the dusty road.

Continuing the hold, he saw the guards form a tight circle around him, swords raised and horns aglow. Smirking, he tightened the grip even more. Breathing in deeply, he escalated the amount of rainfall. It fell around him, rather than hitting him.

The pegasus he was holding had gone blue, and was now struggling even more. The guards couldn't do anything but watch, as John could just simply kill his captive. He wasn't going to, however. He just wanted to make an impression.

The pegasus went limp from lack of oxygen, and John released him. The world around John slowed down as the guards charged forwards, as if in slow motion. His reflexes kicked in, he ran and jumped over the first attacker, Shining Armour, and grabbed him with his hooves as he sailed past, teleporting into the air.

He threw the unicorn down towards the ground, and heard the air move behind him. Dodging the pegasus attacker, he kicked him with both hindlegs, hearing a crack and knocking him clean out as they connected with his helmet.

Another pegasus sailed by, and John punched out towards him. The hoof connected with the pegasus' throat, and he groggily sank through the air as if it were made of water. Hitting the ground, the guard slid a few metres before coming to a halt.

Four down, six to go.

He stared coldly down at the remaining guards. They had just lost their aerial attackers and Captain in the space of a few seconds. In other words, they were gobsmacked.

Not sparing any time, he teleported again, this time between two unicorns. Before they could react, he had punched both in the jaw, hard. He caught one, and used the unconscious guard as a shield, spinning him in front of an imcoming spell from the last unicorn. The spell rebounded off the guard's armour, and straight back at the unicorn, throwing him back down the road, into a lit building a few yards away and breaking the door.

John dropped the unicorn, and turned back towards the last two guards. Both were earth ponies, so it would be slightly harder this time around. He couldn't just simply knock them out with his hooves.

He rolled his eyes, thinking of a better strategy. He picked both up with magic, and began to suffocate them ruthlessly. Minutes later, they eventually passed out, and he dropped them aside. Stepping over the unconscious form of Shining Armour, he looked down at his face. It was contorted in pain, and his eyelids were fluttering.

John knelt down beside the unicorn, lowering his head to whisper in his ear. "Next time, I'll kill you all." He knocked out the captain with a solid punch to the top of his head. Standing up straight, he looked in the direction they were running.

Lightning crackled and flashed behind him as he saw the building a unicorn had been thrown into. It was the library. The lights were on, and he could see dark shadows moving inside. Using his newfound magic, he made the thunder boom louder than before, and the wind rushed at the now closed door.

It didn't budge, but the lights went off inside, as if somepony had literally just turned off the switch. The rain didn't even make his mane wet as he slowly stepped to the door, stealthily approaching. He could hear the voices inside now. The howling tornado outside whipped his tail and mane around.

He took another step closer, smelling ozone in the air. He put a hoof on the door. Before he could do anything, the voices hushed inside. Rolling his eyes, he slowly pushed the door over, hearing a crash, and entered...

Twilight was calmly waiting. It was the perfect plan that she and the Princess had devised. They were to wait inside, knowing that Shaded would come eventually. They were to then restrain him, and cast the memory spell on him. And then go after Discord.

Rarity gasped from the window. "He's here!"

The entire library shook with the thunder, the lightning flashes almost blinding them. Flinching, she looked round at the other Elements of Harmony. They all had the same facial expression: excitement and fear. Except Rainbow Dash, but she couldn't she her face;  it was pressed against the wall along with the others, waiting.

Twilight could hear several dull thuds outside, and peered up over the window. She saw a single silhouette surrounded by guards, including her brother and Gage, who were slowly advancing on him. The shadow disappeared, and reappeared next to Lieutenant Gage, and began to choke him with magic. The guards came closer, and Gage was dropped to the floor, seemingly lifeless.

Not wanting to see anymore, she ducked back down from the windowsill. She could hear a few more thuds, this time louder, and then it stopped. The sound of breaking wood erupted from behind her as a body flew through the door, breaking it off the hinges and making it fall.

Twilight quickly placed the door against the shredded remains of the frame, and repaired it with magic. She didn't however, put the door back on the hinges; she had propped it against the frame, and it looked like it was still connected.

She then ran over to the downed guard, and put a hoof to his jaw. There was a very weak pulse, but it was becoming stronger. His eyelids were shut, and he shook as if he were having a nightmare.

A louder boom rattled the library, and an immense chill tore through the door. It extinguished all the candles, throwing the room into darkness. Fluttershy, unable to cope, began to cry softly. "The guard's fine Fluttershy. He'll be okay." Twilight tried to reassure her. Twilight went back to her original position, waiting. She was now worried.

Sitting still, she heard the light knock on the door as something was placed against it. Probably a hoof. All conversation ceased. The door was softly pushed down, letting the cold air inside as it collapsed to the floor with a splintering of wood. Shivering, Twilight struggled to not move.

She saw a foreleg enter. It was pitch black in the darkness. The occasional flash illuminated the owner partially for a split second, but otherwise the leg was as black as ink. Shaded stepped inside. His eyes, Twilight noticed, were yellow. Not just the irises. Thay were blood red.

He had a crazed grin on his face, almost on the verge of laughing. His wings were spread. She smiled uncomfortably at him. "Hello Shaded..."

John paused, letting the grin drop off his face. Scowling in anger, he increased the tempo of the storm outside. He saw nopony else inside. Taking another step forward, he smiled back, annoyed with her being the only one.

"Hello...Twilight." He said it with so much venom that he could have melted her with the intensity of his anger at her being the only one. She smiled back at him, looking smug. She got up, and took a step toward him.

"What are you doi-ACK!" He was roughly thrown to the floor, the impact jarring his wings. He felt something snap. Blinking in confusion, he saw the other Elements standing over him, triumphant grins on their faces as they held him down.

Except Rainbow Dash. Her magneta eyes glowed with a fury that actually made John cringe mentally. Her face was streaked with tears, and there was a light splatter of blood on her hoof, as if she had punched somepony and broke something.

Her chest heaved, each breath bringing a new sense of fear to John. Her wings were tattered, her Gala dress in shreds. John felt a tear in his eye, a new emotion surfacing that he had never felt before, nor should be able to feel. Regret.

Rainbow leaned in close, her breath hot on his muzzle as he stared back up at he desperately tried to look impassive. "We're here to save our friendship." Twilight announced. Her words fell on deaf ears.

Rolling his eyes, he looked to the side. Spike was cowering in the corner. John hadn't wanted this to happen. The tear finally dripped down his cheek. His sadness was being torn from the depths of the abyss, dragged upwards by Rainbow Dash.

He closed his eyes, and sighed. The emotional grief he was experiencing crippled him, making him hyperventilate uncontrollably. He had only wanted to teleport them to him, not almost kill guards in the process. The rain was to be a distraction, not a weapon.

He opened his eyes. The conflict within him grew. Should he allow the Elements to heal him? Or should he teleport them here and now? As Twilight charged the spell, he realised that it couldn't work. He laughed heartily, trying to calm himself down, but instead delving deeper into the world of madness. Apon hearing this, Twilight stopped.

"What? Why are you laughing?" Rainbow challenged him. Letting tears of laughter roll down his cheeks, he giggled. "It won't work!" She looked stunned, but started charging her spell again. And stopped when Applejack put a hoof on her. "He ain't lyin'. It won't work."

She sighed, and dropped her head. The girls still held John down, so he had to raise his head, feigning weakness. Still chortling, he looked Twilight in the eyes. "I suggest you check on your brother."

Twilight immediately charged a spell, and John winced; he couldn't defend himself if he was being restrained. She bared her teeth, and pointed her horn at him.

"What did you do to him you...you...MONSTER!"

John flexed his wings from under him, and teleported above Twilight, escaping from the Elements' grasp. He smirked, and calmly replied.

"Nothing serious yet...Race you?"

John teleported outside and stood over the bodies outside. Twilight appeared at the hole in the side of library, and fired a spell at him. Stepping aside, he levitated Shining Armour's unconscious form, and lifed it into the air. The rain dripped off of him, and onto the ground below.

The other Elements quickly assembled outside behind Twilight. Glares of hatred, anger, confusion and sadness were all aimed at him. "Why is Discord making you do this!"

Rainbow shouted at him, the tears streaking her face, her eyes red. Shaded calmly looked round to her, focusing on her alone. He took a step forward. She took one forward as well. "WHY SHADED?! WHY DID YOU DO IT?!" They were less than a nose apart, face to face.

"Do what?" He lowered his voice.

"THIS! AND...And...the Gala..." She began to sob louder, closing her eyes, not caring about what she looked like or what the others thought of her. "Shaded...I...I...loved you..."

She felt something nuzzle her, and she opened her eyes in surprise. It was Shaded. His face was now glistening with tears as well. "Octavia forced herself on top of me...I don't love her...I love you Dashie..." He whispered quietly, and took a step back, the wind battering his mane and tail.

"This is my own decision. Not Discord's." Rainbow in stunned silence as he teleported away, leaving Shining Armour there. The other guards were beginning to stir, moaning in pain. Gage was the first up, rubbing his throat.

"Are you alright?" He spoke, his voice hoarse and raspy after the attack.

"Yeah..." was all Rainbow could respond with before she collapsed in shock.

John appeared with a flash at Discord's side at the hilltop. The spirit of disharmony looked annoyed as he didn't have the Elements. A wordless exchange between the two started and ended as John began to walk away, lost in thought. He came to a decision.

"I want out."

Discord erupted into laughter behind him. John scowled, but also winced; there seemed to be two layers to that laughter. He looked round, the morning sun blinding him. Discord was clutching his stomach and rolling in the air, his hearty but diabolical laughter making him shake.

John took a step up to him. "Why are you laughing! I'm serious! I hurt a lot of innocent ponies a couple of minutes ago! I don't want this 'power' you gave me!" He roared at the god with tears in the corners of his eyes. His muscles clenched, adrenaline thumping through his bloodstream, and he took another step forward.

Discord looked at him, smirking in smugness. "Oh well... I suppose I'll have to resort to my failsafe..."

John stopped advancing, confusion rippling inside his brain. What? An image formed in his mind's eye, clearly sent by Discord. A cold, dark pit inside him opened up, and fear was brought up from it. Discord's laughter boomed in his eardrums as he slumped to the floor in disbelief.

"No... You wouldn't..." John whispered, almost pleading with the spirit of disharmony. His eyes were dry, his throat was dry, his tongue was dry. Every last piece of moisture disappeared from inside his body. A cold wind chilled him to the bone, adding to the shivering.

The picture faded from his mind, to be replaced with the very real image of Discord. "I would. But I won't. Unless you fail to destroy the Elements of Harmony, since you failed to bring their representees to me." He grinned at John. He responded by closing his eyes and quietly sobbing.

"Unless you want her to be harmed, I would suggest that you go and get them. Destroy anything that gets in your way." John felt himself being dragged upwards onto his hooves. Teardrops fell down his face, rolling onto his chest. How could I forget? He dimly nodded to the statement, and took flight into the sunrise.

He felt numb. His brain still couldn't process what he had seen. The warm morning air did nothing to calm him, as he glided silently through the air. I can't fail now. If I fail... He shook his head, expelling the vivid imagination that he possessed. His tears stopped falling, and he looked down as he flew overhead.

He could see Ponyville in the distance, the wreckage of earlier still visible. It had only been a couple of minutes since his brawl with ten guards, so he wasn't really surprised. The girls were still probably recovering from the shock of seeing 'Shaded' very much alive. Regret tore him into shreds. "I am so sorry for what I'm going to have to do. I really am." He called out softly, his voice quiet.

Hang on. He looked up towards his upstretched hooves and forelegs. He almost fell out of the air when he saw them. They were the colour they were before he met Discord. His emotions, once repelled, ripped his mind apart as they rocketed out of the black abyss that was where his heart had now returned to.

No. No, no no no no! It's gonna be even harder to do this! His emotions were now going to get in the way of his unfailable task, which if he failed, Discord would kill... No! I won't fail! He could now see Canterlot in the distance, and he mentally prepared for the bloodshed that would follow his arrival.

Twilight was angry. Really angry. Angrier than she had ever been. Seeing her brother lying on the floor, beaten to a pulp, crushed her. Gage was in a darker mood, cursing this and cursing that. The sky was becoming lighter now; the sun was coming up. "Spike, take a letter. To the Princess."

Spike pulled out a quill and a piece of paper.

"Dear Princess Celestia. Since we discovered that Shaded Comet is alive, we had our suspicions. He has just proven them to be true. He, minutes ago, attacked Shining Armour and his squad when they were on patrol in Ponyville. He also forced his way into the library, and tried to attack my friends and I. We need to take action against Discord, as I don't believe it was of his own free will. He looks like what happened to my friends when Discord took control of them. I await your quick responce, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Nodding to Spike as he finished writing the letter, she turned to Lieutenant Gage. A roar of flame behind her proved that Spike had sent the letter. Gage was staring at the damage done in the fight, in particular the library door, whilst continuing to curse Shaded.

"Bucking idiot! Why! How dare he attack my bucking troops! And almost kill them!" Shining Armour's Lieutenant scowled at Twilight as he turned around. "What?!"

Twilight shook her head in sadness and disbelief as the other Elements gathered around, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who was nowhere to be seen. The sunlight seemed to turn cold as he frowned at her.

"Gage! This is not the way to act!" Twilight shouted at him.

"You're lucky he didn't kill you. He could have easily, but he didn't." Rarity added.

"Discord's messin' with his mind." Applejack continued the confrontation.

Gage shook his head, and walked away. Twilight simply smiled at her friends. "We need to find Shaded. As much as I'm angry, he still was being controlled by Discord. We need to help him."

Pinkie Pie tapped her on the shoulder. "I dunno Twilight... He still seemed like a big meanie..." Twilight sighed. I know Pinkie. Believe me, I know.

A loud belch behind the group startled the birds that were settling in the trees. Spike was holding a single letter. "Read it please, Spike." Twilight ordered him.

Spike opened it. His eyes were wide in shock, his mouth agape. "Darling? Are you alright?" Rarity walked over to him. "Two...Two words...Nothing to tell who sent it..." Spike mumbled, loud enough for Twilight to hear him. "He's here..." Rarity gasped, turning to Twilight.

Her horn lit up as she started to teleport the group to Canterlot.

John touched down at the gates of Canterlot. He brought his hooves down hard against the ground. Nothing. Bastard took away the powers after all. He glanced ahead, hiding behind a house. There were several guards on patrol. I'm not gonna be able to get close enough to knock 'em out, so I'm gonna have to hide and hope they don't see me, or the extreme opposite of knocking them out.

"There he is!" He heard someone shout. Shit. He glanced upwards. The city must have been on high alert. There were several guards surrounding him from the air. More approached from every direction. John noticed a split in their formation on his right, and willed himself to move. But he couldn't.

Spears were pointed, encircling John. I hope they really don't think that I'm that easy to capture. He stared at the accusing pegasus. He was pointing his sword directly at his unprotected chest.

"Let me pass." John continued to stare at the pegasus. "You are under arrest. Will you come quietly." He gulped. He had no chance against this many guards without his powers. But he run either, unless...

John nodded, lowering his head to the ground. Most of the guards returned to their normal duties. No going back now. He couldn't think about what he was about to do. He looked up, checking around him. There was only one pegasus left, the one who had seen him.

"Thank you for deciding to do this the easy way."

John cracked his neck as the pegasus lowered his sword, letting the handle drop slightly as he landed on the ground next to him. Breathing deeply, he blinked twice. The guard started to nudge him gently towards the castle. John turned his head to the guard.

"Do you know where the Elements of Harmony are stored?"

"Yes. In the room with all the stained glass windows." The guard responded automatically. The sword was now almost within John's grasp. John darted to his right, grabbing the weapon as he ran past.

"HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE! STOP HIM!" The guard shouted as John flew towards the castle, gaining speed rapidly. He couldn't fail. He held the sword in front of him as he dashed as quicklyy as possible to the entrance. There were guards there now, but they were earth ponies.

The pegasus was behind him, swiftly followed by even more guards. "Don't make this harder for me. Please." John pleaded with them as they raised their weapons. They had no intention of letting him through peacefully. Fine.

John lunged forward, burying the sword in the nearest guard's unprotected neck. Blood dribbled from around the edge of the fatal wound as John released the blade, and picked up the dead guard's spear.

There were only a few guards there now that he actually counted. Only a few was an understatement. There were actually about thirty, maybe thirty five. But they were all bunched together.

Raising the spear, the world slowed down again. He parried a blow from a unicorn, and jabbed the spear into his shoulder. Thankfully, the spears weren't barbed, so he wouldn't tear anything to shreds as he pulled it out and threw it at an earth pony. He didn't have time to anticipate the projectile, and it hit him squarely in the leg.

The guard howled, and fell over. By now, he was surrounded by the guards. They tried to grab him, to stab him or to levitate him, but each time, he pulled a guard in the way or blocked it. The exchange of blows left John with a number of cuts, some deep, some not.

Time sped up as the battle continued, and then came to a grinding halt as the last attacker fell, blood gushing from his legs. Only a few were actually dead; the majority were just wounded. Dropping the spear, John ran inside, looking around. He seemed to know what way the actual room was, and so let his senses guide him towards his objective.

There was just one final obstacle in his way. The door. It was locked. He increased his speed, preparing to slam into it. He felt resistance pushing against him as his speed increased even more, a vapour cone forming as he hit the door.

It burst open, and John fell to the floor. He felt something break as he crumpled, sliding across the floor. He blinked through the pain, as his entire right foreleg throbbed with agony. There was blood on his grey coat, and he looked at the spreading blotch.

A shard of bone was sticking out of his leg, and the surrounding area was pulped. Gritting his teeth, he looked up.

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes as they ran through the destruction in Shaded's wake. There was blood everywhere, painting walls and floors a deep crimson. Guards were blleding everywhere, some dead, most not. Rarity was carrying Fluttershy with her magic whilst she covered her eyes. She knelt down next to a conscious guard.

"Where has he gone?" The guard coughed, holding his hind leg in one hoof, and pointed towardss the Hall of the Elements. Twilight casted a spell to ease the pain and stop the blood as a thank you, and called out to the girls. "He's going to the Elements."

They all started to gallop as fast as they could towards the familiar location. Turning round a corner, they skidded to a halt. In the doorway was Shaded. And further ahead, was Princess Celestia herself.

"Princess... Please... Move out of the way..." Shaded gasped in pain, tears dripping onto the floor. He tried to raise himself off of the floor, but her magic kept him pinned in place. "You... Don't under...stand..."

She took a precise and practised step forward. "I do understand. Very well. You need the Elements of Harmony." John weakly nodded, bring held to the floor. "You're not getting them." She raised him off the floor, and threw him into a pillar. Pain exploded from the base of his skull. He couldn't feel his hind legs.

Shit. She dropped him to the floor, and he screamed in agony as the bone jutting out of his right foreleg moved upwards. "Please...Trust me..." He managed to breath, softly pleading with the goddess. His tears were mixing with his blood, running onto the polished stone beneath him. He had failed.

Discord's laughter shook through the palace. Twilight ran into the hall, swiftly followed by her friends. Except Rainbow Dash. He felt his eyelids dropping, spelling out his doom. Forcing himself up, he dragged himself towards Fluttershy, as she was the closest.

Tugging on her hooves, he mentally begged her, his eyes beseeching her. She turned away in contempt. "Please...Discord....has..." John was interrupted by the appearance of Discord in the room. There was a struggling pegasus filly in his grasp.

"No..."

Discord turned to him, blanking everypony else in the room. "You failed Shaded. Time's up." He then turned to Celestia. John felt his wings move. The filly was crying now, gaining his attention.

"No..."

"Give me the Elements, or this," he gave the filly a shake, "dies."

"No..." John pushed himself onwards, his wings feebly attempting to lift him off the ground.

Celestia didn't step aside.

"Fine. You're soooooo boring." Discord clicked his fingers, and the filly turned to stone. Letting the statue drop, he turned back to Celestia. But John didn't hear them speak. he only saw the statue hit the floor and shatter into shards of stone.

"No..." John began to cry. Why? Why was she brought here?

He finished dragging himself towards the remains. He lay there, unable to believe it had happened. He had failed.

"I hope you're happy with yourself, Shaded." Twilight's voice awoke him from his depression. "Because of you, an innocent filly has died." John saw red, and he let his anger consume him.

His wings found the strength to lift him off the floor, and he slowly floated to Twilight. She was clearly angry. But John was even angrier. He pulled her in close to him. She began to shake in fear. The others could do nothing but watch.

"You inconsiderate pile of horse shit..." he whispered into her ear, and then pushed her back towards her friends. They all had their teeth bared, hooves raised. He stared coldly at them, his fury making them wince.

"That little filly Twilight..."

Princess Celestia's mouth was now agape, as were the Elements'.

"Was my daughter..."

The Great Escape

The Great Escape

John ignored the pain from his foreleg, instead opting to stare at the assembled group before him. Tears rolled down with the force of a river as he looked at each one in turn. With each face he studied, it felt as if his newly restored heart was being pulled out of his chest. His breathing was raspy, and had traces of hyperventilation starting. As much as he couldn't see extreme detail on the faces due to his watery vision, he could just about understand their reactions from the silence that followed.

John raised his left foreleg, and pointed it at Celestia. She returned the gesture with a small, uncomfortable laugh, unable to meet his gaze. He blinked, clearing his eyes, and looked at the group more closely. Twilight seemed to be scared beyond her wildest dreams, and the other Elements had mixed reactions to his statement. John didn't say a word nor move a muscle from that position, letting his tears fall and splash against the floor. He held the pose for a couple of seconds, then looked down.

The shattered remains of his daughter looked back up at him. His heart stopped beating for a split second as he regarded her. His daughter. His inspiration. His life. And now, his failure. Throughout the past two years, she had been his only support. The only thing that kept him going. His entire life had revolved around her.

She had been there when his first girlfriend, her mother, had cheated on him, and then walked out on them after being together for a year, and giving birth to his daughter. She had been there when John's ex-girlfriend had come crawling back to him, begging for help with her drug addiction. She had been there when John found the stash of cocaine in their bedroom a month later. She had been there when she walked out on them a second time, after throwing all their hard-earned money down the drain on more drugs. She had been there when John had broken down after being called to court for possession of her.

She was always there to comfort him, throughout every bad situation that was thrown their way. And now, she was gone. Because of him.

He bent down, and picked up the only unharmed part of her, her head, and cradled it his left foreleg. His teardrops dripped onto her once angelic face, now just cold stone. Dead, carved eyes stared up at him, comforting him slightly. He lowered his head, and kissed her on the forehead, taking one last look at her innocent features. Guided by his instincts, he let a familiar feeling enter his body.

"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."

As he finished, he felt an even stronger sensation grip him, an unexplainable and uncontrollable anger exploding into his brain. His left foreleg lay the head on the pile of dust and cobble that was his daughter's existence, and let his wings guide his movement. He could taste blood in his saliva, and he resisted the urge to spit it out.

He half landed, so that he was standing bipedal with his wings helping to keep him standing. He started stepping slowly towards Celestia, with only one action in mind. His right foreleg dripped blood in a steady stream after each movement. His eyes were locked with Celestia's, who was now shuffling her hooves nervously.

Soon, he was close enough to practically hear her breathing. It was frantic, soft. She hadn't moved at all, nor had Twilight and her friends. John breathed in through his nose, trying calm himself down. But, unfortunately, he failed miserably.  He looked deeply into Celestia's eyes, warning her about what his body was about to do. He could swear he saw a flash of green momentarily in the rose coloured irises as he continued to stare at her.

Without warning, he took another step towards her, standing directly in front of the Princess, literally inches away. And he scowled at her, letting his anger overwhelm him. "You just fucked with my family Princess. Nobody. Fucks. With. My. Family."

Twilight jumped back in shock as Shaded spat in Princess Celestia's face, a mixture of blood and saliva splattered against her white coat. Two guards appeared from the doorway, and dragged him backwards with their magic, restraining him from further action. Twilight stepped forward to say something, but Princess Celestia put a hoof in her way, silencing him.

She could only watch as Shaded was pulled out of the door, and taken somewhere that she didn't want to think about.

John closed his eyes, letting the adrenaline rush drain out of him, taking his energy with it. He could dimly hear the guards' hoofsteps as the descended several flights of stairs, going deeper into the castle's passages. The blood loss from the multitude of cuts and his foreleg pushed him into semi-consciousness.

He wasn't sure how long they had carried him, but after a while, he felt himself being thrown down onto the floor. Hissing with pain, he heard a door slam and a lock click behind him. Forcing his eyelids open, he found himself in a cell, unsurprisingly. It was damp, it was dark and it was cold. The only light source was outside the door, a small slit in the wood allowing the brightness in.

The room stank of sweat, and the walls were coated in what seemed to be a mixture of bile, urine, blood and something he really didn't want to think about. Nevertheless, he slumped himself against a dry patch on the far wall. He held his right foreleg out, letting the blood dry. He wasn't sure if it was a complete compound fracture, but it was still extremely painful.

He sat like this for so long that his entire body went numb from the effort of keeping himself awake. If he fell asleep, nopony knew what room they'd drag him into, never to be seen again. His energy levels were incredibly low, and if he shut his eyes, he'd fall asleep.

Thoughts of his daughter swum into his mind, breaking the mental barrier that he had erected. Memories flooded his brain, causing him to start to cry. When she was born. Her first birthday. He couldn't even bring himself to say her name.

What kind of a father was he? He could have prevented this. But he didn't. Because he was weak, because he was ignorant, because he forgot. He tried to hold his head up, but eventually it slumped down, his muscles giving into sleep.

Hoofsteps awoke him, and he started to panic. Had he fallen asleep? What time was it? He didn't open his eyes, fearing what he would see. Instead, he relied on his hearing. The door to the cell burst open, slamming against the stone wall.

"Get him up. As much as I hate to do this, we gotta do it."

The male voice, deep and mysterious, made his mind race. Hate to do it? Gotta do it? He felt himself being grabbed from under the front forelegs, and bit his tongue to stop himself from yelping as the guard on his right brushed against the protruding bone.

He screwed his eyes closed, and prayed that they were just moving him, not daring to think about what they were going to do. He was now being physically dragged across the gritty stone floor, sliding roughly across the unpolished surface. John attempted to make himself a dead weight, letting all of his muscles untense.

If it had any effect, it was minimal. Eventually, they stopped dragging him, and he was harshly lifetd up placed onto some form of table. Feeling his forelegs and hindlegs being strapped down, he immediately tensed. Somepony punched him hard in the stomach, making him jerk upwards and cough. His eyes went crazy, searching for a way out.

He was in a dimly lit room with one white unicorn guard and one brown earth pony. The unicorn was sitting down opposite to where John was strapped down, so the earth pony was the one who punched him. He looked to his sides. His hooves were cuffed with leather bindings, but his wings were flapping behind him, meaning that the table had a hole cut in it.

The unicorn stood up, and the earth pony stepped aside. A cold chill crept into his bones as the unicorn walked up to him, and tapped him with a hoof.

"Ah. You're awake. Good."

What the fuck is going on!? The walls around him were also splattered with blood, and the room smelt faintly of bile and urine. His heartbeat became fast as he realised the situation.

Cupcakes. The hated fan fiction had just come to life.

John struggled against the bindings, his muscles tensing. The unicorn chuckled, and tapped him again.

"There's no escape, my friend. But not to worry, there will be eventually. But for now, all we want is answers."

Escape eventually? John caught his meaning, making him struggle even harder, the agony burning in his right foreleg pushing him further into hysteria. The unicorn grinned evily at him.

"Shall we begin?"

The earth pony nodded, and the unicorn grinned as he stood over him.

"Who are you?"

What sort of a question is that? When he didn't answer, the unicorn gave him a grim, crooked smile. That can't be good. Using his magic, the unicorn levitated something shiny over to the trio. It was a shiny, jagged knife that had been forcefully dulled, leaving some of the edge sharp, but the majority crooked.

"I'll ask nicely again. Who are you?"

John could do nothing; his fear stopped him from speaking properly, making him stutter. The unicorn rolled his eyes, and moved the knife to John's left hind leg.

"Every time you don't answer immediately, this'll happen." The blade touched the leg gently, pressing down against it. Without warning, he drew it across the limb viciously, leaving a jagged cut about an centimeter deep. Blood sprung up like a freshwater spring as the blade left his leg, and the unicorn held it aloft, listening to John's scream.

"One last time. Who are you?"

John panted, sweat pouring down his face, mixing with tears of pain. The unicorn placed the knife down against his left leg again, an inch down from the last cut. With a choke, John managed to cough.

"My name...Is..." The coughing cut off his answer.

The unicorn smiled, "Wrong answer," and cut him again. John howled, seeing the knife carving into his flesh made him feel dizzy. They've put something on that knife to make it hurt more. I'm sure of it.

"Let's try something else, since the knife doesn't seem to work." The unicorn dropped the knife neatly onto a table, and picked up a smaller knife, but with multiple blades. A razor. He frantically bucked against the table, but the restraints almost made him tear of his own limbs.

The unicorn passed the razor to the earth pony, who held it over his left flank's cutie mark. The unicorn paused for dramatic effect, and smirked at him.

"This'll hurt even more. But only if you don't tell us what we want to know." The earth pony's face held no emotion as John visually pleaded with him.

"Where are you from?"

Where the fuck was Shaded from? Was I ever told that? John brainstormed as fast as he could. he closed his eyes in concentration, panic rising within him when he realised that he didn't know.

"Times up. Do it."

John screamed again as the razors sliced effortlessly into his flank, scoring shallow but extremely painful cuts on his cutie mark. When he didn't hear the unicorn say anything, he assumed that the earth pony had finished. How wrong he was.

The razors bit his flesh again and again, making him emit an ear-piercing burst of verbal pain. After a few seconds, John opened his eyes, and immediately vomited all over himself. His entire left flank had been massacred, the cutie mark unrecognisable behind the hundreds of small cuts that adorned his left flank.

"Alright. That didn't work either. We have one more way to make you sing, and we will use it. Unless you comply with our questions."

The stench of the previous contents of his stomach filled his nostrils, and he threw up again, the splash of bile mixing with the blood on his flanks, soaking into the flesh. He howled with pain again.

Please. Let it end. Let it end! John winced as the unicorn brought forward the next object to torture him with. It was a large pair of pliers. He positioned them over the incisions on his left leg, and closed them on the split flesh.

"You wouldn't..." John managed to splutter. His eyes stung from the tears, and his stomach was constantly churning. The blocked out the smell of his sick, and closed his eyes, letting imagination supply him with an alternative to this horrible place.

"I would. Now, final question. Why are you here?"

"I...don't...know..." John growled at the unicorn, wishing it was all over, that the pain would go away.

"Really? What a shame."

NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! PLEASE! The unicorn dragged the closed pliers towards his face, making the flesh rip. The strip of skin and flesh went up to his ribcage, blood streaming out of the tear. Unable to catch his breath, John blacked out with the pain, coughing up blood, his eyes rolling backwards, his head lolling on the table.

"Woops. I think I overdid it."

The earth pony looked over to the unicorn accusingly.

"You think?"

The unicorn frowned at the earth pony, whilst feeling for a pulse with his magic. Finding one, he smiled again, an evil smile that made the earth pony shiver.

"Put him back in the cell to recover. We'll continue tomorrow."

When John snapped out of the haze of illusion that his mind brought, he found himself back in his cell. He was slumped against the same wall he was against when they came for him. His eyelids fluttered, and in the darkness, he could just about see the dried pool of blood he was sitting in.

Feeling lightheaded, he looked down to his left flank. And threw up a third time. All the skin and some of the flesh from about halfway down his leg to bottom of his ribcage was missing, cutie mark included. Pulling his mouth into a grimace, he realized something. This was just like 'Cupcakes', coincidentally.

At least he was alive. Wait, didn't they say something about tomorrow?

"I can't do this... Nopony should have to endure this... What the fuck is going on...?"

The sound of light hoofsteps clicking on stone broke his stream of thoughts. He slumped his head, was it morning already? A cold breeze wafted in through the door as it was lightly opened. He raised his head, glaring at the shape that entered the room.

"John?" The voice was soft, caring, concerned. He blinked. The shape came into focus, revealing Princess Luna. She obviously couldn't see him in the almost pitch black darkness.

"Over here...Have you come to taunt me, Luna?" John croaked.

"No. I...Came to see you..." He saw her turn her head towards his direction; she still couldn't see him.

"I suggest you don't search for me. You won't like what you see." Clearing his throat, he tried to lift himself off of the wall. Failing this, he just lay there, looking at the Princess.

"Discord escaped. I'm...sorry about your daughter. My sister's student, Twilight Sparkle, told me."

John sighed, letting out his troubles. "It's my fault he escaped in the first place, Luna. And it's my fault that my daughter is...dead." The last word rolled off his tongue as it were pure venom, making Luna wince.

"Please. John. Don't dwell on this, it'll only make you bitter." Luna's statement shocked him, the advice strangely comforting. The ache in his side subsided as her horn glowed. "I can relieve the pain, and I can help with the healing process, but I cannot restore what has been lost. Nor can I remove scars."

He didn't say a word, as Princess Luna cast the spell, her horn glowing. The light given off illuminated him temporarily, allowing Luna to see him. She put a hoof to her mouth, but continued with the spell. He bit his lip as his right foreleg moved back into place and healed over. When the light disappeared, he looked down to his left side again. There was skin growing back at an alarming rate, but with the white scars of earlier shining against the grey. He flexed and rotated his right foreleg. Now he could see what they had done to him properly.

His left cutie mark was still gone, and all the skin grown back in the area which had been ripped off was a lighter shade of grey than the rest of his body. From his flank to midway down his left leg were dozens of small and large cuts, making him look striped with the added effect of the blotches of crusted blood that still remained.

He looked up to Luna, who was smiling. Smiling back, he stood up and stretched his wings, but Luna put a hoof on his back, stopping him from taking off. "The skin is new and weak, so you need to be careful. But if it does break, I also casted a spell on you so that it would grow back faster than usual."

John walked closer to her, the physical pain completely gone now. "What time is it?" She looked up at the ceiling, concentrating. After a while, she answered. "Around three AM. You've been down here for about thirteen hours."

John sat down, thinking. Luna sat down next to him, and nuzzled his neck gently. "I suggest you come with me. You need to leave now, under the cover of darkness." John started to speak, but Luna cut him off.

"My sister has been acting very strange recently. You are such an example. Something has happened to her in the last couple of months, since the second defeat of the Changlings. She is becoming more and more like a tyrant, and everypony is afraid to question her, even me." She stopped speaking, taking a breath.

"I need you to find out what has happened to her. I am afraid of what she'll do next, after seeing you like this."

John nodded in understanding, but was still confused. "Why me?"

"You are one of the only ponies I can trust at the moment. You are my only hope to save my sister from whatever is consuming her kindness, turning her into this... monster." Luna spat out the last word. She suddenly stood up, and summoned a box from outside the door.

Answering the silent question that John gave her, she opened the box. It was a set of dark blue armour, similar to a Royal Guard's armour. "This was Shaded's before he died. I am now giving it to you. I made a few alterations to the design, and added a few enchantments, along with a few extra essential items."

She put the box on the ground. "I'll tell you what I did exactly. Firstly, I made it fireproof, along with the clothing that comes with it. If you're wondering why, Shaded Comet had a particular ability that requires this and the wearer to be immune to fire."

"I also enchanted the blades to be able to break or block any spell they come into contact with. It'll come in helpful."

She nuzzled him one last time, and began to walk towards the door.

"I sense something powerful within you. More powerful than I can imagine. When you find it within yourself, use it wisely. I'm going to leave the door open. Good luck, John."

She teleported once outside the door, and holding true to her statement, left the door wide open.

John tipped the box over, studying the contents. He didn't have much time; eventually they would come back for him. There was a black full-body suit that shimmered like liquid when he moved it, holding it in his hooves. It felt like silk against his skin. It didn't have holes for his wings, so he assumed the wings go inside. He moved it aside, and picked up the next item.

It was the dark blue body armour. The edges were layered in silver, and the chestplate glowed with a brillance only the stars could match. Along with the chestplate, there were shoulder pads and bracers to match the style. On two of the bracers, there were grooves that looked as if he was supposed to slide something in them. When he turned them over, he saw Shaded's cutie mark embossed onto the metal on each one. He set the set of armour aside, and looked at the last two items.

There was a helmet, and two rectangular boxes. He nudged the helmet aside, and picked up the boxes. They also had grooves, with straps on the side.

"They must go with the bracers..." John murmered as he picked up the items, and strapped the boxes onto the bracers. When he had finished, and they were secured tightly, he put them with the rest of the items.

Finally, he picked up the helmet. It was like the regular guard helmet, but had the same colour scheme and design as the armour. Whilst holding the helmet, he felt something grow within him.

"Could it be...?" He looked up at the ceiling, a strange sensation overpowering him. He felt his energy levels go literally off the scale as he held it. When he put the helmet down, the feeling stopped immediately.

"Do I...Draw energy from the stars?" It was night, so it seemed like an acceptable theory for now. He would ask later.

He could faintly hear voices in the castle above him. He didn't have much time left to escape. Carefully, but as quickly as possible, he donned the armour, starting with the undersuit.

It was cold against his skin, and he opened the zip, slipping into it easily, feeling it expand to accomodate his wings. Testing it, he stretched his wings and held them out to the side, looking behind him. The suit had changed, taking the same shape as his wings. Floating softly, he flapped them. If anything, it was easier to fly with it on.

The suit had a hood to go over his head, as well as a mask. Using the laws of cartoon logic, he pulled the mask onto his head along with the hood. It covered every part of his face apart from his eyes, and it didn't obscure his vision in any way whatsoever. When he zipped it back up, he couldn't even feel himself wearing it. It was as light as air. Landing, a single thought crossed his mind.

Strange. Hang on. How did I...?

He lifted his hoof whilst hovering, and concentrated on lifting up the chestplate. He lifted it effortlessly, a dark blue aura surrounding the item. He put it down, and ended the stream of magic. Without lifting his hoof, he concentrated again. The chestplate rose up again, the aura appearing again.

"Thank you Luna." John whispered, grinning.

Using his magic, moved the chestplate over to him, and put it on. Ending the energy flow, he felt weird. The chestplate was almost weightless, as if he were just wearing clothes. Using his magic, he put the rest of his armour on, excluding the helmet.

John paused. "If I can draw almost infinite energy from the stars, and magic uses energy...Oh my god. I could be as powerful as Luna, as powerful as Celestia! No! With great power comes great responsibility, and I refuse to use it like that."

He looked down at the bracers on his forehooves; the ones that had the boxes on. What the hell did they do? Luna said something about blades. He looked back into the box. There was a piece of paper in there.

He picked it up, and levitated it in front of his face, reading aloud.

"To make the blades appear, say "nocturnumque". Preferably when you are flying. You can also change the length of one or both by concentrating on what length you want them to be. To make them disappear, simply think about them being gone."

Dropping the note, he looked down at his hooves. Flapping his wings, he took to the air. Pointing his hooves out in front of him, he whispered "nocturnumque" and watched as two blades that looked as if they were made of  moonlight spring out, making the area around them clearer. They were about ten centimeters long and about three centimeters wide, with a dark blue aura that sparkled with stars.

Doing as the letter instructed, he imagined them being another ten centimeters long. They responded by becoming exactly the length he wanted. Nodding in satisfaction, he reduced the left one by imagining that it was gone. The light given off by it disappeared. It's like a lightsabre. Heh.

He ended the right blade as well, and landed back on the floor. He picked up the helmet with his magic, and put it on. It fit snugly around his head, much like the rest of his armour. He could only imagine what he looked like. Breathing deeply, he looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry for this mess, but Daddy will be back. Daddy will find Discord and bring him to justice." He began to tear up again, but shook himself out of the stupor. He took a step outside into the corridor.

Before I leave, there's one thing I have to do. I won't ever forgive myself if I don't. Running up the stairs, he saw no guards on duty. Tapping into the energy of the stars, he felt that sensation again. He suddenly knew exactly where she was.

Looking outside through a window, he saw that it was still dark, the moon still pretty high, but close to the horizon. He still had time. Running up the stairs again, he came to a set of doors. Opening them with his magic as to not lose speed, he burst into a hall with a glass ceiling. That was the problem with Canterlot. Everything was fancy.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? Well, they shouldn't piss off an extremely powerful human turned pegasus either. Soaring into the air, he braced himself for the impact. This would wake everybody in the palace, so...

John smashed through the glass, the shards exploding out as he held his bracers out in front of him to protect his face. The sound of breaking glass greeted his ears as the remainder of the weakened ceiling fell to the floor below. Letting his newly aquired abilities guide him, he silently flew up to one of the towers.

The balcony was open to the air, so he landed on it as softly as possible. Looking in through the glass door, he could see Twilight and her friends talking, their bodies framed against the light from inside. Breathing deeply, he tapped against the glass, taking his helmet off and removing the hood.

Twilight was calmly chatting with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. It was really late, and almost morning, but they couldn't shake the feeling of trepidation that they all had from hours earlier.

"Since when did Shaded have a daughter?" Twilight asked as a rhetorical question, looking at the girls. Each of them were puzzled as well. He had been dead for a year, and lived alone. The candles they were using were getting brighter as the wick burned out, letting the wax fuel the flickering flame.

"Ah don't know Twilight, but he was tellin' the truth." Applejack responded, her Stetson hat poised on her head.

"He couldn't have had any children...I mean, he was dead. How does that make sense?" Rarity added, thinking deeply.

"It was super mean of him to be like that to Rainbow! The meanie was in a relationship with Octavia!" Pinkie pouted.

A tap on glass made Twilight jump, and she looked round at the window. She could just about see a pony waiting on the balcony. It must have been Princess Luna. As she came closer, she saw the shape remove something on it's head: a helmet.

"It's a guard!" Twilight announced to the others, who all sighed in relief. Opening the door with her magic, she smiled. "How can we help you, sir?"

The guard took a step inside, revealing himself. It was Shaded. He had a grimace on his face, and he uncomfortably tapped his right forehoof against the floor.

"How...?" Twilight was too stunned to even ask properly. He was in a full body black suit that looked like it had been made from the night sky, underneath some modified guards armour that was dark blue with silver trim.

"Erm... Hi?" He half whimpered, nervous. Twilight took a step forward, and he cringed. Composing himself, he took another step forwards inside the room, closing the door with a burst of blue magic.

It was Rarity's turn to be stunned. "Pegusai don't have magic..." She stuttered, her eyes searching his face for an answer.

"Sit. I'll explain everything." Shaded spoke, motioning towards the cushions on the floor. Without a word, the group fell silent and sat down.

"Firstly, yes I escaped. But that's not why I'm here. I came to make amends. I am sorry for everything that I have done since I came back. I am especially sorry to you, Twilight, for what I said. I let my emotions get the better of me in a bad situation, and look how it turned out. Heck, look how things have turned out since I came back! I basically cheated on Rainbow Dash, and ended up releasing Discord again..."

Twilight gave him a suspicious look. "Basically?"

"Yes. When I came back, I spent every day with Octavia practising for the Grand Galloping Gala. She had feelings for me, but I didn't have them for her. I realised that a day before the Gala, when she kissed me. I will always love Rainbow Dash, with all my heart. But I didn't tell Octavia that, for fear that I would break her heart. It never went further than that kiss, I promise."

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh my... And Rainbow thinks..."

"Yes. I need to see her, and to tell her everything. Where is she?"

Fluttershy answered. "She's in Ponyville, in her cloud house crying. Please, make her feel better...if that's okay with you..."

Twilight intervened at this point.

"Hang on. How can we trust you? Not a day ago, you assaulted and killed around fourty ponies, including my brother."

John hung his head in shame. "I know. And I will never forgive myself. I can only hope that you forgive me."

Before Twilight could respond, the door to the room was pushed open, revealing two guards. "Twilight! Shaded Comet has escaped! You need to come with us!"

John took off into the air as they noticed him, drawing their weapons. Taking a closer look, he recognised them as Shining Armour and the brown pegasus from a couple of days ago.

"I don't think that will be required, Captain." John locked eyes with the white unicorn.

"What are you doing here!?" The brown pegasus questioned, pointing his sword at him.

"Apologising. And since you're here..." John flapped his wings, and landed a few inches away from the point of the pegasus' sword. "I'm sorry to you two. I really am."

Shining Armour responded with a bolt of magic, which John blocked with his right bracer.

"Please. I don't want any more fighting." John whispered, feeling the effects of absorbing the spell. He couldn't summon energy from the stars if he wasn't weraing his helmet, but he still had lots from earlier left over. If he needed to use it.

Shining Armour charged the spell again, and John quickly lifted him into the air with his own magic, disabling any chance of a peaceful meeting. The pegasus lunged towards him, and he lifted him into the air as well.

"I'm serious. But if you want to fight..." John rolled his eyes as they remembered the first encounter with him when he had magic. Shaking their heads, he moved them back onto the floor.

"Please. I lost my daughter a few hours ago. I'm not in the mood. This time, I will kill you if you attack me." The harshness in his voice startled him, and tears sprung to his eyes again. Wiping them away, he used his magic to put his mask and helmet back on.

"How did you do that? Discords influence is gone from you..." Shining Armour asked.

"It's a long story. Please, just let me explain everything to the best of my ability."

"You don't have time for that. Princess Celestia herself is looking for you. How did you escape from the dungeons?"

"The door was left open. And if you want to know what they did to me, I'm not saying." He gritted his teeth as he remembered the feeling if his skin and flesh being torn from his leg to his ribcage. Subconsciously, he rubbed the left side of his body with his right hoof as he hovered in the air.

The pegasus caught the motion, and winced. John turned to the balcony, and stood bipedal on the edge. "I'll see you all whenever. Right now, I've got a Element of Loyalty to explain to."

Applejack noticed his planned exit. "You ain't serious..."

John winked at her, and fell backwards off the balcony, spiraling in the air. Before he hit the ground, he opened his wings, letting the updraft carry him upwards. Gaining speed, he flapped his wings harder.

The cold air seemed to warm up around him as he rose in altitude, his speed increasing with every flap of his wings. Let's see if I can perform a sonic rainboom. I seem fast enough.

Going even higher, he looked down to see Canterlot as a tiny speck in the distance. Looping around, he dived downwards, his armoured front hooves spread in front of him. The air resistance around him increased as his speed bordered on the sound barrier.

His eyes watered as he saw a sound cone form around his front hooves, the barrier threatening to throw him off. Increasing his speed even more, the cone slowly got narrower. His excitement peaked at seeing this, until he heard roaring behind him.

Pulling up into a gliding position, he looked behind him, gasping in awe. So this is why Luna made the armour fireproof... He was going faster than he had ever dreamed, the flames behind him pushing him forwards with the intensity of the energy given off.

The space in front of his hooves was clear, until the very edges of his vision. The flames started around the ends of his bracers, pushing outwards. The fiery trail behind him was hued light blue, whilst the flames constantly flickered between teal, cyan, light blue and dark blue. He laughed. I must look like a comet. The landscape beneath him flashed past at an impossible rate, and he could see the Everfree Forest in the distance. Beyond that lay Ponyville.

He barrel rolled in the air, creating a helix of flame behind him. Slowly decreasing his speed until he was flying at a normal pace, his head began to throb again. "No... Not now..." John moaned, feeling the forced memory that wasn't his enter his mind. As it took over, he was dimly aware that he was falling.

Well... Shit.

Twilight looked on in awe as the streak of blue sped towards Ponyville at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous. Ironic, really. She and her friends were standing on the balcony with Lieutenant Gage and Shining Armour.

Gage could only say one thing as he gazed at the fiery trail behind Shaded.

"Bucking Hell... How do we tell Princess Celestia?"

John was floating in that bubble again, watching the scene below him unfold. He was standing over a brown pegasus with a blonde mane, who was hiding behind a pillar, eavesdropping on a conversation. John couldn't understand his significance until he looked closer at the pegasus below him. The brown faded to grey, and the blonde changed to blue as he studied him. Ah. A disguise. It was Shaded. John glanced around the room they were in. It looked as if they were in the Palace Main Hall. Behind him was the throne room.

He listened intently and observed what was happening.

"Dash! He loves you for pony's sake! He might be listening!" Twilight's voice.

"He won't be, he's too busy talking to the Princess." He saw Rainbow Dash speak.

The cyan mare looked really angry, and was on the verge of tears. Her wings hung limp at her sides, and she was trembling ever so slightly.

"Are you saying you don't actually love him? For hoof's sake! You slept with him!"

Rainbow Dash was silent, and her shoulders sagged. "I'm an outcast now, Twilight. The pegasus population in Canterlot made that pretty clear. Even the Wonderbolts hate me." She was crying now. "He's ruined my life..."

Shaded looked like he couldn't take it anymore. Openly crying, he rubbed his hooves against his eyes. Beginning to stop his tears, he walked round the pillar he was standing behind. He didn't even raise his head as he approached the group. John narrowed his eyes as he watched him walk towards them.

Twilight and Rarity looked at Shaded, and immediately saw through his disguise. Gasping, Rarity turned away in shock. Twilight almost made the transition between purple and bone white as her eyes opened in fear. The others were quick to follow. With the lone exception of a certain cyan pegasus and Fluttershy.

"If...If that's how you really feel Dash... I'm sorry..." He heard Shaded speak, quite clear to him. Then, the vision fell away.

John awoke to find himself in a tree, the smell of crushed pine needles lingering in his nostrils. His armour had protected him from the impact, but he could feel a familiar wetness inside the fireproof suit.

"Damn..." He put a hoof to his flank, feeling the area squelch beneath it. Drawing energy from the withdrawing stars, he levitated himself to the forest floor. The dirt was dry beneath him, but his blood oozed through the black material, beginning to drip onto the leaf dotted ground.

Laying backwards, he waited calmly for the bleeding to stop. When the dripping stopped, he got up and began to walk, limping slightly on his left side. He couldn't let a scab form, because if he took the suit off...

Shaking his head, he began to explore the forest, looking for somewhere safe to dress the wound. Seeing none in the immediate area, he continued walking, until he heard a twig snap behind him.

Turning round, he found himself facing a dark blue unicorn with red eyes. The unicorn shook his light blue mane, and nervously smiled at John. "Uhm...Hello?" The unicorn put a hoof on John's armoured back. "You alright?"

"Sorta, I suppose... You are?" John responded. Who was this?

"Tundra. I live here. Who are you?"

"Shaded. Shaded Comet."

The unicorn warmly smiled at him. John continued walking, but slipped on a patch of moss. Immediately his flank burned, and he resisted the primal urge to scream. Tundra ran up beside him, supporting him with his magic.

"Now, seriously. Are you alright?"

John shook his head, the pain too much to handle. He concentrated on keeping himself from howling in agony, whilst Tundra supported his left side. Helping him walk, the dark blue unicorn directed them towards a hut that he hadn't seen before. Go figure.

It looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't remember how. As they reached the door, John looked up to see various African styled masks. Zecora, duh. Tundra knocked on the door. John's ears perked up as he heard the zebra open the door. Tundra and Zecora had a hushed conversation, and he limped inside with the help of the unicorn.

Gently lowering John to the floor, Tundra turned to Zecora.

"Can you help him please? I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but he's bleeding."

"I can indeed, I am always happy to help a friend in need."

John rolled his eyes, and put a hoof to his flank again. The blood was drying. Not good. He quickly flapped his wings, rising above the pair. Using his magic, he removed all of his armour and put it in a neat pile against a wall, gleaming in the light.

Next, he pulled the hood off of his head, feeling the warm air against his skin for the first time in ages. Breathing deeply, he removed the rest of the suit from his body, hearing a slight squelch as the fabric was peeled away from the torn skin. He placed it aside.

He squinted at his left flank. It was swollen, and weeping blood. As was the area between the bottom of his ribcage and midway down his leg. The new skin had broken apon impact, opening the floodgates. He winced at the sight, and turned to the pair.

Tundra was staring at him with a confused facial expression, whilst Zecora bit her lip, apparently thinking.

Tundra broke the silence.

"How the bucking hell did that happen?" The unicorn's eyes moved from his chest to his legs, studying every scar and open cut.

John breathed in. "Trust me. You don't want to know. Let's just say that I crossed the Princess."

Tundra sharply looked up into John's eyes. The silence said a thousand words.

"You just used magic as well. Is there any more of your story to tell?" Zecora asked. The zebra was staring at him accusingly.

"No. I was born able to do this." John lied, praying that she'll believe him.

"Why are you here? In the forest?" Tundra raised the obvious question.

"I crashed. I was going to Ponyville."

"Ponyville is in the middle of a disaster. They were attacked by a servant of the chaos master." Zecora reminded him, and John recoiled from the memory.

"Let's get you two a meal. Then your injuries will start to heal." She continued, and walked over to a shelf adorned with various different vegetables.

"Zecora, have you got a bandage?" Tundra asked, not taking his eyes off of John's armour.

Zecora nodded, and motioned towards a drawer on the far side of the hut. Tundra opened it with his magic, and pulled it out, bringing it back to him. He began to wrap it around John's wounds as Zecora came back with two bowls of mixed chopped vegetables. When Tundra finished, they both sat and began to eat.

John was deep in thought as he ate the food, thinking about what he saw. Was it true? Did she mean it? What happened afterwards? He snapped out of the maelstrom of thoughts, and looked back at his armour.

"Zecora? Do you mind storing my armour for me?" The zebra looked round at him, nodding slightly.

"That I can do, as a little favour for you."

"Thanks." John looked out of the window; it was almost morning, and the sun was coming up. The trees outside obscured any signs of civilisation. He shakily stood up, the bandage holding steady. He needed to go and talk to Rainbow Dash.

"Tundra, what's the fastest way to Ponyville from here?" He already knew it, but wanted to act normally. Tundra's eyes gleamed as he stood up as well. "I'll show you. Come on." He opened the door, and waited for John to move.

"Thank you for your hospitality Zecora. I won't forget this." He beamed at Zecora, who returned the smile. "Thanks." Tundra closed the door behind them. John couldn't help but notice a pony wearing a black cloak sitting on a patch of dead grass as he left.

"Who's that?" He nudged Tundra.

"Huh? Oh... That's Decay Mourn. He doesn't really talk to anypony. Just leave him be."

John nodded, and followed Tundra deeper into the forest. After a few minutes of walking in silence, he could see parts of Ponyville behind the trees. Tundra stopped, and turned to face John.

"This is where you need to go. Just keep walking in that direction, and you'll eventually come out in Ponyville." He pointed straight ahead.

"Thanks. See you around?" John watched the unicorn begin to walk away.

"I doubt that. I live in the forest." He chuckled, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

John blinked once, and started to walk through in the direction specified. "Here goes nothing..."

Twilight and her friends stepped off the train, happy to be back in Ponyville. The morning sunlight welcomed them as they walked together to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast.

Rainbow Dash sat on the edge of her cloud home, too depressed to care. She turned her head to look at the picture of her and Shaded on her windowsill. Anger filled her, and she threw it across the room. It bounced off of the cloud walls, and lay on the floor.

"Why. Why! WHY!" She screamed at the ceiling. Her life just got really complicated. The love of her life had just returned, and she found him cheating on her. He had then attacked her and her friends. Feeling miserable, she felt her depression deepen. She could only see one way out of the pain. She walked to her front door, and opened it. Not stopping to close it, she walked up to the edge of hercloud home.

One way out...

Pinkie Pie looked up at the sky randomly, as her entire body began to vibrate violently. Twilight, alarmed, jumped backwards, expecting something to drop from the sky. Applejack rushed over, and put a hoof on Pinkie.

"What is it?" Her voice held a tone of urgency.

"I-i-i-i-i-t-t-t-t-t-s-s-s-s-s R-a-a-a-a-i-i-i-n-n-b-b-b-b-o-o-o-ow-w-w-D-d-d-d-a-a-a-a-a-s-s-s-s-h-h-h-h! She abruptly stopped shaking. "It's a doozy! Wait. No! Quick! Follow me!"

The pink party pony galloped forwards a few metres, and looked up at Rainbow Dash's cloud home.

"Too late!" She squeeked, watching as a cyan dot appeared on the edge.

Twilight blinked, unable to believe that Rainbow Dash was doing this... They could only watch as the dot fell off the edge, gaining speed.

Rarity gasped,"She's not going to open her wings!"

John looked up as he exited the forest. Breathing in the scent of cake and flowers, he looked up towards Rainbow Dash's home. And his heart grew cold. His wings took over as he watched the cyan blur drop off of the edge of the cloud.

He looked down the street. He heard Rarity's exclamation. He looked at the dot in the distance. Flapping his wings as fast as possible, he stretched his front hooves in front of him. She was falling faster than he was going, unless...

He went into a steep dive, going as fast as he could. Rainbow Dash wasn't far off the ground now. Time was of the essence. Levelling out, he quickly matched her speed. No! NO! He flapped his wings even harder, as he got closer. He wasn't going to make it!

Twilight screamed as the cyan dot got even closer to the ground, still not opening her wings. Fluttershy covered her eyes, cowering behind her mane. A split second before she hit the ground, a grey dot crashed into her, forcing her away from the ground. "Sh...Shaded?" She whispered, the silence overwhelming.

"Come on girls! We need to find where they landed!"

John groggily stood up. His wings ached, and he was bleeding again. But, thankfully, Rainbow Dash was fine. She was knocked out by the impact, and John had put her down in a bush, where she still was. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked up to the sky.

"Thank you Luna. Without you, she would have..."

John slapped himself with a hoof. All this death and despair was getting to him. Dusting himself off, he looked round at the peaceful cyan mare. Her soft breathing made him smile, and he knelt down next to her.

"Never, ever, scare me like that again." He whispered into her ear, her rainbow coloured mane tickling his muzzle. Using the last of his energy, he picked her up with his magic, and put her on his back. Seeing Ponyville in the distance, he began to limp back, carrying her with him. About halfway back, he began to hear voices.

"Can you see them? Keep searching!"

It was Twilight. She must have taken the train just after I left. Increasing his speed, he pushed himself onwards towards the voices. They were getting nearer, so he shouted.

"Twilight? Over here!" The trees around him swayed in the breeze, eventually revealling the very worried face of Twilight. Apon seeing Rainbow safely on his back, she ran up to him and hugged him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She was crying into his mane now, and he gently patted her on the back.

"She's knocked out. We need to get her to the hospital." Twilight looked down. "You're bleeding..."

"Ignore it. She needs more medical attention."

Twilight nodded, and called to the other girls and a few Ponyville citizens. "They need medical attention!" A few unicorns, including Rarity and Twilight, lifted Rainbow Dash of of his back. Growling, he glanced at his blood soaked bandages. He ripped them off without a second thought.

Most of the ponies in attendance gasped as they saw the left side of his body. "What happened to you?" Twilight asked softly.

John scowled. "This is what Celestia ordered on me."

They said nothing more as they walked back, or in John's case, limped back, to Ponyville. By now, the blood lost that was coating him had dried. He was too tired to fly, so he just marched onwards. His hoof found a loose rock on the hill they were climbing over, and he slipped, tearing the scab.

The pain made him black out for a moment. When he came to, he was lying at the foot of the hill, fresh blood pouring from under the aperture in his skin. Groaning, he looked up to see Big Macintosh and Dr. Hooves lifting him up and placing him on their backs.

Giving up, he let fatigue control his body, dozing off as the ponies made their way back to Ponyville.

...

...

...

Beep.

...

...

...

Beep.

...

John awoke to the beautiful sound of a heart montitor nearby. Lying up, he rubbed his eyes, looking around. He was in Ponyville Hospital. A pony he recognised as Nurse Redheart came in with a tray of food, pills and a glass of water. Accepting it, he came to the conclusion that they had let him sleep here. After wolfing down the food and the nutrient rich supplements with the glass of water, he pushed the tray aside, letting priorities taking over.

He jumped out of the soft bed, and looked down at himself. His wounds were dressed in a fresh bandage. Smiling, he turned to the closed door, and opened it with magic. The door swung open effortlessly, and he stepped through it, to hear the unmistakeable sounds of crying from a room down the hall. Outside the room, Twilight and Applejack were waiting on benches.

When they saw him, they gave him small smiles. He motioned towards the door, and they nodded. Stopping outside the door, he prepared himself for the shitstorm that was to come. Gently opening the door, he peered inside. Rainbow Dash had her head buried in the pillows, sobbing.

Frowning, he entered, closing the door behind him. He used his magic to muffle his hoofsteps. There was a chair beside the bed, and he sat on it, hearing it creak slightly. Rainbow Dash obviously hadn't heard him enter. He put a hoof on her head, stroking her rainbow tinted mane.

Her sobbing became softer as he repeated the motion. Swallowing hard, he bit his lip, trying to think of something to say.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again. Ever." He whispered, smiling slightly. At least she was alright. She didn't recognise his voice.

"Wh-who are y-you?" She whimpered, her voice strained.

"My name is John. But you know me as Shaded Comet." He whispered again, this time closer to her ear.

She turned over suddenly, and her magneta eyes went wide. John gave a small half smile, nervously waiting for Rainbow Dash to verbally rip him to shreds. Her sobbing stopped completely as she blinked rapidly.

"I'm not an illusion, Dashie. I'm really here." She lifted a hoof, reaching out to touch him. The tip of her hoof lightly nudged his muzzle, and he lowered his head, closing his eyes, waiting for the punch.

It came. And it was hard. John rolled to absorb the impact, but the left side of his cheek still stung from the punch.

"I guess I deserved that." He smiled softly.

A pair of cyan arms sprung up and dragged him into a tight embrace. Forced into it, John began to choke. "Erm...Dashie? Air?"

She loosened the embrace, but still held him close.

"Never leave me alone again." Her tomboyish antics were pushed aside momentarily as she began crying again, this time into his mane.

"I won't. I'm so sorry Dashie. I really am. I already told you about Octavia, but when you're better, I'll tell you everything. Every little detail. But there is one thing you need to know."

She dropped the embrace, and looked up.

"I'm not the Shaded Comet you remember."

"What do you mean?"

"When I said my name was John...I meant it. That is my name. I am not Shaded Comet, but he is me."

"Come again?" Her face was scrunched up in confusion.

"Shaded Comet is dead. His body is now mine."

She looked down, still confused. Before she could say anything, John stood up.

"You're hurt..." She said, pointing to John's flank.

"Don't worry. That wasn't caused by you. Like I said, I'll explain everything later."

John took a few steps towards the door.

"I'm sorry if you expected the original Shaded Comet. But I'm here now, and I'm here for you if you ever need my help. Rest well, Dashie."

He opened the door with his magic, and walked through. John nodded to Applejack and Twilight as he went past, signalling that it was okay to go in. They thanked him, and he closed the door behind him.

He slumped down against it, sliding until he hit the floor.

"That hurt."

The Truth

Chapter 16: The Truth

The rain sprinkled down, giving anything it touched a light soaking. The raindrops slowly raced down the window, sliding effortlessly on the smooth surface. The sky seemed to move as the dark stormclouds began to roll in from the south. In the distance, thunder crackled and lightning flashed.

Most of Ponyville was inside, preparing for the worst. A few stragglers were running inside now, closing the doors and locking the windows of their homes. The trees of Sweet Apple Acres were swaying on the horizon, the furthest away almost bent over horizontally by the wind.

The light pitter-patter of the storm began to increase in frequency and volume, gaining strength. John sighed. It was going to be a long night. The hospital staff were kindly letting him stay to watch over Rainbow Dash, who was recovering from the physical and mental trauma from the past couple of days.

The pegasus mare was snoring gently, hidden by the white cotton sheets of the hospital beds. The only thing visible was part of her rainbow mane, poking out from under the blankets. John felt...content, as he sat, watching her sleep.

He was happy in a sense, but he couldn't shake the air of trepidation that hung over Ponyville like a deadly shroud. Subconsciously, he rubbed his left hind leg, his hoof gently gliding over the freshly healed scars of yesterday. Princess Luna's spell had recently come into effect, increasing his healing rate.

He still needed to use bandages for the massive chunk of missing flesh and skin from under his ribcage to just above the livid white marks that would serve as a constant reminder to not annoy Princess Celestia.

John preferred to not think about those recent events, but he couldn't clear his head. A million different thoughts swum in his head as if it were a garden pond, constantly changing direction, but following the group, so he could not focus on one.

He put a hoof to his forehead, trying to concentrate. How would Rainbow Dash react if he told her everything? John had told the other Elements of Harmony a mildly believable version of the truth, but they were still skeptical.

He breathed in through his nostrils, letting the familiar and by now unwelcome lingering scent of antibacterial spray into his system. His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten anything since around midday, and by now it was late afternoon.

Giving in to the urge, he quietly raised himself off of the supplied chair, and opened the door with his newfound magical abilities. It still puzzled him that he could do it, and he was open to any theories as to why he could.

"Must be a mixture of Discord and Luna. Either that, or Luna cast the same spell that Discord did." He muttered, scanning the hallway outside. The benches were empty of occupants, and it was eerily silent. He could dimly hear the crash of the thunder outside as the storm came closer.

"I can't stay here. I'm putting Ponyville in danger..." He looked further into the distance. He could just about make out Canterlot aginst the gloomy backdrop. "I need to find Discord..."

Somepony cleared their throat behind him, but he didn't turn around.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" It was Twilight. Instead of responding, John shook his head a little. Somepony else joined the conversation.

"There wasn't supposed to be any rain today Twi. This is strange." It was Spike. John shuddered at the memory of him cowering in the corner, and turned to face him.

The purple baby dragon completely blanked John and hid behind Twilight. To be honest, he had expected to happen. He had made him afraid. John noticed the others of the mane six enter through the door behind Twilight.

John sighed. They were probably looking for answers. When they didn't say a word, but instead ignored him and walked into Rainbow Dash's room, he frowned in confusion.

Twilight noticed this. "They haven't completely forgiven you. You may have saved Rainbow's life, but you still released Discord again."

John exploited a major loophole in their logic.

"By shunning me, isn't that causing even more disharmony?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Exactly what I said. They, and I have to be honest, myself included, don't believe that Celestia did that." She pointed a hoof at John's bandages.

"At least you're talking to me." John muttered, just loud enough for Twilight to hear him. His head began to throb again. Why was Equestria like this? What happened to Friendship, laughter and joy?

Twilight seemed to read his mind. "Discord has the Elements again. This time, without a riddle to guide us. Funnily enough, Princess Celestia didn't do anything this time. She just let him go."

John racked his brains, thinking hard. His migraine didn't help and only made it harder, so he gave up, turning back to the window. He had a strange urge to go outside and sit in the rain. He glanced round at Twilight, who was staring at the door to Rainbow Dash's room.

"I'm going outside for a while. But I'll go say goodbye to Dash first." Walking past Twilight, he pushed the doors to the hospital room open, and stepped inside.

All four mares visiting immediately went silent and glared at him. They were sitting around the bed, so he assumed Rainbow Dash was still asleep. Trying to entice a false sense of security, John calmly looked at each one in turn, and nodded at them. When they didn't return the motion, he gulped at their reactions. Applejack and Pinkie were tied for the nastiest look possible to give to another pony. Fluttershy just turned away, ignoring the human turned pegasus. Rarity's facial expression turned grim, and her eyes went cold.

Shaking off the awkward moment, he tried to walk up to the bed, but was blocked by the girls getting up, hiding the sleeping Rainbow Dash from view. They really do hate me. Can't blame them, but still..

Fighting back a tear, he shook his head and silently turned back around. He could feel their gazes burning into his back. Stopping about one step away from the door, his heart began to pound, and he couldn't hold back the flood anymore. A single solitary tear rolled down his cheek, and dripped onto the floor.

Listening to the impact, he tried to push the door with his hooves, only to find it already opened by Twilight, who was standing with an unimpressed face. Actually pushing past her, he trotted down the hallway, faintly hearing Twilight calling his name. After a few more steps, he felt a hoof on his back, and he turned his head around.

To his surprise, it was Rainbow Dash. Her mane was ruffled from sleeping, and her eyes were still glazed, but her face was full of concern. John closed his eyes, his headache worsening. Her presence alone, however comforting it was to him, made his head throb. Another hoof touched his back. It was Twilight, with the exact same expression as Rainbow Dash.

The thunder boomed overhead, and the room flashed as lighning crackled. His eye twitched as he watched their faces melt away, to be replaced with the unicorn and earth pony's faces from the dungeon. Yelping, he swatted away their hooves, and backed away, his eye still twitching.

The faces came closer, sneering at him. John's breathing became rapid, almost hyperventilating. A voice echoed in his head, but with two layers to it, as if two different ponies were speaking.

Who are you?

John shook his head in a feeble attempt at clearing his mind. He felt a ghostly pain shoot up his leg, and he whinnied, tripping over backwards onto his back. The monstrosities came closer, and they flickered back to Dash and Twilight's faces. They both reached out a hoof towards him, which he stared wide eyed at.

The room flashed again, and they changed back to his torturers again, but this time, their whole bodies changed. He flinched at the transformation, and pushed himself backwards against a wall as quickly as possible. He looked down at his hoof; it was shaking uncontrollably. The voices spoke again.

Where are you from?

It felt like invisible knifes cut his skin again, exactly where they were the first time. He found himself unable to breath, and began to panic. His heart pounded as if were trying to burst out of his chest, and he pushed himself against the wall hard, his head banging against the brickwork.

The torturers came closer, literally standing over him. The earth pony lowered his head, and his face flickered between Rainbow Dash and the object of his fear. His entire body was convulsing now, and he felt lightheaded.

Why are you here?

John felt the regrowing flesh being ripped off of his bones a second time, the invisible tools gripping the edge, yanking it towards his head. He couldn't help it, and he screamed in fear and agony, pushing away the white unicorn's face with his magic.

His breathing began to come back, so he picked himself up, and smashed through the door without looking behind him. He kept running for as long as he could, and eventually, his legs gave up on him and he collapsed to the ground panting.

The rain was cold, and the chilly wind didn't exactly help either, so without getting up, he looked for shelter from the weather. Most of the houses around him had lights on, but one house in particular caught his attention. As if he was drawn to it, he shakily got to his hooves, and approached it.

Twilight rubbed her head, moaning in confusion. Shaded had just gone absolutely mental, eventually throwing Twilight back down the corridor, thankfully landing on Applejack as they left to follow the very confused Rainbow Dash, who was hovering just inside the hospital, watching where Shaded went.

Applejack got up and dusted herself off, after pushing Twilight to her feet.

"What in tarnation? We all heard a scream, an' then-"

Rainbow Dash chose this moment to come back, an odd look in her magenta eyes.

"He's gone, but I have a feeling where."

John knocked on the door again, after not hearing a reply. There was no lights on in the house, but the door was ajar. Shrugging, he entered and shook himself off. Not seeing a light switch, he used his hooves to illuminate the room he was in. It looked like a sitting room.

There were several cushions on the floor, facing a fireplace. The fireplace had logs in it, suggesting someone had been here recently. In the far side of the room, there was an empty bookcase, accompanied by a table a few feet away. The walls were all painted a sky blue, and the floor looked like it was made of oak.

He looked to his right, seeing a staircase upwards. Along the hall that the staircase was in was what seemed to be a kitchen. He was hungry, but he didn't want to impose on whoever lived here. Entering the sitting room, he set the logs alight, and closed the door. The room was softly lit by the fire, and he sat down on one of the cushions. It was also sky blue, but streaked with a slightly more vibrant shade of blue.

He looked around, and spotted a photo frame on the table. Using his magic, he picked it up. As he was about to raise it to his eyes, he heard the door open and close behind him.

"Thought you'd be here." It was Rainbow Dash, her mane wet from the rain. Funnily enough, he coulddn't hear the weather outside as he looked at her. She smiled, and sat down beside him on another cushion.

"What was all that about?"  She whispered, putting a hoof on him. John closed his eyes, and tapped his side with his hoof. She reached down, and placed hers on top of his. John scrunched up his face, and lowered his head, letting his hoof drop.

"Rainbow...Would you believe me if I told you absolutely everything. Because I'm going to speak the entire truth and not a word about anything else, and you won't like some parts of it." John opened his eyes, and saw her nod.

"Let's start at the beginning. As I already said, my name is John. Not Shaded Comet. You know this body to be Shaded Comet. A week and three days ago, I became a pegasus. Shaded Comet."

"That explains the pillar of fire..." She mumbled.

"Yeah... Immediately after that, the week before the Gala, I was welcomed into the Canterlot life, and began to prepare for the Gala, where Princess Celestia had arranged for me to perform."

"Hang on. You sing?" Rainbow nudged him in the side, making him wince. "Oops. Sorry."

"Yes. But please, remember that I'm not actually from Equestria. Actually, come to think about it, I'm not even from this universe."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm what we, in my universe, call a human. Not a pony. I'm from Earth, which is a planet in the Solar System, which is in a galaxy called the Milky Way. My universe is full of these galaxies, but humanity hasn't actually been to any of them."

"Huh?" John looked round at her, and saw her adorable confused face.

"Sorry, I'm not following the topic here, am I? Anyway, I died. But, Princess Celestia brought my soul here, to Equestria, and effectively put me in Shaded Comet's body. When preparing for the Gala, because I was a muscian as a human, and my traits carried over, I met Octavia."

Rainbow Dash frowned at this point, her eyes changing from soft to demanding.

"In that week, we spent most of the day together, practicing. Eventually, she fell in love with me. The night before the Gala, she kissed me. It never went further than that."

John paused, swallowing hard. His throat had gone dry.

"Then came the Gala. What's there to tell about that? You were there. You saw Octavia jump on me, you heard me perform, so I'll leave that out."

Rainbow Dash nodded, so he continued.

"Then Discord escaped. He came to my room. He hypnotised me. From that point onwards, I registered what I was doing, but I couldn't stop myself. I went to Ponyville, with the intentions of bringing you, Twilight, and your friends to Discord. When you pinned me down, I guess seeing you crying snapped me out of it."

Rainbow blinked at him, smiling slightly.

"I went back to Discord, trying to get him to release me completely. Then..."

John's eyes filled up with tears, and Rainbow Dash noticed. She wiped them away gently with her hoof, comforting him.

"He showed me a picture of my daughter in my arms, a memory I have from being a human. She had changed into pony form, so I didn't recognise her at first, but it eventually clicked. He then changed the picture, making my daughter shatter in front of me."

Dash went to say something, but John unintentionally cut her off by speaking again.

"I had to go to Canterlot, and destroy the Elements of Harmony to save my daughter. But he removed everything, so I was just a regular pony. When I arrived, all I could think about was my daughter, what would happen if I failed. That spurred me on."

John punched the floor in frustration, startling Rainbow Dash.

"I killed and severely injured around thirty guards in getting to the castle. When I got there, the door to where the Elements are kept was locked with magic. So I smashed into it in desperation. When I broke through it, but snapped my right foreleg in half when I hit the floor."

Rainbow Dash winced, and moved her cushion closer.

"It started to bleed. I tried to get up, but couldn't. Princess Celestia was holding me down with her magic. I tried to escape, but she had me held down. I begged her to let me get to the Elements, but she threw me into a wall. Around this point, your friends came running in. Seeing a chance, I dragged myself to Fluttershy, in the hope that she would help me. But she turned away."

Rainbow Dash came even closer, and John began to cry.

"Discord teleported in...He had my daughter...I could only watch in helplessness as she physically shattered in front of me. My wings found the strength to lift myself off of the floor, and I went to the remains of my daughter. Twilight approached, saying it was my fault the filly died. She didn't know it was my daughter."

Rainbow hugged him, resting her head against his.

"I pushed her back. I walked, with the help of my wings, up to the Princess."

He shuddered at the memory.

"I spat on her."

He closed his eyes in regret, and turned his head towards the fire.

"I was dragged down to a dungeon, and thrown into a cell. They left me there for a while. Then they came for me. They pulled me into another room. They strapped me down onto a table, and..."

John motioned towards his side, and Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her mouth.

"What did they do?" She whispered, hugging him tighter.

"They started by cutting my leg. They asked me questions I had no answers to. I was cut again. They moved onto a razor. They slashed me across here," he pointed to where his cutie mark once was, "so many times. Then..."

John lightly pushed Rainbow Dash away, and stood up. He pulled off the bandage completely, wincing as it met the warm air inside the house.

"They put a pair of pliers over the cuts on my leg. You can probably guess what happened next."

Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to vomit as she imagined the scene, so John put a hoof on her mane, comforting her. After a while, when she stopped looking so green, he continued again.

"I blacked out. When I awoke, I was back in the cell, sitting in a pool of my own blood. Princess Luna came and visited me, and helped me to escape. She gave me a few gifts to help me," He used his magic to make the fire crackle, "such as that, and left the door open behind her."

He sat down again, hugging the shaking cyan mare, who would probably have nightmares for the next few days.

"I broke out, and went to Twilight. I apologised. I then went to Ponyville, but crashed in the Everfree Forest. A zebra named Zecora helped me, and a unicorn directed me towards Ponyville in the morning. When I arrived in Ponyville..."

Now Rainbow Dash was crying, sobbing into his mane.

"I saw you falling. I thought I wouldn't make it in time. But I did. And here we are now."

He finished the story, and looked out of the window. There was a black shape literally just outside the window, and it seemed to be staring at him. John stared back, sweat on his brow. The shape faded into the rain, and he turned back to Rainbow Dash.

"Your daughter...Is she actually...?"

John grimaced, and Rainbow pulled him against her tighter. He could feel her rapid heartbeat against his chest, and she was shivering. They sat like this for a while, listening to the fire and the rain. Eventually Rainbow Dash fell asleep, and he gave into sleep without a second thought, but one thought stuck in his mind.

Why was he actually here?

The Misunderstanding

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."

The Confrontation

The night was giving way to the day, the glorious sunrise painting the sky with it's brilliance. There was no clouds in the sky, and the warm morning air of Equestria seeped in through the window that John was currently standing by. He had large, unsightly bags under his eyes from the stress and lack of sleep, and his eyes were bloodshot from crying. His mane hung limply, the once colourful blues dull in comparison to earlier. A rustle behind him alerted him to Twilight's presence. She had been up all night as well, searching tirelessly for a spell that could locate the missing Rainbow Dash, who had been ponynapped by Discord during the night whilst she was asleep. The purple unicorn mare had been digging around the library for hours, without any breaks, without any success.

John hung his head, gritting his teeth. The stalls in the market were probably being set up around now, so he decided he'd get some breakfast for the both of them.

"Twilight?" His voice came as a soft rasp; his throat was dry, and the lack of rest had given him one hell of a headache. Come to think of it, he seemed to always have a headache. Twilight looked round, dropping the books in defeat.

"I can't do it. I'm sorry Shaded, but I'll have to stop for now. I just can't concentrate." She sighed, a sad and tired expression obvious on her face.

"Look. I'll go get us some breakfast. Just get some rest, okay?" He gently pushed her up the stairs with his head, ignoring her protests of not needing rest. Once up at the top, she gave up, and climbed into the bed. Burying herself under the covers, she smiled dizzily at him, her eyes unfocused. "I'll be back soon." He climbed down the stairs, hearing the mare sigh as she dropped into dreamland.

Opening the door, he breathed deeply, smelling the air. It was pleasantly scented with a mixture of fruits, vegetables, flowers and cakes. Feeling refreshed, but still depressed, he closed the door to the library behind him, and began to walk into the town. The residents of Ponyville were beginning their daily routines; they were all early risers.

He passed many houses, and eventually found himself in the moderately busy town square, where all the stalls were. Thankfully, the crowds were hiding Applejack's stand from view, so he breathed a sigh of relief. He observed every stand as he walked past, each with a familiar pony selling the items. Carrots, tomatoes, roses, daisies, cucumbers, the list just went on. John couldn't help but almost drool at the sight of all the available produce. He looked at Sugarcube Corner, the events of last night still fresh in his thoughts. He could go and get breakfast from there, but it would be extremely awkward.

He couldn't see a stand where he could get something that classed as breakfast. John sighed. There was no alternative. Sugarcube Corner it was. Various ponies he didn't recognise from the show waved at him, so he assumed that Shaded knew them. He just awkwardly waved back, trying to smile. He couldn't tell anypony about Rainbow Dash, but that was the only thing that crossed his mind.

As he approached the door, a sense of trepidation fell over him like a shroud, blotting out any other emotion but fear. The mending flesh underneath his bandages tingled as he got closer, and he put a hoof against his flank, rubbing the fabric. The door was already open, and he peeked inside. There seemed to be no pink party fanatic visible behind the counter, so he crept through the door as quietly as he could.

There were a few ponies inside that he knew from the show, namely Bon Bon and Lyra, but he ignored their greetings. John had a suspicious feeling that somepony, or at least something, was watching him as he approached the empty counter. He breathed in slowly, trying to calm himself down. As he got closer, he saw a small cake on the counter, with a piece of paper propped againat it.

He picked up the piece of paper, and scowled at it. It was a note, written in Equestrian. Turning back to the door, he started to leave; there was nopony to serve him. The next thing he knew, the door was blocked by a pink mare with a scarily straight mane. Her blue eyes were quivering, and very bloodshot.

"Aren't you going to take your cake?" Pinkie pouted, holding up the cake with both hooves. She looks just like how she did in 'Party of One'. John thought to himself, keeping his face in a neutral expression as he gingerly accepted it.

"Erm...Thanks?"

Before she could say anything, John lightly pushed past her, walking back out into the square. She followed closely behind, making him even more nervous. A pale yellow pegasus and a white unicorn, both mares, appeared from a building in the distance that he guessed was the spa, and approached the silent pair.

This is too peculiar. It seems...set up.

The crowd parted, revealing Applejack. The orange mare looked uncomfortable as she looked at them. John closed his eyes in frustration, trying to maintain his calm state of mind. They weren't making it easy though; he could sense them coming closer as he stopped dead in the square.

The entire square suddenly went completely silent as he opened his eyes, glaring round at them all. They were all staring at him, some confused and some wary. He turned around, moving his gaze to the group of friends.

"What?" John growled at them, unblinking.

"How can you be so calm, darling?"

John snapped his gaze to Rarity, twitching. He took a step towards her, not trying to seem intimidating, but failing horribly. As he moved, he dropped the cake.

"Calm?" He asked, his voice wavering.

"You look like you're having a good day, like absolutely everything was perfect..." Rarity winced as John twitched again.

"You think I'm having a good day?"

"Erm...well...you see..."

"You really think that I'm having a good day? After yesterday?"

John didn't regret the metaphorical venom he spat at her, as he took another step forward. He realised, for the first time, that he towered over the unicorn, who seemed to shrink beneath him. He lowered his head to hers.

"Yes. I'm having a perfect day." He whispered, hysteria taking over. He stood up straight, gaining a few stares from the crowds that had gathered.

"Of course I'm having a good day, I mean, how could I not? The past week of my life has been perfect!"

Applejack pushed herself between the two, pushing her head up defensively. John giggled at the act, feeling his temporary insanity taking over even more. He felt like he was watching the event from outside of his body, curious as to what he coud do.

"Yes! The past week has been perfect!" His out-of-body experience ended, and he found himself pushing his own head against Applejack's, staring straight into her green eyes.

"If, by perfect, you mean..."

It happened again, and John found himself looking out of Shaded's eyes, seeing Shaded's actions. He pulled away from Applejack, moving back a few steps.

"Let's see...hmmmm..."

John put a hoof to his chin, as if he was thinking. Quite a crowd had gathered by now, and they were speaking in hushed whispers.

"Oh! Being thrown into a world that I had no idea how horrible it actually was!"

John winced internally at that statement, but continued.

"Breaking not one, but TWO mares' hearts in ONE night!"

Fluttershy hid behind her freshly styled mane, and Pinkie Pie looked away.

"Having my mind BROKEN and BRAINWASHED by A GOD to ATTACK and KILL both CANTERLOT and PONYVILLE!" The word were drawn out and spoken in a louder voice to put his point across.

"SEEING MY OWN DAUGHTER KILLED IN FRONT OF ME!"

By now he was crying, and the crowd had been stunned into silence, and even more ponies were surrounding them, filling in the gaps. Regardless, he didn't stop.

"BEING TORTURED FOR BEING CONTROLLED! HAVING MY OWN BUCKING FLESH RIPPED OFF OF MY OWN BODY!" He screamed, motioning at his bandages. The crowd gasped in shock, but it wasn't done out of pity. It was genuine fear.

"SAVING MY OWN MAREFRIEND FROM SUICIDE!" He didn't actually believe that Rainbow was specifically his girlfriend, but Shaded's instead. But still, he was Shaded, wasn't he?

"AND NOW! WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT RARITY!"

His hooves started to glow with his familiar blue aura, which in the sunlight, looked just like the same shade as Luna's. Rarity started to cry tears of... something. He couldn't tell what they were though.

"ANSWER ME! WHAT HAPPENED!"

His own anger scared him. The entire town seemed to fall away into a blackness that came from nowhere. He couldn't see anything but the four cowering mares in front of him, which severely struck hard against his heartstrings. It wasn't their falt, but at the same time, who actually cared? His entire life he took the blame for everything, even if he didn't have anything to do with it, so it felt nice to see someone, or at least, somepony else taking the blame.

Each of the mares were shivering in fright as he towered over them, his hooves glowing bright blue. Something snapped inside him as he raised them to his eyes. This wasn't him. This isn't how he should deal with his problems. He turned to his right, and saw several extremely young fillies cowering behind each other, framed against the darkness of his mind. His hooves extinguished themselves as he regarded them.

His emotions faded into nothingness, replaced with regret and sorrow again. He blinked and the town returned. Almost everypony that resided in Ponyville was an onlooker at the confrontation. Hot tears streaked down his cheeks, but he was too numb inside to care.

Why?

Rarity tried to speak, but couldn't form words. John lowered his head, now fully back in his own body. The tears dripped onto the ground below, seeping into the dirt. He tried to bring himself to apologise, but felt as if he couldn't.

Applejack mumbled something inaudible to him, and his eyes shot up at her.

"What did you say?" He whispered emotionlessly, not wanting to shout anymore.

She mumbled again, making Rarity nudge her. When she didn't answer, Rarity gave up.

John turned around to walk away, only to find himself face to face with a gigantic red stallion. The stallion in question was wearing a yoke, and chewing on a piece of wheat. The look the stallion was giving him was one of sympathy, but of hatred as well. This, strangely, made John even angrier than he was before.

"Out of the way. Now." The harshness in the sentence made the stallion blink. Big Macintosh frowned down at him, whilst John stared up at him. The crowd began to sound angry.

"Eenope."

John sighed, a grimace on his lips as he stood up on his hind legs, without using his wings for support.

"For your own safety. Move."

"Those sound an awful lot like fightin' words mister. Ya'll just threatened ma sis'."

Wordlessly, John raised a hoof, lifting Macintosh off the ground. The stallion struggled in his powerful telekinetic grasp, only to fail miserably. The magic intensified, creating strong winds that encircled the pair in a swirl of dust and leaves. A cold chill swept through Ponyville, but was completely unnoticed by John.

He was suddenly tackled to the ground by somepony, making him lose hold of the grip. The winds stopped, and he dust settled, revealing his assailant. It was Twilight. She teleported the two of them away from the crowd and her friends, into the library.

It was strangely comforting knowing she was there to stop him, but it only made him feel worse. She immediately began the questioning.

"What was all that about?" Her tone was worried, but stern. John ignored her, letting his anger subside. But he still had that feeling of...

Shit.

"Twilight. Please go upstairs for a minute." He sounded unnaturally calm, and Twilight gave him a funny look, but followed the order without a second thought. John walked over to the carved wooden wall, and tapped it lightly. There was no hollow thud, so it was sturdy. Good.

John released all of his built up anger in a single punch, screaming out in frustration as he did so. What he didn't expect, however, was for his hoof to punch a large hole in the wall with a splintering of wood.

Double shit.

Twilight ran back down the stairs, having heard the impact. Apon seeing his facial expression and the hole in the wall, she hugged him tightly.

"Please listen to me. I didn't mean to make you angry."

John returned the hug, but in a friendly manner. The chill had now been expelled from inside him, and he could think a bit clearer.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think."

Twilight released him from the hug. "Can you tell me what happened now that you don't seem angry anymore?"

John nodded, and started.

"I went to the market, to see if there was anything we could have for breakfast. There was nothing, so I went to Sugarcube Corner. I didn't see Pinkie inside, so I went in. There was a cake on the counter, but nopony there. So I went outside, but was blocked by Pinkie. She gave me the cake, and I left. But then, as if by chance," John said it with pure sarcasm, "Rarity and Fluttershy appeared. Then Applejack."

Twilight nodded in understanding, but looked a bit suspicious at his explanation so far.

"Rarity asked one of the most stupid questions I have ever heard."

"If you were alright?" Twilight asked.

"No. Why I was so calm. I mean, how can I be calm right now? I was ignoring it, but she didn't seem to realise it. I started yelling at them, and then Big Mac intervened, and then you teleported us back here."

Twilight smiled at him, brightening the mood.

"Sounds like an interesting morning. My morning was no better."

"Oh really? What did you do, considering I've been gone for about an hour."

Twilight shook her head. "Nope. Six hours. It's just gone past noon." John looked outside, and sure enough, the sun was straight above him. Strange. Equestrian time is very different to Earth time.

"Okay... What did you do this morning Twilight?"

She picked up a piece of paper from a stack nearby, levitating it towards John. He accepted it. Yet again, it was written in Equestrian. Facehoofing, he turned to Twilight.

"I'm sorry... I never really learnt how to read." Twilight just stared at him, her jaw literally touching the floor. All she could make was little sounds like "eh" and "wha", as she physically burst into flame.

"WHAT? How could YOU, of all the ponies I know, not know how to read?"

"I never really learnt. Didn't think I would need it. Never told my parents though." John grimaced as Twilight rolled her eyes.

"I'll teach you later. Anyway, this is a spell that will let me find Rainbow Dash!"

John grinned, and hugged Twilight. She was smiling broadly, and gladly returned the hug.

"Have you already found her?"

Twilight stopped smiling as widely. John noticed it as she pulled away from the hug, looking really uncomfortable.

"Yes, I have..."

If John had them, he would have raised an eyebrow. "Well? Where is she?"

Twilight glanced out of the window. John immediately knew where she was, and couldn't help but close his eyes in frustration, his brain opening a few days of repressed memories.

"Canterlot."

"Twilight. Are you absolutely sure that Rainbow Dash is in Canterlot? I mean, why would Discord take her to Canterlot?" John refused to believe the results of Twilight's spell, trying to make himself believe that it had gone wrong somewhere, but deep inside him, he already knew that it was true.

Twilight didn't respond, staring down at the floor. Her dark puple mane hid her face from John's view. She didn't want to believe it either, but there was something else on her mind that he noticed immediately.

"Twilight? What is it?" She was obviously troubled by something, and it looked as if it was killing her inside. He put a hoof on her back to try to comfort her. She slowly looked up at him, her eyes meeting his own. They had no indication of love, thankfully, just trust.

"It's the Princess. I've been her personal student almost all of my life, and I trust her completely, but," she sniffed, "I don't trust her anymore. After seeing you in the dungeon, and now..." John pulled her into another hug. She gladly returned it, burying her head into his shoulder.

It's true. The Princess hasn't exactly been herself. Hang on... Been...Herself?

It all clicked together, finally finishing the puzzle.

The Princess acting differently, her eyes, her magic aura... It all makes sense.

"That isn't Princess Celestia. Do you recall your Brother's wedding?" Twilight nodded, not seeing his point. "I think that something has happened to the Princess, similar to what happened to Princess Cadence."

It dawned on her then, and her eyes grew wide, her mouth opening in surprise. "You don't think that..."

John nodded, looking out the window.  "We don't have a chance if Discord and Chrysalis have teamed up if it's only us. We're going to need help. A lot of help." He walked to the door, and placed a hoof against it.

"Where are you going?" Twilight stopped him from opening the door with her magic, approaching him. John turned around, pain evident in his eyes. Without saying a word, he placed his head aginst hers in a manner that two siblings would.

"I need you to get anypony that will listen to join our cause. Without any backup, we will fail. Equestria will die." He whispered, opening the door with his hind legs. John felt starngely calm as he stepped backwards. Twilight had tears in her eyes as she watched him move backwards.

"What if I fail?"

John gritted his teeth. This would be the hardest lie to believe yet. But at the same time, he completely believed it. His doubt was swallowed, replaced with prid in the purple unicorn.

"You won't. I know you won't fail."

From the bottom of his hooves, a shadow erupted, ending just before Twilight's. The warm sun's rays fell down onto his back, making him spread his wings. He chuckled mentally, imagining how he would look to Twilight. She smiled up at him, looking confident and determined.

"You didn't answer my question."

John rolled his eyes. "I'm going to make peace with myself, before I go insane. And, if I remember correctly, I have some friends in higher places that could help us. But first, I need to speak with a few ponies."

Twilight nodded in silence, before levitating an unidentifiable object from inside towrds him. On closer inspection, it looked like a necklace. Twilight placed it around his neck lightly. He couldn't see it clearly, but it looked like it was made of silver, with a multicoloured gem inside a circle.

He lowered his head to it, cupping the necklace in his hoof. The gem seemed to change colour across the full spectrum as he tilted it. It shined with a brillance only the stars themselves could match, refleting the light in all directions. Grinning in happiness, he looked back up at Twilight, who was blushing a deep red.

"It was a gift for your birthday a year ago, but we never got to give it to you, before you...you know...died." The embaressment on her face was extremely funny, and he couldn't resist chuckling quietly. Twilight slapped him lightly across the face with her hoof, before embracing him again.

"It's unfortunate really, how you returned. But you're back now, and that's what matters. And since I know you're thinking about it, no, I don't see you as a love interest. I see you as another older brother, much like Shining Armour. Not as special, but still..."

John put a hoof over her mouth, sighing in relief.

"Good luck."

And then he was gone through the door, closing it behind him. A he stepped out onto the street again, he felt a tingle down in his stomache, followed by a growling. He facehoofed hard, before looking at the apple trees in the distance, licking his lips.

"I haven't eaten in two days..."

All his previous plans were pushed aside as he started walking in a direction that hopefully led to Sweet Apple Acres. He could easily kill two birds with one stone now, but only if Applejack was willing to listen. He let his thoughts absorb him as he mindlessly walked through the town, ignoring the stares he got because of earlier.

Eventually, the buildings stopped appearing so frequently, replaced with more and more apple trees. The air was thick with the scent of the fruit, and he could almost taste apples in the air as well. He slowed down his pace as the trees revealed the familiar entrance to the farm.

There was nopony in sight as he walked through, the dust beneath his hooves dry. It was eerily silent. He went up to the lonely house that resided in the farm, and knocked once on the door. There was no answer. Putting his ear against the wood, he could faintly hear somepony upstairs. Stepping backwards, he stretched his wings and landed on the roof with a very quiet thump. Using his magic, he levitated himself in the air and looked through a window.

To his surprise, it was the window to Applejack's room. The orange mare was sitting on her bed, with a yellow filly and a red stallion. They were talking to her, and John kept quiet. They were literally inches away from each other, with only a pane of glass to seperate them, so the slightest sound would alert them to his presence. He couldn't hear what they were saying, so he watched.

Soon enough, Big Macintosh and Applebloom left Applejack on her own. When they closed the door behind them, he tapped on thr window with his hoof. Applejack looked round wth a speed that would be very hard to match, and saw the neutral faced pegasus floating outside the window. John winced as she took a step towards the glass, looking really depressed. With a sigh, he pulled the window open, and flew inside.

Not wanting to waste any time, he got straight to the point. "Applejack. Listen to me. If you don't believe anything I am about to say, you can kick me as hard as you want." John landed in front of her, which attracted her atttention.

"Right. Can you forgive me for earlier? I shouldn't have kicked off like that, and I certainly shouldn't have blamed you for for what happened to Rainbow Dash. I just lost my cool, and it's been one hell of a week for me, and-"

He was interrupted by a swift kick to the ribs, making him stumble backwards. Applejack quickly stepped over him, and offered a hoof to help him up. Accepting it, John pulled himself up.

"'Twas mah fault that Rainbow was taken. Ah was the one that convinced Rarity and the girls to question yah..." There were tears in her green eyes as she spoke, showing her true emotions.

"That's not why I'm here Applejack. We may forgive each other, but there is something even more important to deal with at the moment," John glanced at the window, "So I need you to go to the library. Twilight and I will explain everything later, but I need to get the girls first."

He pulled away after giving her a quick hug, and retreated through the window without giving her time to complain. He began to fly away, but Applejack pulled him backwards with a lasso. It looped around his waist, and he rolled his eyes, before landing by the front door. Applejack was standing there with the lasso in her mouth, and motioned towards a bag.

She opened the bag, and dropped the lasso. She picked up an apple pie, and passed it to John, who somehow ate it in one gulp.

The fuck? How did I do that?

Dismissing the thought, he thanked Applejack, and took flight to his next stop. The Everfree Forest sped past underneath him as he searched for Fluttershy's cottage.

Where is it? Where is it? Ah, there!

He circled down, landing on the bridge that lead to her cottage. Even from here, he could hear the faint sound of somepony crying. Shaking his head, he walked up to the door, hanging his head in genuine shame. Raising a hoof, he tapped on the door. It swung open almost immediately, a white rabbit that John recognised as Angel opening the door. The rabbit was about to close it again, but John graabbed him with his magic, pulling him outside the door.

He put the rabbit down gently, lowering his head to speak to him.

"Listen to me Angel. I know you're mad at me for making Fluttershy cry, but please, listen to me. I am really sorry. I had a bad day, and needed to release it. But now, I need your help," Angel looked away, making John sigh, "You'll get a nice tasty carrot if you help me."

Angel's ears perked up, and he nodded slowly, suspicious.

"I need you to tell Fluttershy to come to the library as soon as possible. Tell her that we found Rainbow Dash. And tell her that Shaded says sorry." With that parting sentence, he nudged the rabbit back inside, and closed the door, looking into the distance.

It would be better if Angel told her. I would only make things worse.

Darting up into the air, he flapped his wings, reaching Ponyville in no time at all. Seeing Rarity's house first, he entered through the front door to her shop. There was nopony there, so he looked around. Rarity had left some paper and a pencil on the counter, so he picked up the pencil and started a message, reading it aloud as he wrote it.

"Rarity. It would mean the world to me if you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my actions this morning. It hadn't exactly been the best day so far, and you were only curious. I shouldn't have started an argument with you about it. I am extremely sorry about it, and can only hope for your forgiveness. When you read this, could you please go to the library as soon as possible. Twilight has found Rainbow Dash. Shaded."

As soon as he finished, putting the pencil down, he frowned and tried to read it. Unfortunately, it seemed that using magic to write a letter translated it into Equestrian. He blinked a few times at the unknown symbols, and shook his head.

He exited again, his mind even clearer.

One left. And, unfortunately, the one that'll be the hardest to talk to.

He walked back into the square, and went into Sugarcube Corner. Mrs Cake was behind the counter, selling some muffins to a certain grey pegasus. Derpy happily skipped past John, tripping as she left. Mrs Cake smiled apologetically at John, before addressing him.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How can I help you?"

John uncomfortably shifted, before looking up at the ceiling. "Is Pinkie Pie here?"

Mrs Cake looked thoughtful, and nodded.

"Have you got any candy I could use?" John hated to ask, but he still had a few bits with him. As he took them out, Mrs Cake waved them away.

"No, no no no. It's free. We were going to throw it out anyway," She pulled out an absolutely huge bag of mixed candy, "So you can have it."

"Thank you." John opened the bag with his magic, leaving Mrs Cake completely gobsmacked, and started placing the candy in a line to the door.

(10 Minutes Later...)

Twilight looked out of the window with Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy, brought to giggles by the incredibly strange sight of Shaded Comet luring Pinkie to the Library with candy that he placed on the floor. The pink party pony willingly followed, her hair bouncy instead of straight. It was just a hilarious sight that ended with Shaded walking calmly through the door, and Pinkie finally realising where she was with a shout of surprise.

She turned round to the assembled girls, and motioned for them to sit on the provided cushions. They all sat, and Shaded began to speak.

"Okay. You're all here. Good. First of all, I am sorry to all of you. Over the past few days, I have acted like an absolute idiot and have been exceptionally cruel to you. Last night and this morning being perfect examples. It was my fault that Rainbow Dash was taken by Discord, and I shouldn't have blamed you all for it. Even so, if you wanted to talk to me, you didn't need to attack me and tie me up," Applejack looked away, "But still, I forgive you for that. All I ask is that you can forgive me for my actions."

He was immediately hugged by the four mares at the same time, making Twilight giggle again. Shaking his head, he continued when they released him.

"Now. As I am sure I have already told some of you, Twilight has found Rainbow Dash."

"Well what are we waiting for, darling?" Rarity asked, with the other three mares nodding in agreement.

John coughed awkwardly, grimacing. "She's been brought to Canterlot. Now, Twilight and I have a theory why."

Questioning looks all around him made him move on.

"It's a trap." Fluttershy realised before the others, putting a hoof to her mouth. John nodded.

"Yes. But we can't ignore it. Discord wants me to go to Canterlot to try and free her. Unfortunately, Twilight and I also have a theory as to why Princess Celestia didn't help you when Discord took the Elements." John glanced at Twilight, who shook her head.

"Princess Celestia has also been taken, but a lot longer before Rainbow Dash was. Since that point in time, an imposter has been the Princess. You already know her, as do I. She is the Changlings' leader, Queen Chrysalis."

They all either gasped or bared their teeth.

"She was at the wedding two years ago. She almost beat us. And now she's back, with Discord to back her up. Together, they're only just unstoppable. And since we don't have the Elements, they are practically invincible. And that's where you come in."

Twilight continued for him, and John took a step backwards.

"We're going to need help if we want any chance at defeating them. So, we are going to go and rally some help in the more peaceful towns and cities, whilst Shaded goes to the more violent places. We need all the help we can get."

Rarity put a hoof up, to ask a question.

"What happens if we fail?"

Twilight glanced back at John, who nodded.

"If we fail, Equestria dies."

The Search Begins

Chapter 20: The Search Begins

It had been another restless night, filled with tossing, turning and the occasional nightmare. So far, John had managed about an hour of sleep, but that was plagued with bad dreams and...visions. Breathing lightly and softly, he watched as the moon began to fall behind the horizon, partially hidden behind the fluffy clouds that dotted the sky. The stars were fading behind a veil of light blue that marked the beginning of a new day.

It was not, however, completely untainted by Discord. There was the occasional pink cloud floating around the landscape, showering anything underneath with chocolate rain. Occasionally, he could see a freakishly tall rabbit dash into the undergrowth. It was horribly familiar, and quite frankly, creeped him out.

Outside, it was cold, but not cold enough to stop John from sitting on the roof of Shaded's house, watching the sunrise, patiently awaiting the daylight. In a few hours it would be time to leave Ponyville, and begin the recruiting. Even though there was only a slim chance, he still couldn't help but think about what would happen if nopony believed him.

What would happen? He would probably have to fight Discord alone. He couldn't simply make Twilight and the Elements of Harmony fight him. They were just too innocent to see that bloodshed. And what about last time? If Discord flipped their personalities again, they wouldn't be able to wield the Elements anyway, regardless of whether they retrieved them or not.

It was almost a lost cause. There were no variables. They would win, or they would lose. The fate of Equestria was hanging in the balance.

John snorted, his breath visible in the chilly air. "Just like a fan fiction back on Earth. Either that, or Discord's getting smart. Maybe both." As he finished his sentence, a short burst of that despicable twist of nature showered him with chocolate rain. Sighing, he blinked and shook his mane dry.

He cleared his throat, remembering a song from Earth. It fit the situation perfectly, and funnily enough, it was about Discord.

"I'm not a fan of puppeteers, but I've a nagging fear, someone else is pulling at the strings. Something terrible is going down, through the entire town, wreaking anarchy and all it brings."

John looked across to Sugarcube Corner, just visible in the distance.

"I can't sit idly, no, I can't move at all. I curse the name, the one behind it all..."

With a sad smile, he jumped off of the roof, sailing over Ponyville at a casual pace, not caring about how loud he was being.

"Discord, I'm howlin' at the moon, and sleepin' in the middle of a summer afternoon. Discord, whatever did we do to make you take our world away? Discord, are we your prey alone, or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne? Discord, we won't take it anymore, so take your tyranny away!"

He finished the chorus with an increase in volume, landing on the town hall's roof.

"I'm fine with changing status quo, but not in letting go, now the world is being torn apart; a terrible catastrophe played by your symphony, what a terrifying work of art!"

A few ponies were now awake, opening the shutters on their windows and watching in interest, drawn by John's singing.

"I can't sit idly, no, I can't move at all. I curse the name, the one behind it all..."

He landed on the ground, and began walking through Ponyville. A few ponies that he didn't recognise began to follow him, almost mirroring every move he made. Closing his eyes, he put every last piece of emotion he possibly could into the final chorus.

"Discord, I'm howlin' at the moon, and sleepin' in the middle of a summer afternoon. Discord, whatever did we do to make you take our world away? Discord, are we your prey alone, or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne? Discord, we won't take it anymore, so take your tyranny away!"

Stopping, he opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a road, surrounded by whispering ponies. Facehoofing, he lowered his ears slightly.

"Sorry if I woke you up. I didn't realise I was that loud."

One stallion, a white pegasus with a grey and blue mane stepped forwards. His green eyes were locked onto John's, making him ever-so-slightly frightened. The entire crowd went silent as he spoke.

"So, it's true? Discord's back?"

John could only nod, without stopping staring at the stallion. He had an air of confidence, and it was infectious. It was also as if the stallion knew him.

"Well, he ain't staying. We don't want him here, and neither do you." He pointed a hoof at John, making him wince slightly. Then, the meanings of his words hit him.

"Who are you?" John asked, curious as to his behaviour.

"White Lightning, Royal Guard 1st Airborne Battalion Sergeant, reporting for duty." He said whilst frowning at him. John felt a bit lightheaded, and the world began to spin as he put a hoof to his head. It felt as if his skull was slowly being crushed between two gigantic hands, and his eyes rolled up into his skull as he convulsed, making the crowd gasp and push forward.

The voices around him faded into non-existence as he fell from consciousness, still in agony the entire time. Eventually, he felt himself hit the earth beneath him, and a single swift flash of bright light erupted behind his eyeballs.

Rainbow Dash's eyelids fluttered weakly, and she breathed in through her nose, the faintly recognisable scent of perfume wafting into her nostrils. Shuddering from whatever was giving off a cold atmosphere, she opened her eyes to be greeted with stone. Not just any stone, however. Intricately carved stone, in the shape of bricks with multiple patterens twisting around each rectangle.

This wasn't Shaded's house, and nor was she with John. Frowning in confusion, she pushed herself upright, teetering slightly from side to side. All strength had deserted her in her legs, and she fell over again, crashing with a dull thud against the brickwork. Moaning in confusion, she shook her head to try to regain some idea of what had happened.

The last thing she remembered was John, as he called himself, carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom after he had awoken from their peaceful slumber. She had only batted an eyelid, and buried herself in his forelegs, quickly falling back into a deep slumber.

She tried to get up again, straining to put a hoof in front of her and push upwards. It didn't matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get up, as if something was restricting her movement. She was just about able to rasie herself into a sitting position. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head again, her rainbow mane swaying frantically from side to side as she did so. She was in the Princesses' Throne Room.

She stopped abruptly, thinking she heard something. Turning her head as quickly as possible to the source of the sound instinctively, she saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. Huh. Okaaaay... A rush of air behind her alerted Rainbow Dash to another presence, and she snapped back around, her mane whipping the air. Nothing again.

"Who's there! Come out, I ain't afraid of you!" She yelled, now angry that something could be so elusive, so sneaky, and so downright annoying. A dark chuckle from above her startled her slightly, and her heart pounded fiercely against her chest, becoming louder with each beat, like someone was slowly increasing the volume. She knew that chuckle.

Rainbow Dash directed her gaze upwards, her eyes darting around the ceiling of the enormous chamber. The sunlight became much brighter, the stained glass windows depicting various momentous occasions tinting the light various hues of the spectrum, blinding her with the newfound intensity.

Gasping in pain, she shielded herself with her wings, covering her eyes with them. She was, being a weather pony, used to the bright sunlight, but this wasn't normal sunlight. It was...malicious, if anything. Like it wanted to blind her. Sighing in relief as the darkness healed her, she felt an odd temperature increase in the area around her.

Resisting the urge to pull back her wings, she continued to shield herself, drops of perspiration rolling down her forehead. She heard the chuckle again, and she shivered. Her heart threatened to jump out of her mouth. For what seemed to be the first time, she was genuinely afraid.

"Tut tut. You forgot about the no wings, no magic rule, Rainbow Dash. Guess I'll fix that."

"Discord! Don't you-"

Her wings disappeared, and she forced her eyelids shut against the formidable power of the sun. Her sentence cut short, she growled in anger. Without a warning, she felt herself being picked up by an unknown force, and began to struggle against it, squirming and twisting in the air, unfortunately to no avail.

She felt her eyelids being forced open by the force, and she boldly fought against it for as long as she could, tears rolling down her cheeks with the sweat that began to drip from her muzzle. Eventually, she gasped in fatigue, and her eyelids were ripped open. Trying to look away from the light, she screamed in pain as her eyeballs burned. Figuratively, of course, but still, it hurt.

Without a warming she was dropped to the floor, the light subsiding back into the normal level of brightness, and she found herself looking at two of her most hated enemies.

Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, who had completely reversed her personality, tricking her into abandoning her friends. He had almost succeeded. And Queen Chrysalis, the Changling queen who had, around a year and a half ago, tried to take over Canterlot. She had almost succeeded.

Both were staring at her with an odd expression on their faces. It looked like a mixture of smugness and disappointment. Frustrated, she snarled at the pair, who responded with a fit of giggles. Growling even more, she attempted to get up, but couldn't move.

"Let me go! What did you do to Shaded!?" She shouted, having the foresight and common sense to not use his actual name. A million and one different theories pelted through her head, pulping her brain into confusion.

"Never you worry my dear, your coltfriend is fine. Just fine. I imagine he's looking for you right now." Discord grinned at her cheekily, and she spat forwards at him. It came nowhere near him, and he simply raised an eyebrow at the motion.

"He's not my coltfriend! He's my..." What was he to her anyway? She really didn't know. John was practically Shaded, but their relationship was never exactly on a coltfriend/marefriend basis. More like really good friends. They hadn't had the chance to make the decision mutually, even if they had both considered each other to be their partners.

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, what was that?" He innocently asked, before erupting into another fit of guffaws. She sighed, dropping her head. She lacked the mental energy to deal with him right now. But there was one thought that refused to leave her mind.

"What are you planning?" She whispered, only just able to raise her head. Something was sapping her energy, and she was becoming drowsy. Discord turned to Chrysalis, who grinned evily and steeped forwards. As she did so, she shapeshifted into a very recognisable form.

"What did you do to the Princess!? Where is she!?"

The Changling queen, morped into Celestia's body, smiled and began laughing again, pointing upwards with her hoof. There, nested amongst the ceiling, previously unseen, was the same kind of pod that the Princess was put in almost a year and a half ago.

Baring her teeth, she struggleed against her magical bonds, straining as hard as she could.

"Now now, my dear, we wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?"

There was a knock at the door behind her, and everypony froze in place. Discord faded from view, turning invisible, and "Celestia" opened the doors, smiling sweetly. A unicorn guard with a white coat entered, swiftly followed by a brown earth pony guard. Both were wearing the standardised armour of the Royal Guards, and it gleamed in the sunlight.

"You wanted to see us, Princess?" The unicorn spoke, and his voice made her quiver. Wait a minute, John told me about what happened in Canterlot. He mentioned what his torturers looked like. They were a white unicorn and...a brown earth pony.

She gulped, and strained again. The door closed behind them, and they walked past the struggling cyan pegasus, whose eyes pleaded for mercy. Ignoring her attempts, they brushed past her, and bowed in front of the throne.

"Fang. Biter. You do not need to use those pitiful disguises in here. Remove them."

"Yes, my queen." Rainbow Dash yelped in terror, her heart beating so fast that she felt as if it were trying to break through her ribs. The unicorn and earth pony erupted into bursts of green light, showering the room in light. When it ended, in front of her stood two Changlings, similar to Chrysalis in height and colour.

"Teleport to the dungeon with her," she pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash, "and leave her. Do not talk to her, do not feed her. And most importantly, do not harm her. It will interfere with the plan."

Wordlessly, they walked over to Rainbow Dash, and lifted her up into the air with their own magic.

"I'll see you very soon, my dear... Arrivaderci!" Discord's disembodied voice echoed throughout the hall, and she spat on the floor once more. With a flash of green, they reappeared in a rank room that stank of urine, bile and many other things she didn't want to think about.

Still completely silent, they more or less threw her into an open cell, slamming the door closed behind her. She landed on cold stone, and she coughed violently for a few seconds, before regaining her composure, and looking around. On one of the walls and the floorspace directly beneath it, there was a stagnant pool of crusted blood and bile, rougly in the shape of a pony.

The only light came from a small window above the door, and even that was feeble, so the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. Sighing in frustration, she pulled herself to her hooves, being able to walk fro the first time in what seemed to be hours. With a pang of regret, she realised that Discord still had her wings.

"Celestia damn it." She said to herself, looking at the pony shape on the wall and floor. It was moderately fresh compared to if it had been here for weeks. A couple of days old, at the most. A single, weak cough from another corner off the room caught her attention, and she spun round. She couldn't see who had coughed, but it was feminine, That she was sure of.

"Hello? Who's there?" She walked into the darkness slowly, feeling around with her hooves until she found the wall. She could faintly hear breathing, but it was jumpy, as if whoever was breathing had been crying. Her eyes failed to pick up any sign of the source, so she asked again.

"Hello?" She asked into the darkness again, her voice soft and quiet, as to not arouse any fear anypony may get, should somepony be in there. There was a short, equally quiet sniffle, and a muffled "Yeah?".

"Would you mind coming out here, where I can see you?" Rainbow Dash asked, hearing another jagged breath. Stepping backwards to allow the pony to move out, she stood by the door, waiting patiently.

Out of the blackness, a white foreleg appeared, thin and fragile. Another followed. Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion. The forelegs were out of proportion for a adult pony, so...

"Sweet Celestia..." She breathed, seeing the small white pegasus filly move out of the darkness. Her light yellow mane hung limply off of her head, and was caked in dirt. Her face was also caked in dirt, and her rose eyes were red, probably from crying. As quickly as she could, she lowered herself to her level as the filly ran towards her, embracing her tightly.

Her sobs made Rainbow Dash feel tearful as well, so she tried to console her. "Shhh... It's okay..." She hugged her back, wrapping her forehooves around her protectively. After a while, the sobs stopped, and she released the hug. The filly stepped backwards, and looked straight into Rainbow's eyes.

In a weak, soft and strained voice, she asked one simple question that made Rainbow Dash question her own sanity.

"Do you know where my dad is?"

John sharply drew in a breath, coming to. He hadn't seen anything this time, so it was probably just him falling asleep. He found himself in the Library, lying in Twilight's bed. Calming himself, his breathing slowly regained a steady pattern. He looked outside, seeing it was the evening. He had been out almost all day. he could hear voices downstairs, but he blanked them out, focusing on one thing.

"I'm going to Appleloosa tomorrow. Better get ready."

Appleloosa

Chapter 21: Appleloosa

The barren landscape of the desert that they were speeding through flashed past at a decently fast rate, the green cacti and tumbleweed leaving as soon as they appeared. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky with hues of pink, orange and blue. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, cotton candy or regular, leaving Canterlot easily visible in the distance.

Outside the carriage, the wind howled relentlessly, constantly trying to exploit any openings in the sides. The sunlight was very bright, probably leaving any onlooker that was outside for an extended period of time with terrible headaches and dehydration.

John drew back the crimson curtain with his magic; he now had full control of his abilities again. Almost as soon as he had awoken, he had traveled into the Everfree Forest with Twilight as his guide, to visit Zecora. After a brief conversation that was unfortunately riddled with rhyme, he asked for his armour, which had been supplied by Luna for his quest. Upon returning to the Library, Twilight had conducted an extensive investigation into every enchantment that Luna had placed upon the set.

She had confirmed everything that Luna had told him, and discovered several she hadn't told him about. Amongst the confirmation pile were the resistance to fire, and being able to draw energy from Luna's moon and stars. Thankfully, Twilight had gone into more depth about each of the two, carefully explaining each in precise detail.

However, there was one enchantment that she couldn't explain, no matter how hard she tried. It was his blades. Similar in design and very accurate in terms of use, to the hidden blade from Assassin's Creed, a game of which John was very fond of, she had examined them for most of the night, completely puzzled as to how they were created, not to mention how they actually worked.

She had eventually came to the conclusion that they concentrated absorbed energy from the moon and stars, forming a powerful beam of energy that could be audjusted to dissipate at certain lengths. Their enchantment was no easier to decode than to find out how they were made, taking another handful of hours to evaluate. True to Luna's word, they countered or destroyed any form of magic that was within the use of a regular unicorn, borderlining with Twilight's magical abilities. They worked just the same as regular steel blades, so in reality, everything else was just for aesthetics.

With a sigh of exhaustion, he threw himself backwards onto the supplied bed, bouncing gently with the momentum. Creaking, the bed strained to hold him up, as it was on the top bunk. He was sharing a carriage with the girls, and thankfully, too deep in thought to actually regard them, instead opting to concentrate on his tools. His armour and weapons were stacked neatly in a pile, leaning against the rickety walls of the Friendship Express.

As the bed creaked as if in pain and the girls' heads all snapped upwards from their conversation, focusing their gaze on the oblivious John. When they saw that he had only moved, they returned to talking. As they restarted their chatter, John felt himself beginning to nod off, only to forcefully keep himself awake. Growling in resentment of the waiting, he trained an ear on the girls' conversation.

/br/

"Excuse me, Twilight? Don't you think that we are being a little too brash here? I mean, how in Equestria are we going to get to Canterlot without being seen by Discord?"

Twilight grimaced slightly, tightly pulling in the corners of her mouth. Shaded hadn't told them how he was planning to do that yet.

"To be honest Rarity, I have absolutely no idea. I can think of a few ways that may work, but..."

"But what, sugarcube?" Applejack frowned in concentration, looking directly at Twilight expectantly. Before she could respond, the orange earth pony cut in again. "Ah can't even believe that ya'll trust him so much!"

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Yes, he may have apologised, and yes, he may regret his actions, but it was no excuse to act as such...such a ruffian!" She whispered.

They all heard an ominous growl from above, the very air around them seeming to vibrate as they looked upwards in fear. Shaded Comet was looking over the bed, staring at Rarity with an eerily blank facial expression, his blue and cyan mane shadowing his head.

"I would have thought that by now, you would have forgiven me. Do you not think that I regret it? Do you seriously think that I enjoyed doing the stuff I did?" He asked calmly, choosing his words carefully, as to not anger or scare Rarity. His electric blue eyes didn't move from Rarity's equally blue eyes as the two regarded each other and, from Twilight's perspective, sized each other up.

Rarity hung her head, and looked down at the floor, mumbling to herself. Shaded wordlessly moved his head back over, and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Twilight swallowed hard, and laughed nervously, glancing across outside the window at the rapidly approaching frontier town of Appleloosa.

"Hey, we're here!" She shouted in excitement, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her stomach.

/br/

John's hoof threw up a small storm of sand and dust as it made contact with the barren ground. A few dry and dead bushes dotted the landscape, with a large amount of apple trees in the distance. The train pulled away from the station, leaving the six ponies standing on the platform.

Beyond the incredibly small station was the frontier town. John glanced upwards at the clock tower that was roughly in the center of the town. "Ten thirty. Nice." he muttered, gazing around at the buildings. It looked completely different to what it looked like in the show, and upon hearing the girls' gasps of awe, he guessed that it had been a while since they were here. Hang on.

"Twilight? When was the last time you came to Appleloosa?" Looking across at her, she put a hoof to her chin, thinking.

"I think it was about two years ago. I'm not quite sure."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud "YEEEHAAAAW!", and a light yellow stallion earth pony popped up behind them. "Hey there! Welcome to", he paused for dramatic effect, making John and the girls facehoof, "APPLELOOOOOSA!"

"Okay. Girls. You can go catch up with Braeburn for a while, I'm going to have a look around." John walked off without saying a word, focusing on the task at hand. Setting off at a brisk trot, his eyes fell upon the very first building he saw. It had no sign, but it was obviously some sort of bar. Several pegusus drunkards lolled about outside, lazily regarding him as he walked past.

Pushing the door open, he found himself staring at a roomfull of stallions and mares all regarding him with icy glares. Shaking off their stares, he shrugged and trotted slowly over to the counter. The barpony turned around from polishing a glass, and smiled at him.

"Welcome to The Watering Hole, what can I get you, sir?" John sighed, and looked upwards at the list of drinks. Apart from a select few, they all sounded alcoholic, so he chose some mineral water. Whilst the barpony served his drink, he looked around the room. There was a massive amount of tension in the air, such to the point of making John incredibly wary of his surroundings. It felt as if he wasn't welcome here.

With another warm but nervous smile, the barpony placed the glass of water on the counter in front of John, and turned to serve another customer. Levitating it, he took a sip, savouring the cold beverage. As he did so, the entire bar went completely silent, and John followed their eyes to the floating glass.

"Ponyfeathers." Setting the more or less full glass down, he slid a few bits to the barpony, and tried to exit. His path was blocked by the pegusai from outside, who were pounding their hooves together whilst floating bipedal, occasionally teetering from side to side.

"Where do you think you're going, you little freak?" One of them sneered, making the others guffaw. Soon enough, the entire bar was in hysterics, pointing at John and falling over, rolling on the floor.

"Please move." John tried to keep his tone level and calm, but the laughter was angering him. Taking a step forwards, he found himself being pulled backwards by the tail. Looking round, he saw a dull orange earth pony stallion with a red and yellow mane. But what caught his attention was the jet black eyepatch over the stallion's right eye.

Shaking his head, the pony moved in front of him, glaring at the drunkards. Without warning, a more bolder and possibly foolish member of the drunks swung a sloppy left hook at him with his fore hoof. The pony in front of him nimbly dodged the hoof, ducked under his forelegs and delivered a crippling, bone crunching kick to the stomach.

The entire bar exploded into chaos, swinging puches, kicks and chucking ponies into tables and chairs, making the wood splinter. John moved forwards, and jabbed another drunkard in the jaw. The pegasus fell through the air as if it were syrup, collapsing to the floor with a moan. Turning round and ducking, he dodged a kick from another stallion, and punched him in the ribs.

The fight continued on for another couple of minutes, slowly losing intensity and fighters as the orange stallion and John worked as a duo to knock out anypony who attacked them. Eventually, there were none left standing in the decimated bar. Covered in small cuts and bruises, John sighed in relief.

Looking around at the damage, the stallion swore in anger. His speech was slurred, but still very understandable. Calming down, the stallion chucked a bag of bits to the barpony, and motioned for John to follow him. Leading him outside, the orange stallion snorted and turned around.

"That was fun. What's your name?"

John glanced into the one good eye that the orange stallion had.

"Shaded Comet. Thanks for helping me...?"

Upon hearing the first two words, the stallion frowned. "Shaded Comet?" He asked, and John nodded. "But...you're dead. You died! Unless..." Adopting a troubled expression, his face becoming wrinkled, he glanced towards Canterlot.

"My name is Iron Heart, and you my friend, have a lot of explaining to do."

/br/

Twilight and her friends were watching, well, attending, a competition of some sorts. Instead of watching the contenders, they sat further back, whispering furiously outside of the earshot of anypony save for them, including Braeburn.

"How in the name of Celestia does he know who Braeburn is? We didn't introduce them to each other!" Twilight hissed, keeping an eye trained on the light yellow stallion, who was giving the competition his undivided attention.

"I fear there may be more to Shaded than we know. There's just something I can't put my hoof on. If I remember correctly, he had amnesia. So how did he know who we are?" Rarity whispered back, also keeping an eye on Braeburn.

"Ah agree with Rarity. There's somethin' he's keepin' from us." Applejack added, her cowpony hat perched atop her blonde mane. Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment, placing a hoof underneath her chin.

Shaking her head, she turned to Fluttershy. "No, that can't be it. He wouldn't lie. Fluttershy, what do you think?"

The butter yellow mare could only mumble something and hide behind her heart shaped mane. Sighing, Twilight looked round at Pinkie Pie expectantly. She always had an idea, no matter how crazy it sounded, it still worked. Most of the time.

To her shock, the pink party pony was completely silent, staring instead at the royal blue earth pony who stood over the group, frowning down at Twilight. The purple unicorn glanced behind her and gasped in shock, jumping backards into Applejack, who didn't even protest, pushing her upright again.

"I know you...You're that rainbow maned pegusus' friends, aren't you?" Twilight looked closer at the stallion, and realised that he was dripping with sweat, his brow shining in the sunlight. She tried to distract herself.Chrysalis is sneaky. She knows that by keeping everything normal, nopony will suspect anything. Shaking her head, she motioned for him to sit with a nod of her head, her horn sparking fiercely.

"Huh?" She went cross eyed as she looked up at it, frantically shaking her head to rid herself of the sparks. To her shock, Rarity began to giggle knowingly, and Twilight glared at her.

"Forgive me for asking ma'am, but what's your name?" The stallion tossed his forest green mane backwards, and held out a hoof to Twilight. She took it cautiously, and shook it. Not letting her hoof go, the stallion leaned down and pressed his lips against her hoof, kissing it gently.

Twilight's breath caught in her throat, and her head began to spin, her horn sparkling even more. Muttering, she smiled widely and fell backwards, the silly grin still plastered on her face. Seeing that she had fainted, Rarity answered for her.

"Sorry about that, her name's Twilight Sparkle."

The stallion's wide eyes decreased, and he released her hoof, lowering to the floor. With a small smile, he looked over at Rarity, confused.

"I take it this happens often, miss...?"

"Rarity, darling, and no, I can assure you that this is the first time. Allow me to introduce my friends here."

The white unicorn looked across at her friends, smiling. They all gasped simultaneously, and stared at the stallion in silence.

"Okaaaaay..." The stallion said, raising an eyebrow and wiping the accumulated sweat from his brow with his hoof.

Rarity glared at the group until they responded.

Pinkie Pie exploded into action, bursting in front of him with a shower of confetti. "Hey! My name's Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you! You know, I've never seen you before, which must mean that you don't know my friends, which means I need to throw a party to introduce you! *Gasp* I'll be right back!" The Element of Laughter disappeared from the stallions vision whilst he was collecting his shattered thoughts.

Applejack stepped forwards next, smiling nervously. Giggling slightly, she just about managed to say "Ahm Applejack..." before she blushed profusely and backed away, turning around so he couldn't see her face.

Fluttershy just hid behind her mane, cowering slightly. The stallion lowered himself down to the quivering mare, and politely asked her her name. She managed a very quiet "My name is...Flu...er...hy..." before squeeing and hiding even farther behind her mane.

Rarity rolled her eyes, and turned around to the stallion. "And what about you sir, what is your name?" She questioned, nudging him lightly with her hoof.

"My name's Speedy. Speedy Recovery. I'm a-"

"Speedy?"

/br/

John watched Shaded's, no his, brother turn around and glare at him. Gulping, he flinched as the stallion stepped forward, a fiery rage burning behind his eyes.

"What...The bucking hay...Were...You...Thinking?" he growled at him.

Smiling weakly, he looked behind him to the girls, his eyes begging for help. Rarity nudged Twilight, who looked as if she was asleep, aside from the massive smile she had on her face. She awoke stuttering, looking up at her horn, sighing in relief.

Iron Heart looked over at Twilight, and his eye opened in surprise. He mouthed something to her, and she nodded. Immediately he bowed down gracefully.

John and Speedy watched as he bowed, and began to snicker, but in Speedy's case, he continued to glare at John. Shooting them a nastier glare, Iron Heart turned around quickly, raising himself back up to his full height. Well, they are the Elements of Harmony. And she is royalty.

Motioning for them all to sit down, John began to tell them the story so far. Noticing that Iron Heart was ever so slightly nervous sitting next to Applejack, he chuckled before starting.

/br/

Rainbow Dash held the filly close to her, sharing her body warmth with her. The poor pegasus was shaking violently, but at least they had had some food given to them earlier. Not much, but enough. Stroking her mane, she let the filly cuddle closer to her, gripping her tightly.

There had been no more tears shed from either of them. They had found comfort and sanctuary in each other, sharing all of their interests and thoughts about their futures. Their personalities were shockingly similar to the other's, and that made them all the more closer.

Rainbow Dash felt strangely content, lying here, letting the filly snuggle close to her for reassurance. But there was one thing that kept her confused about the filly. She didn't know her name. Still stroking her mane, she looked into the pegasus filly's rose eyes. They were the exact shade that Rainbow's were.

"You still haven't told me your name. Would you mind telling me what it is?" Strangely, her question held none of it's usual brashness and pride, instead holding a lighter, almost motherly tone. The white filly smiled a small, sad smile and opened her mouth to answer.

The cell door burst open, and Rainbow Dash was gripped by the two Changlings from yesterday. What were their names?  Oh well.

With all the meagre strength she could muster, she fought against them, twisting and turning in their grasp. But, alas, their grip was too powerful, but she didn't give up. Almost screaming in frustration, she bit down on her lip, drawing blood as she tried to concentrate.

With a yell, she twisted again, only to be wrenched viciously to the side, which was swiftly followed up with a shockingly strong kick. Moaning in pain, she was dropped unceremoniously to the floor with a thud.

Trying to catch her breath, she looked up to see them retreating through the door. With a feral growl, she charged at the door, only to have it slam closed inches away from her nose.

With a sigh, she limped over to the filly, who was crying again. Ignoring the pain, Rainbow Dash pulled her into a tight hug, letting the filly cry into her shoulder. Eventually, the sobs subsided, and the filly looked up into Rainbow Dash's bloodshot eyes. Not saying a word, the filly snuggled into a sleeping position, and began to lightly breathe.

Thinking that it was just the stress of today, Rainbow Dash smiled. Then one thought caught her attention, begging to be released. It had been troubling her since she met the filly, so why not ask it now?

Nudging the sleeping filly, she whispered into her ear.

"You never did tell me your dad's name. What is it? I might know him."

The filly yawned, smiled contently and opened her eyes a fraction of an inch.

"John. He's called John."

Rainbow Dash's mouth dropped open.

Manehatten

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."

Fillydelphia

Chapter 23: Fillydelphia

"I need answers. I can't afford to wait. Every blasted minute I spend oblivious as to what happened to Shaded is another minute lost. Time is of the essence, and if by any chance I become incapacitated in Canterlot because of it, it could very well mean the end of me."

John trotted down the dirt paths that made up most of Ponyville. The sun was shining, controlled by Chyrsalis, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Recent reports and letters from members of the Royal Guard indicated that they were waiting for the counter offensive, as per Captain Shining Armour's orders. According to one of the most recent letters that Shining Armour had sent to Twilight, Lieutenant Gage, who was apparently the brown pegasus that John had throttled, had taken a battalion of soldiers to Fillydelphia, to reinforce the town's defense.

The Changlings were beginning attacks on the most desolate of targets, slowly working their way inwards. It was a crafty plan, and as was stated in the letter, was very effective. It was as if they were trying to push their unfinished preparations for the counter attack towards Canterlot, to the waiting Discord and Chrysalis.

It was one massive trap that they had fallen into, and now there was no obvious route out of conflict. The only way forwards, to hopefully end this short war, was to move into Canterlot. But then, they did exactly what Discord wanted.

Sighing heavily, John sharply turned the corner. With a surprised yelp, he was shoved to the ground as a scooter thundered by and braked. Dizzily looking up, he found himself at the feet of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo was directly in front of him, whilst Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were off to the sides, apologising profusely for knocking him over, before realising who he was and abruptly coming to a halt verbally.

Scootaloo frowned down at him disapprovingly, causing John to give her a confused look. Remembering that he didn't technically know them, he played the fool.

"Errr... Excuse me? Would you mind-"

Scootaloo jumped onto his chest, knocking the air out of him. Gasping, he growled up at the orange pegasus filly, whose hair was askew and misshapen. Her eyes were red, indicating that she was either tired, or...

She had been crying.

"What have you done with Rainbow Dash?!" She pushed her face against John's, snarling. With a measured breath, he calmed himself down. She's just a filly. She can't know.

"I haven't seen her in a while, Scootaloo."

Her facial expression became even angrier, even nastier, and contained hints of hate for John.

"You know that I know that you know where she is Shaded! Don't lie to me! Where is Rainbow Dash?!"

Gulping and looking away from Scootaloo, he turned his gaze to the other two Crusaders, his eyes pleading for help. With a snort, they both turned their noses up and ignored him. When he looked back up at Scootaloo, he immediately wished that he hadn't.

Her wings were flared out in anger, her irises had become pinpricks surrounded by a mix of white and red, and she was crying. His heart pounding in fear of the pegasus, he tried to smile comfortingly. He had never been this afraid of anyone before, so he didn't exactly know what to do. It wasn't fear of her being angry with the sudden disappearance of Rainbow Dash, it was the fear of her reaction if he told her the truth.

With a grunt, he pushed a protesting Scootaloo off of his chest, but caught her in his magical grasp. She struggled temporarily, but eventually gave up, curling up and sobbing. With pangs of heartache, he released the spell, gently lowering her to the floor, and laying her down on the dirt path. Lying down beside her, he extended his right wing and draped it over her body, covering her like a blanket.

She slowly looked up at John with a startled expression. Smiling sadly, he wiped her tears away with his hoof. It was all just one massive replay of a scene that would forever be rooted firmly into his memory. Just replace Scootaloo with his daughter, Rainbow Dash with her mother, and keep John as John, and you would have a perfect re-enactment of that scene, without the situation, four years ago.

/br/

It had been, funnily enough, the day before Christmas. It was snowing outside in the late evening, layering the ground with the soft white crystals. Inside his home, John was putting the finishing touches to the Christmas tree, a proud but small pine tree that he had retrieved himself, for a reduced price from the owner, of course. All the presents, all six of them, were under the tree, patiently waiting for the moment where their wrapping paper would be ripped off and cast aside, revealing their contents.

Finally placing the last of the sliver tinsel on the tree, John stopped to admire his handiwork. After a few moments, listening to the beat of the clock hand's ticking, he heard the stairs to his right groaning under the weight of a newcomer. His daughter was standing on the stairs, teddy bear in hand, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Daddy? Where's mummy?"

Fighting back tears, John looked towards the presents in the boxes, hiding under the tree. All six of them were for her, from him. She would recieve others tomorrow, when they were to visit John's mother. There were none from "mummy". She was gone.

Sweeping up his daughter into his arms, he carried her back up the stairs, each step creaking under their combined weight. The landing light upstairs flickered weakly as they trod past into her room, leaving the door open. Silently, he lowered her back into her bed, pulling the duvet up over her to keep her warm.

Breathing in deeply, John sat down on the edge of the bed carefully, as to not sit on his daughter. Putting the palm of his hand beside her, he turned to smile sadly at her.

"Mummy's gone away for a while. I don't know when she'll be back, but I'm here, okay?" He whispered softly. Brushing aside a stray blonde lock of hair, he kissed her on the forehead. She looked up into John's eyes.

"Can you sing me a song, Daddy?" She asked, her face the picture of angelic innocence. Smiling slightly, he sat up slowly.

"Of course darling." Clearing his throat with a cough, he blinked back tears. As softly as he could, he began to sing in low pitched, slow speaking manner.

"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."

Looking down, he saw that she had fallen asleep, and was quietly and peacefully breathing whilst facing him. Standing up slowly, he finally allowed his tears to flow.

/br/

"Please, Scootaloo. I don't know where she is, but if I find her, I'll tell you." John lied through his teeth, hoping that they wouldn't see through his ruse. Her words alone were enough to open the floodgates, and he was having to use every last ounce of willpower to stop himself from crying. She huddled closer to him under his wing, beginning to stop crying.

"Leave it to me, I'll find Rainbow Dash and I'll bring her back. I promise." He whispered, starting to get up. He needed to cry, but he couldn't here. Pushing himself up, he smiled forcefully down at her, and she smiled back.

"Thank you."

Without sparing another second, John continued to trot down the road, trying to keep calm. Thankfully, more or less right in front of him, was the library. It was impossible not to notice, all because of the mass of ponies, a mixture of stallions and mares, gathered outside. Studying them, they all saluted at him as he walked past, albeit clumsily. Most he hadn't seen before, so they must have been from Appleloosa and Manehatten. Nooding back, he entered the library, closing the door behind him.

A table had been moved into the middle of the floor, and it was littered with maps and letters. In the room were twelve ponies and one griffon, to his surprise. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, White Lightning, Shining Armour, Iron Heart, Speedy Recovery, Halo Eclipsed, Frostbite, Azure Scythe and Hayzu. Around the table were Shining Armour, Iron Heart and White Lightning. Greeting them with a nod, he took his place in the oval that surrounded the table, and looked at Shining Armour.

"I know that you're probably surprised to see us all here, but we're here for a reason." Shining Armour answered his silent question.

"Pray tell, Captain, what has been happening?"

"As you know, Chrysalis is now trying to push you towards Canterlot, but to do that, she's had to reveal herself. All over Equestria, ponies of every age, every height, every skill and every type have been rallying to your cause. In the three days that this has been going on for, we've recruited over three hundred able bodied recruits, not counting the royal guards. Together, we've an unstoppable force, and we will take back Canterlot." Shining Armour smiled to himself.

"But it's not enough. We aren't just going up against the Changlings. Reports from scouts and pleas for help from ponies still inside Canterlot indicate that Discord has reinforced them in his own ways, such as manipulating the weather, giving them armour and weapons, etcetera." White Lightning took his turn to speak.

"So, cutting the margin to before they are ready, you have three more days to collect particular allies with skill traits." Shining Armour finished, and waited for John's response.

"Particular allies?" He asked in confusion.

"Unfortunately, there's only two ways into Canterlot. From the air, and from the mountain. We're going to launch a frontal assault as a distraction, whilst flanking from the air. If all goes to plan, you, Twily and the girls are going to sneak inside, retrieve the Elements and use them against Discord and Chrysalis." Shining Armour stated the plan on a basic level.

"But you're going to have your own team to help, consisting of any ponies you deem helpful to that particular section of the plan." Lightning grimaced.

"I see. On another note, was has become of Gage? Has there been any word?"

"Nope. Standard procedure protocol for Royal Guards indicate that any operation undertaken must have reports every eight hours at the least, without exception. Lieutenant Gage hasn't reported for sixteen hours, so we're going to investigate."

"But he's in Fillydelphia. How are we going to get there?"

"Not 'we', Shaded. You."

John shook his head, clearing his mind of errant thoughts that wandered around aimlessly, some affecting him, some remaining docile.

"I take it that I am not going alone?" He asked Shining, who also grimaced.

"You'll be going with several members of the Royal Guard 1st Airborne Battalion." Iron Heart pointed outside. "Unfortunately, we can't go with you at the moment," he pointed to his back, which was obviously wingless, "so you're going with five ex-members who have joined the counter attack. They're waiting outside. Go and introduce yourself, and get ready."

Nodding to his comrades, he stepped away from the table, and said quick hello and goodbyes to the rest of the assembled group. Pushing the door open, he stepped outside, looking around for the mentioned ponies.

They were not as hard to locate as he initially thought. They were literally right outside, clustered together.

All of them were stallions. Their gold armour shone brightly, reflecting the rays of the sun in all directions, and their weapons gleamed brilliantly, thanks to the recently polished steel. Each was white, but their manes were concealed underneath the standard issue helmet. Saluting as he approached, he shook his head.

"No. We're all equals here. Don't salute."

Two of the group glanced at each other, their wings twitching. Another went back to his equipment, whilst the final two casually took off their helmets. Silence, eh? Okay.

"I assume you are the group accompanying me to Fillydelphia, yes?"

Another moment of silence ensued. It was actually quite awkward. Oh, I know why. 1st Airborne Battalion hated Shaded. Right.

"I don't suppose we can put our past behind us?" John asked tentatively, stepping backwards when the pony that was tending to his equipment turned away from his weapon, and stepped towards him.

"No. We can't. We're here to do what needs to be done, nothing more." The guard growled, startling John slightly.

"Fine. We're moving in ten minutes. Get ready."

The white pegasus rolled his eyes, snorted and moved away from John, who scowled at him.

Seriously? I mean, really? It's been a year since Shaded participated in the battle for Cloudsdale, so why can't he put it behind him. Why can't they?! It's stupid.

Shaking himself from his momentary mental isolation, he found himself back in the library, in front of his armour. Huh? I didn't teleport. Who teleported me? He looked behind him, searching for anypony who could have teleported him back inside, to this particular spot. Not finding anypony, he turned back around to face his armour, taking a large breath to calm himself.

Squinting down at his armour, he started to put it on, starting, as usual, with the silky jet black undersuit. Pulling it over his body with the assistance of his magic, he shuddered as the cold fabric stretched over his body. Making sure that it was tightly secured around his body, and that he could easily flap his wings, he smiled when he found that both were fine. Satisfied, he then levitated the navy blue chestplate onto his upper body, pulling the straps tight. With a grunt, he securely fastened the chestplate.

Next were the bracers for his fore and hind legs. Slipping them on, he tightened the leather binds that held them in place, and grinned when he found them to be a perfect fit. Standing up on his hind legs with his wings flapping slightly to support him, he stared down at his right foreleg bracer, concentrating on having the blade around a foot long.

"Nocturnumque."

The room lit up slightly as the blade sprung out, humming slightly with the energy it gave out. The white, almost silvery moonlight that was given off never ceased to amaze him, as he had experimented several times by himself when he was alone and had some time to himself. Even though it had only been three days since Rainbow Dash had been taken by Discord, and he was still looking for specialists in the field that would prove invaluable when they attacked Canterlot, he had still occasionally found time to practice with nocturnumque.

Letting the blade dissipate, he coughed, clearing his throat. The only thing left on the floor was his helmet. His familiar dark blue aura surrounded the item as it slowly levitated into the air, hovering above his head. Dropping back onto his hooves, he slipped it on, feeling the cold steel against his cheeks as it slid into position.

Flexing his wings, he stood up on his hind legs again. It felt more natural for him to walk like this, so screw whatever anypony thought of him. He wouldn't be able to run like this, but walking and combat may be easier. He could still use his wings to evade incoming blows and fly, so it wasn't a disadvantage.

Seeing that he was wearing all of his equipment, he turned back towards the door, ducking his head and pulling his wings to his side as he walked through. Outside, his temporary squad had finished their final preparations, and was patiently waiting.

"We leaving?" One of them asked, John couldn't tell who.

"Let's go find out where Lieutenant Gage has wandered off to."

With that parting sentence, John blasted into the air, the five guards following swiftly behind him.

(around forty minutes later)

Positioning themselves in an arrow formation as they rocketed through the sky, John searched the landscape far below them for any sign of Fillydelphia, his eyes hungrirly passing over everything beneath him. He knew that they were getting close to Fillydelphia, but he just couldn't see it. The only thing visible was...

...that massive smoke cloud in the distance.

"Form up!" He yelled backwards to the squad, who immediately responded by tightening up the formation and therefore building speed as a whole. Increasing his own pace, he bolted towards the cloud with all the strength he could muster. Squinting against the grey, woody smoke that fogged the air, he managed to just about make out what was happening below.

It looked as if there were a medium sized battalion of pony troops, all in gleaming golden armour, clashing steel against steel as they fought off a battalion of Changlings twice the size of theirs, their black exoskeletons dully reflecting any light from the meager amount of sunlight that managed to break through the intense cloud of black soot.

As he watched, he saw blow after blow striking down soldier after soldier on both sides, but the Changlings seemed to be gaining ground. Breaking through the last wisps of black, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning his head and body to veer towards it, he saw it to be the flag of Equestria waving in the breeze, placed carefully atop a semi demolished building.

Come to think of it, scanning around quickly, he saw nothing but piles of rubble here and there. Occasionally, there were intact buildings, and these seemed to be the most heavily protected of any other buildings. Surrounding each of these structures were hastily constructed barriers, behind which were squads of unicorns firing spell after spell in an effort to stop any enemy forces coming closer towards them, with earth ponies taking cover.

There wasn't, however, any air support, which was quite worrying to John, so he quickly formulated a plan. Gritting his teeth, John glanced behind him, seeing that his squad was still following his every move. He pulled up sharply.

"Help these soldiers in any way you can. I'm going to find Lieutenant Gage."

The white pegusai nodded, and darted towards a group of advancing Changlings, who were tackled roughly to the floor and cut apart as the group extended their wingblades in one fluid motion. Quickly demolishing the target, and earning a roar of approval from a group of defenders, they locked onto another target.

Turning away, John hovered inches above the floor, looking directly down the rubble-strewn street. At the end of it, he could dimly see a light brown pegasus in gold armour. Gage. But between him and the Lieutenant was quite a number of Changlings. Swallowing, he landed bipedal and took a step forwards towards the nearest group.

They were engaged in a magical duel with a different squad of unicorns, and seemed to be winning. The unicorns were panting and sweating, struggling to keep up their barrage of elemental spells, the flames and icy winds beginning to die down and flicker as they fought on.

John felt a transition in emotions as he watched, and allowed the long buried skills of Shaded to show, effectively letting Shaded's knowledge guide his movements.

Still walking onwards, he began to pick up speed, telekinetically grabbing a sword from the road as he dashed past, dropping down to all fours as he galloped towards the group of Changlings, who looked to be on the brink of victory. With a roar, he sprung into the group, twirling the sword above his head and bringing it downwards sharply.

With a clean whump, the blade cut through the nearest Changling before it had time to defend itself, the honed edge severing his head from his body. Black ichor spewed fromt he incision, but nonetheless, John continued onwards. By now, the five remaining Changlings had noticed him, and bared their fangs, hissing and spitting at him.

Frowning, he used the momentum from the last blow to drop to the floor, sliding underneath the guard of one Changling before twsting the blade around and letting it hack into it's legs. With a insectoid howl, it fell twitching and holding the bloody limbs.

Propelling himself over the heads of the last four with a powerful flap of his wings, he effortlessly extended out the sword's reach with his magic, spiralling in the air and feeling it pass through several masses before coming to he came to a halt and landing in another offensive pose, watching two Changling bodies split in half and slide past each other with a wet squelch, each of the four halves, upper and lower body, hit the floor with a thump.

Roaring, a Changling jumped at him, it's horn glowing green as it charged up a spell. He didn't have time to activate nocturnumque, so he did the first thing that came into his mind. He dropped the sword, stood bipedal and with a yell, thrust forwards with his front right hoof. A sickening snap told John that his aim had been true, and he grinned. Not as a sadist, enjoying the pain he had just caused, but rather, in the humour in an action his brain had just proposed.

Focusing his magic on his right hoof, he drew it back. Looking straight into the completely blue eyes of his opponent, he spoke the two words that heralded it's doom as he pushed forwards with all his might.

"FALCOWN PUNCH!"

Needless to say, the Changling was thrown several hundred yards backwards, eventually coming to a stop when a building was there to break it's momentum. With a crunch, the Changling broke through the brickwork, leaving a small cloud of dust. Satisfied with himself, he turned around, raising his forelegs to guard his face.

Before John had time to react, the final Changling had jumped at him, opening it's mouth to bite down on his neck. Fliching, John turned away. The Changling was hit by a green blur, which tackled it to the floor. Literally seconds after, the Changling was surrounded by a blue aura, and the green blur, now revealed to be a pegasus, meekly stood up.

"Thanks mate. I owe you one." John breathed, dropping back down to all fours and studying the pegasus. It was a stallion, with a green coat with a strange grey stripe going from the front of the mane to the end of the tail, including his body. The stripe also went down to each hoof, and his eyes were steel grey.

Before the stallion could respond, he was ushered back into a building which he had probably broken out of to save him by a unicorn guard, who murmered apologies to John about his team's lack of foresight and reaction times. Looking up and around him, John noticed a very high decrease in the amount of Changling attackers, thanks to the combined efforts of the five pegusai and unicorns. But there were, however, still Changlings massing at the end of the road.

Pushing the guard aside, John sprinted down the road, extending his wings and taking flight as he neared the massive group of Changlings surrounding two soldiers. From this distance, he could see every Changling's mouth drool as they converged on the two, charging up horns and flapping insectoid wings.

Clearly visible, flapping in the wind, was another flag of Equestria, securely held in Gage's left forehoof. In the other, was a sword. Beside him, glaring daggers at the Changlings was a blood red pegasus mare in equally gold armour to Gage's, holding a bow with an empty quiver on her back. As each one would get closer, Gage would leap forward, stab at the offender, and jump backwards.

Pulling his wings in tightly, he circled around and landed on Gage's other side.

"Hope I'm not too late for the party."

"Shut up, Shaded."

"Shaded?" The red mare opened her blue eyes in surprise, openly staring at John.

"I'll explain later. I assume you have a plan, lieutenant?"

Gage only grunted in response, and planted the flag firmly into the ground. Readying his sword, he stared into the crowd of Changlings. There must have been about one hundred of the bloody things. The red pegasus mare pulled out a dagger, whilst John took a calm step forwards, standing up bipedal once again.

"Nocturnumque."

The the right blade sprung out, gently humming as it extended to around a foot long. Gage didn't say a word, instead opting to raise an eyebrow, and the red pegasus rolled her eyes, which were now pink. John looked up at the Changlings, a confident grin on his face.

"Come at me, bros."

As one massively disorganised mess they surged forwards, many trampling their own as some were tripped and knocked over. With an unneccessary war cry, John flew forward whilst standing up straight, and teleported above the middle of the black stormy sea of writhing limbs.

Diving down, he spun round with his forehooves out like wings. Realising their mistake, the Changlings screamed at each other in their hellish language, probably to move, but it was too late. With an even bigger war cry than John's, every last military pony in the ruins of Fillydelphia charged towards the enemy.

John easily cut into their ranks, vanquishing one attacker after another as he dived through. They had no chance; they were too disorganised to order a retreat, and too tightly packed together to fight back. One errant blast of green magic caught a unicorn guard under the helmet, and he flew backwards, breaking the surrounding circle that had kept them in place.

As they spilled out and began to reinstate order into their ranks, John landed slap bang in the middle of the Changlings, immediately lunging for one. Nocturnumque caught the Changling in the abdomen, and with a schlick the blade cut through the exoskeleton like it was paper. Twisting around, he blocked a well organised barrage of magic that made him slide backwards a few feet as he raised his blade in front of the concentrated beam, breaking it down into energy as they put more and more power into the pointless attack.

With a shout, John pushed forward, sending the beam staright back at the mass of enemies. Satisfied with his work, he punched forwards with his weapon outstretched, slicing into another Changling. The Changling's blue eyes flickered for a moment, and then glazed over. Ignoring this fact, John kicked backwards with his hooves after hearing a Changling attempting to sneak up on him. His steel horseshoes made contact with the head of the Changling, and it sunk to the floor.

Looking around to see how the battle was going, he was relieved.

Everypony was still alive, a few minor scratches and bruises, but they were nothing compared to the thrashing that the Changlings had just recieved. There must have been around five hundred here to start with, and now there's only about ten or so left. Huh.

With a sigh, he removed his helmet, shaking his mane free after pulling the hood down. He was hot and sweaty, but they had done it.

(a few hours later)

It was now around eleven at night, and the sun was as hot as it was at midday in the middle of summer. "Queen Chyrsalis and Discord must have found out about the enormous lost they sustained in Fillydelphia. So they're punishing us by keeping the sun up? Big whoop." John laughed to himself. Luna will raise the moon soon, and everything'll be all right. No more freaky sun and no more freaky temperature.

After sitting up on the bed he was sleeping in, gratiously supplied by Twilight, he attempted to make contact with Princess Luna.

Luna?

Nopony responded. She was either asleep, or something has happened. It was the almost the middle of the night, so that meant she hadn't raised the moon, but she had to be awake to do that. Which means...

LUNA!?

Still no response came from the Princess, so the latter was the most likely cause. Looking up into what should be a spring night, but instead a summer afternoon, he cursed. He searched deep within himself for any sign that she was still there. Finding none, he desperately looked into the sky, feeling for the stars and moon. They always had her magical presence, so...

Nothing. Not a single sign of her existence.

John coughed violently, clutching his chest as he doubled over. No... NO. NO!

LUNAAA!!!

Silence.

John screamed in anger, his hooves instantly cloaked in a dark blue aura that swirled as he jumped to his hind hooves, his wings flapping uncontrollably as the entire room began to glow with the intensity of the stars themselves. HOW DARE THEY?! HOW CAN THEY?! HOW THE ACTUAL BUCK IS LUNA GONE?!

The magic inside him kept on boiling, making him angrier. Pushing open the balcony doors with a blast of magic, he glared up at the sun, the magic inside of him threatening to forcefully exit his body as he seethed in hate.

With one powerful flap of his wings, he soared high into the air above Ponyville, and raised his hooves above his head, the dark blue aura intensifying as the amount of magic increased, now ready to be expelled, rising high enough to be a black silhouette against the sun.

With one final ear-splitting, jaw-dropping scream, John released all of his emotions in one immensely powerful explosion of magic.

"LUUUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

/br/

Applejack heard the scream all the way from Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy had heard it from her cottage on the fringe of the Everfree Forest. Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity had definitely heard the ear-piercing scream. It was rumoured that it could be heard all the way in Canterlot.

Bolting from her bed, as did almost every last resident of Ponyville, Applejack ran downstairs as fast as she could, barging open the door to her house and sprinting outside. Big Macintosh was close behind, as was Applebloom.

"What in th' hay is... Big Mac, am ah dreamin'?"

"Eeenope."

Applebloom remained silent, staring up at the odd spectacle that was right in front of her eyes. Never before had she felt this much anger, this much sorrow and this much fear before looking up into the sky that night.

For directly in front of her, in plain view to everypony in Equestria, was something never seen before.

The moon was blocking out the sun.

March Onwards, For Equestria!

Chapter 25: March Onwards, For Equestria!

"Shaded?"

John's eyes snapped open. Beside him, curled up underneath his outstretched wing, he could just about see Hope in the dim lighting inside the makeshift barracks. She was still deeply asleep, and gently snoring in the midst of her peaceful slumber. Her light yellow mane fell gracefully around her face, framing it innocently in the twilight. John couldn't help but smile sadly, his eyes beginning to water. He couldn't help but think that this could be, yet again, the very last time he'd see her. The very last time he'd hear her. The very last time he'd hold her close, so close that they could both feel each other's heartbeat. They had only just been reunited, but to be torn apart from each other's embrace so soon? It broke John. He, the night before, after Applejack had handed her to him, had explained everything to her, down to the littlest detail. She wasn't that young, so she knew the implications of what was going to happen, and she understood completely. Hope didn't want him to leave, but he had to. This was his mess, and he had to clean it up.

"Darling? It's time." He whispered to her, nudging her with the end of his wing. She woke almost immediately, and pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her hooves around his neck as she dragged herself up to meet his eye level. Without saying a word, she embraced John tightly, laying her head against John's cheek. In this position, he could feel the warm wetness of their shared tears dripping down both of their cheeks, pooling into the bedding and sheets below them, leaving a dark splotch that was still visible in the low light levels. They stayed in this position for what seemed to be hours, mutely dwelling on their relationship and memories together. Deep down inside him, right in the bottom of his heart, John knew that they shouldn't do this, that he should have never told her that this could be the very last of their time together. That he could destroy his integrity, and fool himself into believing that he would be fine.

But he knew otherwise, and so did she. Even with the possibility of him returning, it was wiser, John decided to be on the safe side and spend what could be his last moments with her together, thinking of the happier times.

"Hope? Do you remember that Christmas?" he asked, breathing in slowly.

"How could I forget? She was never there, but you were. I got everything I wanted and more; it was the best Christmas ever." She smiled into his cheek, the tears still flowing between them. John smiled back.

"Shaded?" The voice called again. It was Gage.

Sighing, John rolled onto his back, pushing Hope above him. She giggled in response, and he kissed her on the forehead again. Pushing upwards with his wings, he sat up straight, still holding her in his hooves.

It was time.

"Darling? I have to go now."

Her bottom lip quivered, and her rose eyes watered in the darkness. Her entire body quivered with the silent sobs in his forelegs. Lifting her up onto his back, she gripped his mane and neck tightly, but not tight enough to suffocate him. Satisfied that her grip was strong, he stood up on all four hooves, and pushed through the "door", which was in reality just a veil of black cloth. As expected, Gage was waiting outside in full armour, his sword in a sheath at his side.

"I'm sorry about this Shaded, but..."

"I know."

John walked past him, trying to stay composed and strong, but only just succeeding. If one was to look closely, his legs were trembling, his brow was drowned with sweat, and his cheeks were streaked with tears. Walking through the barracks, a few soldiers noticed these signs and gave him looks of anguish and empathised pain.

All saluted however as he walked past, but he didn't acknowledge their gestures or their expressions, his face of stone and his body unresponsive as he stepped past, his hoofsteps echoing against the respectful silence. The barracks themselves were a sequence of large tents containing smaller tents and dividing walls. At the entrance or exit to each tent, was a grey rectangle of fabric, adorned with an embroidery of Shaded's, no... His cutie mark, John's own cutie mark. Pushing through this final barrier with no resistance, he felt the cool air of the extended night kissing his cheeks, drying out the watery residue.

Outside, waiting very patiently, was four of the five girls he would be protecting. He ignored all of them, continuing to walk on. He lowered his head, letting Hope hug him tighter, refusing to let go as she saw who was with them.

"Captain." John spluttered out thanks to the tears. "Zecora."

They both nodded, and John lifted his head up, turning it round so he could look at Hope. "Hope...please. Go with Zecora. She'll be looking after you for now."

The filly stood her ground, a hint of Rainbow Dash in her attitude.

"No! I want to stay with you!"

"Hope...please."

"No!"

"I don't want to do this either, but it has to be done. Please, just go with Zecora, Hope."

She broke, the tears falling again. Her chest heaved with each heart breaking sob, but she eventually slid off of his back, and walked in front of him. John felt ill, leaving his daughter alone, even if it was in the hooves of the dependable Zecora.

"I love you so much..." He whispered, stroking aside an errant strand of her blond mane, looking deeply into her rose eyes, and kissing her on the forehead again, but with as much fatherly love he could muster. She jumped on him, wrapping her hooves around him one final time, pouring her heart out.

"You'd better... come back...promise me..." She sniffled, refusing to let go. John's composure flickered, and he dropped his voice a few decibels, so only Hope could hear him.

"Cross my heart...and hope to fly...Stick a...cupcake...in my...eye..." He softly whispered, nuzzling her face.

Pushing her lightly towards the zebra, he swallowed heavily, looking around with his blurred vision. Twilight and her friends were softly crying, whilst Gage and Shining Armour were beginning to look a bit uncomfortable, on the verge of tears. Taking what could be his very last look at his daughter, he nodded stiffly at Zecora, who wiped away her tears with the back of her hoof, and began to walk away, Hope close behind, never looking away from John.

Amidst all his emotional termoil, he felt a spark grow inside him. He allowed it to fill him, and began to sing.

"I gaze off into the boundless skyline,

Heavenly choirs singing in the sunshine.

Turn 'round pick up my sword and wield

The blade that'll force all evil to yield.

If this battle should leave me slain,

I know pure evil will call my name.

Better to take a stand,

Than to let that evil rule the land."

All the ponies around him were moved to tears by the small performance, and when he looked again, Hope was gone.

"Too right Shaded. Get suited up; we're gathering in about ten minutes. And for what it's worth...I'm really sad now. I mean, you and your daughter had just..."

"It's all right Gage. She'll be fine."

"That's not my point. That promise...you can't actually promise that."

"I know. And that's why I have ponies like you to guard the rear."

Gage snorted in sad laughter. "Rarity has your armour. She's been adding things to it. I won't say what, but let's say it's her way of apologising."

John raised his eyebrow, eager to take his mind off of Hope.

/br/

As soon as John stepped inside Rarity's illuminated shop and home, he realised that he was being followed. It was that sensation in the pit of one's stomach, that someone, or somepony, or something, was following you closely. He turned his head around, revealing Twilight and the other Elements. They still had streaks of tears on their faces, not in the slightest looking happy. Then again, why should they look happy? They were going to war.

"Girls." John said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He knew why they were here.

"Shaded... I'm so sorry..." Twilight began, reaching out a hoof towards him.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." He pushed her hoof away lightly, seeing the emotional pain in her eyes. Behind her, he could see their reactions as well in the shop, the studio lights reflecting off their teary eyes. "I was brought back to do this. To get you inside Canterlot, so you can defeat Discord and Chrysalis. So you can save Equestria. Not to make friends." What the?! I wasn't going to say that!

She was visibly hurt then, wincing at his cruel words. After a moment, she leaned forwards.

"What about Rainbow Dash? I thought you loved her, we thought you loved her!" She shouted at him, her horn flaring up in confused anger.

"I do...but you don't understand." He returned, his voice hoarse, almost a whisper in volume. What the hell?! What's going on!

Fluttershy surged forwards with a blast of air, her face contorted with fury. John flinched, jumping back from the butter-yellow pegasus. What the hell! Fluttershy? What...? Why is my body acting like this!?

"Understand what? That you don't love Rainbow Dash? That you cheated on her, driving her to try to commit suicide?"

That stung, to say the least. Seeing the Element of Kindness delivering such a low blow to his emotions well, killed him inside. Anger reared it's ugly head, but he quickly dispelled it, trying to regain control. His mouth, however, refused to follow his orders.

"She doesn't love me..." He whispered, his body seemingly being controlled by another being, another consciousness, instead of his own. She jumped forward at him, teeth bared. He recoiled in shock, his wings bursting out at his sides in surprise.

"How..dare..you. HOW DARE YOU! You think that, even through this, Rainbow Dash stopped loving you? She cried every night! Every night! For you! She refused to go and find another stallion, because she loved YOU! At least once a week, she'd go and cry at your statue, for YOU! YOU, SHADED COMET!"

"My name...is not...Shaded." John growled at her, but she didn't back down. There was a scream of frustration from Fluttershy and a gasp from the girls as a hoof made contact with the side of his head, and he was flung to the floor on his side, hearing one of his wings crack underneath him. He could taste blood in his mouth. Hissing in pain, he shook his head to clear his watery eyes, glaring up at the mare who'd just hit him.

The mare opened her bright blue eyes in shock at her actions, staring at her quivering hoof, and blinking rapidly. Her pink mane shook as she shook her head in disbelief at her action. John lifted a hoof up to his cheek, feeling for the exact place where she had struck him. Finding it and wincing, he turned to look at a mirror. He couldn't see his wing behind him, and he didn't dare to look. Removing his hoof, he stared at the silver-backed glass, straight at the red impact mark on the side of his jaw. Spitting out blood onto the floor, his right eye twitched as he looked up at the mare.

"I'm so sorry...I don't know what came over me..." She tentatively reached a hoof down to help him up, but he slapped it away as he shuffled backwards, his damaged wing protesting against the action. Fluttershy looked as though she'd been slapped across the face, before trying to help him up again.

"Get away from me." John hissed, trying as hard as he could to not get up and scream at her. What is this?! Get OUT of my brain! NOW!

"Shaded...please...I'm sorry..."

That name again. John growled, batting her hoof away again.

"What is going on in here? Shaded! Why are you slapping Fluttershy away?!" Rarity burst in from a door facing away from him, at such an angle so as she couldn't see the mark on his cheek.

Shaded... My name is not...Shaded. Grrr... GET OUT!

He could see his vision clouding in anger, the red threatening to overtake his body. He fought it as best he could, focusing on calmness. But his brain was not complying, and neither was Fluttershy. She kept trying to apologise, lowering down a hoof to help him once again.

He turned away as fast as he could, clenching his eyes shut.

"Shaded!"

That was it. He felt himself jump up, his eyes opening in fury. Various images flashed in front of him, rendering him as confused as he'd ever been. There was a mixture of his and not his. But one persistant image and thought flashed every few seconds.

I could never hate the mare I love, Dashie.

He's ruined my life...

He heard ghost voices, making his ears ring as he fell to the floor, curling up into a ball and whispering to himself, his mouth repeating each voice.

"Why did I say I didn't love you?"

Each thought echoed, as did every word. It sounded and felt to him as if he was in a gigantic empty space, listening to the emptiness mimic him.

"Shaded? Shaded!" Gage's voice sounded so far away, so so so far away. Darkness was on the edge of his flickering vision, and he giggled quietly to himself, for no reason whatsoever.

"Remember Hope! Shaded! Listen to me! Hope needs you! We need you!"

It all disappeared, and he breathed out a breath that he'd apparently been holding in. With a grunt, he placed a hoof in front of him, shivering from a cold that chilled him to the bone. He felt somepony push him back down onto his stomach with their hooves, inspecting his left wing; the one he had fallen on. Gasps throughout the room filled his ears, with one meek yellow pegasus softly whispering "I'm sorry."

"Shaded. You've twisted your wing. I'm going to put it back into place, okay...?"

"Okay." John coughed out, gritting his teeth as Gage put one of his hooves on his back, and with another pony that he couldn't see, began to move his wing back into place. The pain was upon him in an instant, and as quickly as it had appeared, Gage grunted and the agony was gone. Letting out a sigh, the stallion moved in front of him and offered a hoof to help him up.

Graciously accepting it, John pulled himself up and looked around. It seemed as if the girls had been ushered out of the building by a couple of ponies, namely Gage and Speedy Recovery. In front of him, placed upon a mannequin, was what he guessed to be his armour, hidden beneath a shroud of fabric.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked, carefully lifting a hoof up to his wing to see what had happened. It flexed fine, flapped fine and was, on a quick inspection, fine overall.

"Your wing was just twisted all the way round mate. You're lucky you didn't black out. I would have." Gage nudged him, smirking. "If it wasn't for your brother, I wouldn't have known what to do."

I hate this lie. This time, there was nothing controlling him. He had free reign of his own body again.

"Thanks Speedy."

"No problem, though I'd suggest getting your armour on." Shaded's brother replied.

"Fair enough."

"I've got to get back to Blitz and Bright, so hurry up Shaded."

"And I've got to get back to Iron Heart. He'll go nuts if I'm late."

After a nod from John , the two left the establishment in silence, closing the door behind them.

"So...this is it." He whispered to himself, calmly walking towards his armour, each hoofstep eerily echoing with a thump in the empty establishment. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach, that feeling. Fear. Breathing in slowly and deeply, he placed a hoof against the cold material hiding his armour, letting the cold metal underneath cool him down, sighing in anticipation. Taking his time to be alone with his thoughts, he placed his head against the hidden chestplate, letting his mane fall over his face.

"Dashie...I'll be there soon, just hold on. That...," He grimaced, turning his head away in disgust at the memory, "Bastard... Yeah, bastard." Closing his eyes, he hissed the name.

"Discord."

A chill went down his spine. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and a faint tingling sensation went down each of his limbs as his eyes snapped open in retaliation to the tingling. The fear in the bottom of his gut grew larger, and he shivered at thought of what he could have done to her, what Chrysalis could have done to her. If anypony were to be standing around to see, they would have seen his eyes glinting with rage, temporarily flashing a deep crimson similar to the hue of his eyes.

"He will pay." John spat, imagining what he could do to him in retribution for his crimes. As each creative thought flashed past, he found each increasingly painful for him and more funny for himself to think up. As each creation whizzed past, he found himself to be giggling, his brain unrelenting in the images. His laughter built in intensity with each and every picture and situation, before dying in his throat at the last image. As he watched the vision in his mind's eye, he felt himself beginning to be immersed in that blackness again.

Oh no.

/br/

The heavy scent of burning wood hung in the air like a cloud of malice; one sniff could send a pony into a coughing fit. Looking down at his hooves, he found them to be surrounded in not one, not two but three swirling magical auras, each a different colour. Red, blue and yellow. Primary colours. His coat bristled with energy, arcs of electricity springing and crackling across each hair, giving him a truly electrified appearance. As he looked up again, all he could hear was the roaring of fire, the flames of which were at the edges of his vision. Flickering strands of yellow interacted with red, creating a dazzling display of light that was both terrible and beautiful to behold. He could feel the waves of scorching heat as waves of air passed over him, warming him to the core as he watched Ponyville burn.

High above them in the sky, black clouds gathered directly above him, and with each few seconds, a roar of thunder and a flash of light erupted from within their depths. A confusing mixture of raindrops and hailstones fell with the force of bullets, most being vapourised as soon as it came in contact with the flames, but some splattering into the soggy ground, leaving deep imprints and miniature craters where they fell. John watched a single hailstone with an intense glare, following it's descent. It fell at an angle, but then again, every raindrop and hailstone fell at a different angle to another, making it dauntingly impossible to contain. His eyes never left the path of the ball of ice, the deafening silence of peace overwhelming him as he gazed apon where it was going to land.

What is going on?

It landed inches away from a pony. The pony, a pegasus mare, was struggling with all her might to pull her right wing from the remains of a collapsed building that looked as if it was once made of stone. She had been caught, literally, between a rock and a hard place. Surrounding her on every side, inches away from her hooves was the remains of another building, ingulfed in an inferno of death. The only way out was forward, but she couldn't move. Her rose eyes, filled with betrayal and grief, latched onto John's own emotionless pair. With a sickening grin, John made the flames even hotter and even longer, making her scream as one particularly lengthy tendril of flames brushed her flank, burning her just behind her cutie mark, a red, yellow and blue lightning bolt below a cloud.

She remained wordless however, as she struggled valiantly to remove herself. John closed his eyes and breathed in the smoke, listening to the screams of mothers looking for children, of fathers looking for wives, and of siblings looking for siblings. It amused him.

I would never... What is this? Dashie!

John turned his vision to the left, expelling a wall of flame to see what would be revealed. He was rewarded with the sight of an orange earth pony mare bucking a door to a familiar undestroyed building in a frenzied panic, her brown stetson lying forgotten on the sodden ground. After a few kicks, she finally gained entry to the house, and ran inside to rescue whoever was trapped inside. After a few seconds, she reappeared in the doorway with a white unicorn. Their eyes quickly found John, and he cheekily waved to them. Their eyes reflected the same emotions as the mare before. With a quick burst of maniacal laughter, he pulled the building down on them, quickly setting the remains on fire. Unknown to him, the stetson, now trampled into the mud by fleeing ponies, had began to burn.

No! I would never!

He erected the wall of flames again, moving his vision to the left again. This time, when he pulled down the barrier, he was rewarded with the sight of a yellow pegasus and a pink earth pony fleeing a burning building, with the yellow pegasus clutching two screaming foals. With a lazy flick of his hoof, a circle of fire was summoned around the earth pony. It was too high to jump over, and too hot to run through without harm. He grinned in satisfaction as the yellow pegasus, still hovering, had to make a horrible decision: best friend, or children? Before she could make her choice, she was struck with a bolt of lightning, which in turn slammed her into the flames, the foals flying out of her grasp. The earth pony, forgetful of what was surrounding her, burst into a sprint towards the burning pegasus, whose screams could be heard clearly, even from where John was standing. She, in turn, burst into flames. But, tragically and unfortunately, the flames were magical. That meant, in dumbed down terms, they couldn't be put out easily, they were extremely hot and, to top it off, extremely deadly. To his disappointment, they both died within seconds, their bodies turning into ashy husks before he could have any actual fun.

NO! I AM NOT EVIL!

He turned to his left one final time, leaving his eyes to wander over the purple unicorn and her purple dragon, too imersed in disbelief and trepidation to move an inch. Realising what had just happened, she frantically looked around for her friends. When she discovered that they were no more, she turned on him, her eyes glowing a deathly white. With a smirk, as she cast her spell, he half-heartedly held out his hoof, and caught the incoming bolt of magic. The last thing she saw was a flash, quickly followed by a bolt of gigantic proportions speeding towards her from above, leaving a fiery trail of red, blue and yellow behind it. To put it simply, when the smoke had cleared, they were no more.

He looked back to the first mare. Her mane was on fire, as was her tail and her wings. She seemed to have passed out from the pain. Shrugging, he increased the intensity of the flames, leaving them to lick her body as he turned away to behold the chaos, the destruction, the loss he had caused today. With a snigger, he looked up into the sky, staring at the eclipse, and laughing until tears streamed from his eyes.

No...

/br/

John breathed in, cold sweat beading his forehead, his body and mind numb.

"Wh...at?" He coughed, shivering. What was that?

Sitting down with an audible thump on the cold floor, he held his head in his hooves, and began to try and control his breathing. Right now, he felt confused. Alone. His emotions waged war inside of him, fighting for dominance over his actions. Blanking them, he focused on one thought. Dashie.

A knock on the door from outside broke his concentration, and he answered with a shaky "Yes?". Nopony came in, so he tried again. "Yes?"

"Shaded?" It was Gage. "I hope you're done admiring your armour, 'cause we're gonna move in a minute. Hurry up!"

With a confused sigh, he stood up again, and pulled the cover off of his armour. He didn't pause to look at it or the changes made, instead pulling all of the required parts on in order faster than he deemed possible. With a grunt, he finished tightening the chestplate and the straps for nocturnumque. Shaking his mane, he tied the helmet strap to a new hook on the side of his armour, and looked at himself in a mirror nearby.

There were two things he noticed immediately.

The first was his eyes. They looked haunted, empty, deviod of any and all emotion. Just as well, he wouldn't be showing mercy to those who desired it.

The second was one word written in white on the left side of his chest plate, directly over his heart. Hope.

Smiling to himself, he turned towards the door. With a confident smirk to himself, ignoring his eyes, he stepped outside.

Arranged outside, visible in the darkness, was row after row after row of gleaming gold armour, all at different heights to the next. Row after row of determined ponies, of every gender, of every age. Row after row of ponies desiring revenge for family. Row after row to take back Canterlot. Row after row for him.

Keeping a steady beat with his hooves, he kept his head high as he walked past, attempting to find his group. It was easy; the five girls were grouped together, away from the rest and at the front of the rows. As he approached, he could practically taste the bitter resentment radiating off them towards him, and they hid Fluttershy from him as he moved past. Trying not to say anything, he turned to Gage, who was waiting impatiently nearby with Lazer Bright and Infinity Blitz. Each of the stallions had gold armour on as well, with a single blue star in the center, compared to the regular lightning bolt that was the norm. Twilight and her friends were armourless, which would have been wiser; they would move quicker, since they weren't used to the weight.

Gage nodded at him as he approached. "Ready to go get Rainbow Dash?"

"They'll regret the day they took her."

The girls winced in the corner of his eye at this statement, but he disregarded them. Shining Armour, in his signature purple armour, appeared behind Gage. With a nod, he turned with a grimace towards the rows of gold. His horn glowed purple for a second, and he coughed to clear his throat. When he spoke, it was amplified enormously.

"Right! Listen up!"

"The past week has been hell for us, and believe me, we all know it. And I'm definately sure that some of you have been wondering 'where in Tartarus are the princesses?'. So here's your answer."

"Princess Celestia was attacked in the night by Chrysalis, and subsequently captured. Chrysalis drained her of her power, and then put on a performance to fool us. This, my ponies, was over four months ago, when we all thought that the Changlings had been defeated once again."

One massive mix of gasps, growls and howls of anger sprung from the ponies assembled.

"Princess Luna was also attacked in the daytime by Changlings, and overwhelmed as she tried to fight back. She, with the help of Shaded Comet, discovered that Chrysalis had overtaken Celestia, but played along so Discord and Chrysalis didn't catch wind of what we were doing."

"Princess Luna, at the moment of her defeat, was attempting to free Rainbow Dash, a pony some of you are familiar with. Discord had foalnapped her and put her in a cell a week ago, and since then, to our knowledge, there she has remained."

Another gasp from the ponies.

"So now you know why we are fighting. We are fighting for our very freedom. Our leaders. Our role models."

He stepped back, and motioned for Gage to move up. He did so, and Shining cast the spell on him.

"We are fightning for our families, for our friends, for our husbands, for our wives, for our marefriends, coltfriends and any other thing. But most of all, we are fightning for our children. For their future. For our children's children's future. And so forth. Do you want a future where we are all dead? A future where we are used as slaves?"

"NO SIR!" Everypony shouted at the top of their lungs. John felt a heartstring pang as he looked around.

"DO YOU WANT A FUTURE WITHOUT THE THREAT OF CHANGLINGS?!"

"YES SIR!"

"FOR PRINCESS LUNA!"

"FOR PRINCESS LUNA!"

"FOR PRINCESS CELESTIA!"

"FOR PRINCESS CELESTIA!"

"FOR EQUESTRIA!"

"FOR EQUESTRIA!"

"THEN MARCH ONWARDS!"

Forming ranks, the ponies quickly began to stomp forwards, up the road out of Canterlot and towards Canterlot, with vigour and pride in their hearts. John watched as non-combatants waved goodbye to their families and their friends with proud tears streaming down their cheeks. But he couldn't rid himself of the fear in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't forget that vision.

"Well. This is it." John muttered, before following the five mares and the three stallions into battle.

/br/

Up in one of the highest towers in the castle where the Princesses resided, a certain Queen Chrysalis stood behind a telescope, staring into the distance with a vague interest. She was extremely bored, up to a few seconds ago, when she spotted unnatural activity down in Ponyville. She was still watching, waiting, formulating a plan. They seem to be all ground based, so a ground defense? Yes, with aerial assistance.

Discord was somewhere in the city, causing chaos, wreaking havoc on the remaining ponies. All others had retreated out of Canterlot, or had been...consumed...by the Changlings. She had waited an entire year for this to happen, and now that she had, she was not going to let a single pony and his army destroy her rule.

"Fang! Biter! Prepare a defense!" She called backwards towards her two generals, who had been prodding a knocked out Rainbow Dash. "But first, take her back down to her cell, and throw away the key. I have no more use for her."

"Yes, my queen." They responded, and picked her up between them, carrying her out of the door. As soon as it had been closed, she sat down on Celestia's balcony with a smirk. I'll have to go back down to the throne room to meet him when he arrives, but they won't get the Elements or Rainbow Dash. Because...

"Everything is going as planned."

Dashie

Chapter 26: Dashie

The gates of Canterlot were quite a way away. Just beyond the gateway to hell, well, was hell. Row after row of Changling was eagerly awaiting their arrival, which threw the entire plan out of the window, so to speak. However, thanks to the mountainside itself, which harboured many nooks and crannies, the army was easily hidden from view. Literally inches behind him, hidden behind rocks and inside sparsely dotted bushes, was the main ground force. They were, thankfully, completely invisible unless the Changlings took flight, so that was a bonus. Many of the actual army was under the influence of a very poweful illusion spell, rendering them completely invisble whatever the Changlings did, unless of course the illusionists lost focus. Hopefully they wouldn't. High above them in the air, perched and buried in the cumulostratus clouds that were lazily assembled near the apex of the mountain, was the entire air force, who were watching and waiting for the signal: the bog-standard battlecry from Gage.

Bunched together, lying on their stomachs in full body armour, were John, Shining Armour, Lieutenant Gage and Iron Heart. Unfortunately, due to a rapid change of tactics, they weren't going to be able to sneak inside the castle at the start of the battle as they had planned; thanks to the sudden presence of the Changlings. Instead they were going to have to fight their way into the courtyard, and then sneak inside under the cover of the battle. Because of that, much to their protest then and now, the Elements had to be kept under guard until then. They weren't going to be allowed to fight; for their own safety. So, until they were to "break and enter" as John had put it, they lay hidden in the grass, keeping their heads down.

Since the entire plan revolved around the Changling not knowing they were coming, improvisation was key. It was easy to assign Infinity Blitz and Lazer Bright to battalions until the combined armies broke into the courtyard, but it was going to be harder to find a distraction for that moment. Thankfully, since the Changlings did not know their numbers, they had the element of surprise on their side. But, if they used those numbers to scare them off, a flat out rush into the courtyard would suffice if they retreated that far.

John looked up into the sky quickly from his prone position, observing the total solar eclipse that was still to be removed, even if he had caused it. Recently, using his new-found powers, he had increased the brightness of the stars scattered around and away from the circle of fire that hung in the inky blackness, giving them a little visibility to work with. He was now able to just about see the clouds above them, and the few coloured dots mingling inside the masses. Not that that really mattered, since Canterlot was practically lit up like a Christmas tree. The soft yellow light from inside the abandoned shops and homes on the street illuminated the backs and faces of the horde in front of them, so they were more easily seen against the darkness.

To his both his sides were Gage, Shining Armour and Iron Heart, waiting for the Changlings first move. Both sides had been like this for a long period of time, neither knowing exactly how long they had been standing or lying there. After staying in the same position for only-Celestia-knows how long, he turned his head from the sky to Shining Armour. His purple armour was more suited to the darkness, as was John's dark blue, so they were hidden a bit further ahead from Gage and Iron Heart, and a bit closer to the Changlings than they wanted to be.

"I've had it with this waiting game. I'm getting up. If they attack me, charge. If they don't, wait for my signal." John hissed to the white stallion, before jumping to his hooves. The grass, after a bit of alteration over the period of time they had been there, had been lengthened just enough to hide the full height of John and Shining Armour. Before the Captain could react to his statement, John was already on top of the hiding spot, staring straight at the lines of the enemy.

The Changlings, failing to see him, continued to look blankly into the mountainside, unmoving from their positions. Seeing this immediately, John flapped his wings once and reared up onto his hind legs to make himself larger. The position was highly uncomfortable in armour, so he strained to keep himself steady. After a few moments, his rear legs gave out. Using the momentum to his advantage, John engulfed his hooves in the blue aura he shared with Luna, and slammed his forehooves into the dirt, announcing his presence to all who dared listen.

Ah! Shaded! It's so nice to see you again! A familiar voice spoke into his mind, causing John to growl at the presence.

Discord. It's about time you stopped playing ruler with Chrysalis now, don't you think?

Nope. It's fun! There's no Celestia and no Luna, and to be honest, much much better than sitting in stone.

So...when's the wedding? John smirked, thinking that he had just caught the draconequus off guard.

Well, I was already planning the honeymoon, why, didn't you attend? Discord laughed into John's mind, completely stunning him.

That doesn't make sense.

Making sense? Awww, what fun is there in making sense? Rainbow Dash loved me not making sense, you know.

John snarled, cutting off the connection and blocking his mind from further intrusion. Drawing a supplied sword from it's scabbard on his back with magic, he held it in front of him with point facing towards the enemy. Shining Armour rose straight away, lifting his own sword, as did Gage. Iron Heart, instead using a spear, rose to his hooves as well, and snorted in preparation.

As one, upon seeing their commanders ready themselves, the ponies assembled behind, in an eerie silence, raised their weapons, using a mixture of spears and swords held in mouths and magical grips, standing up straight against a cold wind that came out of nowhere, cracking their necks and stretching limbs. The occasional pegasus on the ground with fitted wing-blades and hoof-blades flapped his or her wings in anticipation and trepidation, awaiting the signal to attack.

With a magically amplified roar, John began to gallop towards the now aware enemy, whose ranks had somehow thinned considerably when they were looking away. Lieutenant Gage, taking it to be the signal, stretched his wings and shot up into the air.

"CHAAAAAAAARGE!"

With a unrecognisable mixture of battle cries, the army behind sprung into full gallops as well towards the gates, weapons held aloft and tails waving in the breeze behind them as they ran, with eyes full of pride for their homeland, and hatred for the beings who had decided to take their rulers away from them. The pegusai above them in the cumulostratus clouds dived off the edge of the clouds, yelling war cries of their own, wing-blades glinting in the near darkness like shards of ice, falling in behind and above their commanders.

For John, seconds turned into minutes as he ran towards the gates, wielding his blade above him in silence, his hooves beating into the dirt and rock beneath him as he galloped, creating a fast paced drumming sound that filled his ears. Ahead of him, beginning to retreat in panic, the Changlings shuffled backwards, insectoid wings fluttering as they stumbled into each other. With a snarl, two more developed Changlings burst from within the ranks, pushing forwards the the front. With their commanders now at the front, it looked to John like the Changlings' morale had gone through the roof, and they stopped shambling and stood their ground.

As he approached, the two at the front lit up their horns, together firing bursts of foul, tainted magic into the approaching ranks. Without looking back, John found himself coming out of his stupor, and everything became clearer. He heard the quietest sounds and saw the slightest of movements, thanks to the adrenaline pumping through his body. He knew that from the yells and screams from behind, that before they had already reached the gates, they had already taken casualties. John locked eyes with the Changling commander on the left, and milliseconds before they couldf end up colliding into each other, he heard one word being hissed from it's mouth.

"You."

With another roar, John swung his sword to the down and towards the left with all the power he could muster, jumping between the two Changlings. With a whump, the Changling's head was severed, and his life cut off before their army could even react. Spreading his wings, he soared into the changling ranks, swiftly followed by Gage and Iron Heart. Shining Armour, whilst running, had assumed control of his section and had begun to fire blast after crippling blast into the Changlings, balls of fire, ice and lightning being shot into defenders left, right and center, much to John's relief. The pegusai fighters bombed into the ranks, bucking Changlings in the face or body with metal horseshoes, sending them flying into others, knocking them over like bowling pins.

As John landed in a small clearing, thrusting his sword forward into the abdomen of a Changling and pulling viciously to the side, he noticed movement in the sky. Before he could say anything, he was attacked by another two Changlings, and was forced to defend himself, moving his sword up to his face and kicking backwards to gain breathing room before he was swarmed.

Meanwhile, meters away from John, Iron Heart and Lieutenant Gage were, practically speaking, rump-to-rump fighting off Changlings when they dared to approach. With a hoarse yell, Iron Heart thrust his weapon forward, spearing at least two Changlings on the end, before charging forwards with the writhing insectiod equines still skewered. Gage, with another roar, slashed downwards with all his might, and to his shock, completely split the skull of his attcker. With a yank, he pulled his sword free and spun around, slicing into another.

Shadow Light, hovering above the battle and directing magical blasts into the enemy with precise lightning that he summoned from an electrical aura, watched as each target he spotted was decimated in a wave of fire and ice, before swiftly switching to the next. Beside him, Frostbite used every minute of his cyromancer training to his advantage, summoning sharp spikes of ice that flew like bullets into any Changlings that came close. As he let loose another blast, he saw a sparkle of light glinting in the edge of his vision, and turned to meet the end of a scythe that was in the process of cutting through a Changling's body. The wielder, Azure Scythe, was sprayed with gore as he pushed downwards with his magic, finishing the fatal blow. Turning to Frostbite, he nodded, and attacked another that came too close. In the corner of his eye, he could see another group of ponies under attack, and pointed at them with his scythe. Seconds later, the Changlings attacking were incinerated by the support battlemages.

Sergeant Wolfee pushed away the burning corpse of a Changling into another, thrusting the pair to the floor. Struggling to get up under the weight of it's dead comrade, the Changling hissed at the Sergeant before it was decapitated by Wolfee's sword. Beside him, Halo Eclipsed pointed with an armoured hoof towards a break in their lines. Her eyes were immediately greeted with the sight of a jet black griffon smashing into their ranks with his claws outstretched, tearing the defenders into ribbons. Shaking his claws clean, he swiped at another Changling before jumping back into the air, waiting for another target.

"PUSH! PUSH INTO THE COURTYARD!" The sound of John's voice echoed around the city, decreasing morale for the Changlings. With a crack, his sword snapped into two as it rebounded off the surviving Changling commander's chest. With a smirk, the Changling pulled John close with it's magic, snarling into his face before throwing him backwards. With an equally spiteful snarl, John charged the Changling.

/br/

Twilight turned to the Applejack after their guards had rushed forwards, leaving them alone. She knew that Shaded knew that they could defend themselves, so why did he still assign guards to them? The orange mare was staring off into the distance, wincing at every last scream of pain that came from the brawling mess of ponies and Changlings. From here, it looked as though they were winning, but she wasn't sure. They were still concealed in the grass, so it wasn't easy to see.

Fluttershy was cowering in a ball, her pink mane covering her face as she shook with each howl of agony from the battle. Rarity and Pinkie Pie kept their heads down, trying to comfort the butter yellow pegasus. She still wasn't exactly the same after she had hit Shaded, but through whimpers and sobs, she managed to quietly explain to Rarity that she felt really angry all of a sudden, and she didn't know why she had hit him.

The flashes of light from both side's spellcasters entranced Twilight. She didn't know any battle spells whatsoever; she was never taught them. So naturally, even in the use of war, she was still interested in learning. Popping her head over the small amount of grass to check, she saw that the coast was more or less clear, and the ponies were advancing.

"PUSH! PUSH INTO THE COURTYARD!"

She heard Shaded's voice yell from around the center of the action, and immediately stood up. "Girls, we're moving up! Come on!" The four mares, supporting the shellshocked fifth and covering her eyes, advanced slowly up the trail of the push, hiding from view wherever possible. As they passed through the litter of bodies, she was relieved that only a small percentage were ponies, but the smell made her feel positively sick. As they approached the back end of the pony army, they hid behind a scorched wall, catching their breath after passing through the cloud of death left behind.

Setting Fluttershy down, Twilight glanced over the wall at the battle. As she watched the Changlings being beaten backwards into the courtyard, her eyes found Shaded, battling a much more developed Changling with his bare hooves. Each time the Changling swung, Shaded launched himself over the attack, bucking the Changling in the body or the head. As the fight continued, she found herself unable to look away, the fight was that intense. Finally, the Changling angrily grabbed Shaded with his magic, pulling his hooves out in front of him as he held him aloft. Seeing that none of the army seemed to notice, she gulped and jumped over the wall. She heard Applejack shout her name milliseconds before she was tackled out of the air by a Changling that had come out of nowhere.

Struggling to physically fight back, she charged her magic to blast the Changling away, but moments before she could release it, the foul creature grabbed her horn in it's mouth. Her horn! She could feel the sharp and pointy teeth of the Changling biting into the super sensitive area, and she screamed in unbelievable pain, on the brink of blacking out. Almost immediately, the Changling was yanked backwards and thrown to the floor by an armoured hoof, but before she could see who it belonged to, she was pulled backwards by Applejack, who hugged her tightly and pulled her behind the wall. Worming her way out of the hug, she watched in awe and fear as her saviour, a green pegasus with grey stripes over his body, threw punch after punch at the Changling on the floor, each hit accented by a sharp crack. With a growl, the pegasus stood up from his unconscious opponent, before bringing both of his armoured hooves down on the head.

Let's just say the results weren't pretty. Gore and brains splattered everywhere, and the pegasus got the worst of it. Taking off his helmet, he shook his green mane out of his startlingly blue eyes, and smiled over at Twilight.

"You alright?"

Without warning, she rushed him and hugged him tightly, ignoring the blood-splattered armour and gore covered legs, constantly saying "Thank you!" with tears falling from her eyes. With a roll of his eyes, the stallion returned the hug, smiling down at her. Through choked sobs of either happiness or shock, she managed to whisper "Who are you?". The stallion chuckled.

"You can call me Terra. And you are?"

"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."

/br/

John removed nocturnumque's blades from the lifeless commander, enjoying the momentary peace. Looking around, he felt a presence behind him. Spinning around, he heard a sickning crack and he found himself face to face with Infinity Blitz, who happened to be holding a now dead Changling in his forehooves.

"You missed one sir."

Rolling his eyes, John breathed deeply, searching for Twilight. More Changling's would be here soon, so time was of the essence. They needed to get in, now. Over in the distance, he could see Twilight hugging a guard.

Huh. Must be friends, or something.

After a few seconds, she released him, and came dashing over with the others. Upon a quick glance, John noticed that there was a little nick on her horn, with carved grooves between each indentation. Whatever had caused it had only grazed it, so she should be fine. She looked fine, at least.

"What happened to her horn?" He asked, turning to the guard for an explanation. Before Twilight could respond, the guard answered for her.

"A Changling attacked her, Sir."

The guard's coat was green, as was his mane, apart from a rugged line through it that was grey. His entire body, where it was not covered by the armour, also had grey stripes streaking across each limb, ending in a point, almost triangular in shape. His blue eyes were full of recognisation.

"What's your name soldier?"

"Terra, Sir. I helped you in Fillydelphia."

"Ah, I remember. You tackled a Changling away from me, didn't you? And drop the sir; I don't like it. Call me Shaded."

"Thanks Shaded. And yes, I did."

"What happened to her?" John gestured towards Twilight's horn.

"A Changling bit her. I killed it."

At this point, Twilight decided enough was enough, and cut into the conversation.

"He's not giving enough credit to himself, Shaded. Our guards abandoned us in the charge; we didn't move, as you instructed. As we were moving back towards you, a Changling grabbed me. I tried to cast a spell to get it off, but horns are extremely sensitive. He bit mine, stopping me from any spellcasting. Terra pulled him off almost straight away, coming out of nowhere to save me."

John raised an eyebrow.

"If it wasn't for him, I would be dead." Twilight finished, looking up at him.

So her guards abandoned her. I'll be having words with them later.

Without warning, a bright flash erupted overhead, searing into his eyeballs. With a yelp of pain, he covered his eyes with a hoof. Similar reactions could be heard from the rest of the army, Terra and the girls. Tentatively lifting his hoof to see what had happened, almost in syncronisation with Gage who appeared next to him., he sprung into action.

"INCOMING!" John shouted as he ran at the girls with Gage, hooves pounding against the stone brick as they fled from the incoming magical blasts. Captain Shining Armour and Iron Heart were nowhere to be seen as the army scattered, seeking shelter from the Changling counter attack. The girls had a head start, but Gage and John quickly caught up with them, protecting them from above as they flung themselves into the air, wings flapping hard as they were pushed around by the displaced air masses. Pinkie Pie and Applejack led the herd, each expertly dodging each projectile, now revealed to be a Changling, as they ran. Behind them by a little bit of distance were Twilight and Rarity, followed up by Fluttershy. After the initial counter attack had eased down, and Changlings appeared in front of them, John rushed in front and started to run ahead.

The end of the courtyard was still quite a long way from them, and beyond that was a bridge linking the castle to Canterlot. Above them, the towers of each Princess stretched into the sky, the very tops obscured by dark clouds and fog. But, lights were still visible through the gloomy mixture, giving them him some idea of just high the towers were. And inside one of those towers were Chrysalis and Discord. Rage filled him, and he began to shake, hooves unintentionally engulfed in his blue aura. Grinding to a halt, he glared up at the towers, his wings out wide and teeth bared in anger. He felt a hoof on his shoulder, which calmed him pretty quickly. The girls and Gage had stopped running too.

"Not yet. Soon, but not yet. We need the necklaces first. And Rainbow Dash" Gage smiled sadly at him. With a comforted sigh, John looked down at his hooves, before his breath caught in his throat with surprise. They were surrounded by blue, red and yellow auras, swirling and fighting for dominance. "No..." He whispered. Nopony else seemed to notice the change, so he willed for them to disappear. Soon enough they did, the energy absorbed into the air around him. His heart grew heavy, and he screwed his eyes up in frustration, shaking his head slightly.

"The army's overrun. We don't have time to waste; the Changlings'll overpower them soon. We lost too many! We're being pushed back!" He heard Blitz and Bright approach, panting from the weight of the armour and the speed they had run at. John's limbs refused to move, a great fear rooting him to the spot. What if what he saw became a reality? Screams of pain from behind stirred him, and an urgent yell of "Come on! Move!" from Gage forced him to blink, still in a world of his own, oblivious to the Changlings that had pushed the army towards the center, as well as their little group. Something grabbed his tail as he stood alone, pulling him back, and he awoke from his mind with an explosion of pain.

To find himself surrounded by Changlings on all sides except behind him. Gage had a grip on his tail, and seeing that John had recovered, spat it out. Moving backwards to the bunched up army, he saw that they had recieved more losses than he had thought. With no pegusai present, and thanks to the surprise ambush, there was only around twenty five, maybe thirty of the ponies that had broke inot the courtyard, which meant the pegusai were either all dead, or engaged in an airborne battle, and the unicorn battlemages and 'artillery' were otherwise occupied. Either way, the remaining ground force had no hope.

"Protect the Elements at all costs!" He heard Shining Armour near the fringe as he backed up more from advancing Changlings, with all other ponies aside from Gage behind him, protected from harm; Blitz and Bright stood on either side. The Changlings pushed them all the way towards the middle of the courtyard, but refused to attack them for now, waiting until they were bunched up and unable to protect themselves and fight back. Eventually a circle was formed around them by the Changlings a few metres away, each of the black insectoid equines grinning wickedly at their prey. Each of the ponies had some form of injury by now, but ignored it as they protected Twilight and her friends, staring down the defenders. They hadn't lost yet, and if they were going to lose, they we're going to put up one hell of a fight.

One option reared it's ugly head at John. There was no alternative.

"Shaded?"

He blanked the voice, not listening to whoever it was. He focused as much as possible, breathing slowly and closing his eyes. Apparently another pony said his name, but he heard it as a whisper, and it was too distorted to be normal. Buzzing filled his ears, and his headache returned. As he struggled to concentrate, he stepped out of the circle.

"SHADED!"

It broke his seal, and he stumbled as it all came crashing back to him like a gigantic wave smashing against a cliffside. The buzzing morphed into roaring, and John was pretty sure he could hear his own heart beating.

Thump-Thump

...

Thump-Thump

...

Thump-Thump

...

Thoughts flashed through his mind as he regained composure, Changlings advanced towards him to encase him in a similar circle, thinking he was giving up. This, from John's point of view, seemed to have adverse effects on the remainder. They were cursing him now, spitting at him, angry that their icon was abandoning them because he was a coward. Or so they thought.

John could feel his anger restoring and increasing his power as he bowed his head for a moment, the energy seeping into his body threatening to expel itself. A potent poison of hatred, rage and regret filled his mind, accompanied with other emotions and many memories, from his life and from Shaded's life. With each memory, he felt himself getting incresingly angrier and angrier. After what seemed like hours, his mind found a certain string of memories, and he found himself repeating each in his mind, unable to control himself as rage gripped him tightly.

Understand what? That you don't love Rainbow Dash? That you cheated on her, driving her to try to commit suicide?

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

Dashie...

"Shaded! If you give up, Rainbow Dash will die!" He heard someone scream at him, he didn't hear who.

Dashie.

Something inside him clicked, and his head sprung up, and he heard confused whispers from the ponies behind him as his resentment for Changlings took over. Standing up on two legs, he held his legs out to the sides, frowning at the Changlings ahead. From his position, the bridge was directly in front, but it was one hell of a run. They were all around them.

"Nocturnumque."

With a yell, he opened his wings and used them to rear down onto the stone, the surface cracking into shards and throwing up dust as the two surfaces collided. The energy inside him used his armoured forehooves as a conduit to the ground, and through the ground, to the Changlings. To put it blankly, the ground exploded in a shockwave of magic, erupting all around him into a circle, throwing the unsuspecting Changlings into the air and into the cold floor like sacks of sand. As they stumbled to get back up, he took his chance.

"Come on! Move!"

Gage, Bright and Blitz noticed the gap, and ran, pushing the Elements ahead. John looked between the two groups, unsure of what to do.

"Go. We'll take 'em." Iron Heart assured him, before pushing him away with the butt of his broken spear.

Flying to catch up to the running group, John looked up at the towers again, before gliding down and skidding to a halt at the bridge. It had cracked slightly after the shockwave. Looking down at his gauntlets, he tried to summon them as Twilight and her friends stopped behind him.

"Nocturnumque."

After a few attempts, they still refused to appear. With a growl, he tore them off with his magic, tossing them to the side before preceding to remove all of his armour. Blitz, Gage and Bright all did the same. When they had finished, the girls had all already crossed, standing in front of the empty castle with looks of determination. Once they had all become a group again, John announced his plan.

"Okay. Girls, since we haven't encountered Discord yet, we definitely need to get the Elements. So, Gage, Bright and Blitz, go with them. I'll get Rainbow Dash."

Without waiting for a responce, John rushed past. Before he made even a few steps, he could hear growling behind him. He span around. Gage was standing at the edge of the bridge with a worried look on his face, causing John to raise an eyebrow and rush back. Pushing past Gage, he found himself staring up at a large amount of Changlings. Their faces were practically overflowing with hatred, and their eyes revealed nothing but pride. Some form of twisted, sickened pride. They were slowly descending towards the bridge, but not landing.

He looked backwards to check if the girls were still there. They weren't. Making a split second decision, he stood his ground behind Gage.

"Go... I'll hold them off." The older pegasus turned to John.

"What! No! You can't be serious." John protested, counting the numbers. So far, from what little he could see, there were at the very least twenty Changlings, who had probably been waiting outside for somepony to break through. And now that they had, they had walked into an ambush. The Lieutenant simply smiled sadly at John.

"But I am. Go... or I'll kick your flank there myself."

"Gage..."

"Go!"

John screwed his eyes up in frustration, stomping his hoof against the ground once as he shook his head in disbelief. "Damn you." He whispered, before running through one of the doors.

/br/

Gage stood unmoving, as still as a statue. He could at least buy them some time. He had no weapons nor armour, so the fight was one sided here. This wasn't the Royal Wedding a year and a half ago, when the Changlings weren't killing anypony; they were desperate. This was now, a battle, where to retain their newly established territory they would maim, disfigure and kill without batting an eyelid. He had no chance in hell. But, hay, he could still take a few of them with him.

They landed as one, revealing a lot more than he had originally estimated. The solid black aginst the lights behind them gave them an eerie glow, and the fact that there was still shouting, still screams of pain and still sudden silence from another combatant as they fell outside didn't help at all, increasing their demonic appearance. As Gage readied himself, he looked up into their completely blue eyes, unafraid of his fate. He let a smile flicker on his face as one moved forward slightly, baring it's frighteningly sharp fangs in a display of dominance, to try and intimidate Gage. It didn't work. Stretching out his wings, he flapped them experimentally, and stared straight ahead, blanking the world around him. With a quick crack of his neck, he waited for the unavoidable charge.

With a snarl, the Changlins surged forwards. With a flap, he rose up to his hind legs, standing up as he had seen Shaded do so many times before. It was a lot harder than it looked; it would take years to get used to moving around like this. Nevertheless, he readied himself, moving his center of gravity so it was lower to the ground. Before he could regain balance on two hooves as soon as he'd found an appropriate position, the Changlings had already cleared the distance between them. With a grunt, he pushed his shoulder forward against the first Changling as he moved forward with a burst of speed from his wings and collided with the Changling. It rebounded off the unexpected movement, flung backwards in the direction it came by a few metres, impeding the incoming charge as the body bashed into the frenzied monsters. Quickly recovering, they resumed rushing at him, swiftly surrounding the lone pegasus.

One leapt at him, attempting to bite into his flesh, causing Gage to step aside coolly. Since his front hooves were still brought up in a defensive manner, he grabbed the confused Changling from beside him, twisting round to launch his makeshift missile at another approaching enemy. As the two collided there was a spray of blood from the recieving Changling as the twisted and jagged horn of the projectile ripped through his exoskeleton-like armour, with the point ending up firmly lodged in the chest, cutting into his heart. As more flooded towards him, enraged by the death of their comrades, Gage brought his hooves up again, pushing forwards with all his strength into the next target. A jolt flew up and into his upper body as the hooves connected, the Changling stumbling backwards with a noticable dent in his inky black breastplate.

One grabbed him from behind, sinking his razor-like fangs deep into the flight muscles situated in his back. With a hiss of subdued pain, thanks to the adrenaline pumping through his body, he shook the Changling off. As it was rocked away from his back, the fangs remained in, tearing a deep slash across his back and side. He could feel the blood trickling out of the wound, but he continued, albeit a lot more stiffly, and with a considerable amount of fatigue brought on by blood loss. As his attacker hit the floor, he was kicked backwards by another, sending him onto his back. The Changlings, victorious, leered over him, foaming slightly at the edges of their mouths. With a tremendous amount of effort, he brought his hind legs up to his chest, building up elastic tension, before releasing them upwards as one bent down.

The force of the buck broke the Changling's neck immediately, a sharp crack, followed by a lolling head and a thump as the body smacked against the hall floor confirming the fact. With a groan of resistance from his limbs, he jumped to his hooves, slightly dizzy after loosing so much precious bodily fluid. He turned around to face another attacker. Sluggishly dodging the first attack, Gage headbutted the Changling with enough force to send it into unconsciousness, falling and crashing against the floor, framed by a spreading pool of crimson. Then, as he looked, he felt another Changling behind him, rearing up onto his back legs and leaping into the air to smash downwards with his hooves. As he was about to execute the potentially fatal attack, he noticed two things.

The first was that the Changling was closer than he first thought, and that now he was up in the air, he had no way of defending himself. The second was the fact that the Changling was preparing to jump at him, horn pointed straight at him.

The point hit home as it jumped, ramming past Gage's defense and into his stomach. The Changling was, at a second glance, a female. Her horn was longer, more jagged and sharper. She was a lot taller as well, definately more developed. She also had a mane, with a colour that he could only describe as a combination of sea green and cyan. As Gage blinked at the intrusion, he looked down at her face as she lowered him down, still impaled around halfway down the horn. The end hadn't gone through, but he was losing consciousness fast. His vision was fading, switching between a duller vibrance than he was used to seeing and total, absolute blackness.

"What a shame. I'll have to clean my horn now." She spoke in a multilayered voice, amused by the pegasus stuck on the end of her horn. When her head was low enough, Gage's back legs rested against the floor, finding something to prop himself against. If this was, as he had thought when he saw her, the Changling Queen Chrysalis, he had to kill her now. Or, at the very least, prevent her from using magic to defend herself if somepony attacked her. Which meant breaking her horn.

And so, Gage, in his last minute, pushed himself forward on two hooves, letting the magical appendage slide and cut deeper into himself. He didn't feel it anymore; he was barely conscious. His hearing had gone, so he was surrounded by deafening silence as he watched the Queen's lips move, her head still held down towards the floor by his body weight. He pushed harder until he was standing right up against her, dimly aware that the end had just broken out next to his spine. The thing was bent in places, cutting into more of his internal organs, lowering the amount of time he had left. Looking down, he saw blood dripping down the horn, rolling in crimson beads towards her face. The partially blocked spring was the harbinger of the end of his time, so with one tremendous, final effort, he let his body go slack, releasing control as his weight pulled the horn down.

Chrysalis, in stupidity, tried immediately to pull her head up against the weight, instead of foiling his plan by simply lowering her head more. Now, unicorn horns, and any sort of horn in reality, tend to be incredibly fragile and incredibly sensitive, and don't like to be bent in the wrong directions. Also, unfortunately, any injury recieved to the horn is permanent; no amount of magic can fix it. So, when she pulled upwards, the equal force downwards resulted in a problem. Gage felt the horn splinter inside of him, snapping off about halfway of the distance from the base to the tip as she reared backwards, screaming. It looked silent to him, in agony as the last few remaining shards of her horn caused her immense pain. Coughing up blood as he watched her fall backwards, he let a small smile onto his face. Laying his head back onto the cold marble floor, he closed his eyes.

/br/

The dim torchlight inside flickered as John galloped past, racing against time. He was currently, as most people would think, deep underground Canterlot Castle. Now, as he'd found out recently himself, Canterlot was half inside a mountain, with the city being located inside and the castle hanging off the edge. The jails and cells were below the castle, inside a single stone tower. it was part of two stone towers which supported the castle against the mountainside. If one were to go to the bottom of the jail and cell tower, they would find that if they dug through the walls, they'd come out in a cave, most likely one of many that Twilight and Princess Cadence were in at the end of season two. Sometimes his brony knowledge came in handy. But right now, it was irrelevant. All that mattered was finding Dash.

There wer only a few cells, but they were huge. I suppose they didn't need many. The crime rate in Equestria is virtually nothing. So far, from memory, he'd searched four or five as he'd run down. Seeing as Rainbow Dash wasn't in any of them, he came up with an theory. He was now rushing to see if that theory was right. If, he thought as he ran, Chrysalis and Discord both had twisted senses of humour, surely they would put Rainbow Dash in my cell. It's ironic, so it's just the way they both work. Not willing to risk it being wrong, he quickly checked each cell as he dashed past, poking his head in and casting a quick illumination spell with his hooves. Each proved to be empty, and thus strengthened the possibility.

He only knew his cell from the others as it was the only one which, from memory, was smaller and had tables and chairs outside for the guards. As he looked at each door he passed, he noticed that they were all the same material, but a lot weaker in structure and material to his cell's door. Which meant that his was high security. Or, to some, at the bottom. It was a nuisance looking inside each room just in case, and he didn't even remember how far down his was from the top; he didn't bother counting when he escaped. Whilst with his thoughts, his instincts stopped him right outside a semi-barricaded door. It looked as if it had been broken into, and so had to be rebuilt, but shabbily so. Still, it looked secure.

Broken...into?

He couldn't see from outside; it was too dark inside. And he couldn't cast an illumination spell with his hooves, because it would just light up the helix-like corridors and stairs from top to bottom, what with the intensity. As he had started to run down, he felt himself gain an electrifying boost of magical energy from only-Celestia-knows where, but he wasn't used to this much power. His spells were being amplified to be on a larger level, or at least, his light spells anyway. He didn't dare shout either, for fear that something would find them before they could escape and retrieve the Elements.

So he resorted to brute strength. He slammed his front right side into the door, hearing a hollow thud, but it remained sturdy. He tried again, grunting as he bucked the door as hard as he could. The temporary wooden defense dented slightly, but refused to move. With one frustrated snarl, he jumped into the air, focused his magic into his hind legs, and flapped his wings, pushing himself in the direction of the door. With an explosion of wood, the door imploded when his back hooves kicked into it, and he rushed inside the room, casting an illumination spell immediately.

"Jo-John?" Came a weak cough from the far wall, raspy and feminine, but more raspy than it should have been. He cast his eyes towards the back wall, almost ending the spell due to an overflow of emotions.

Love. Anger at what had happened. Relief. Sadness. Giddy happiness. All were felt as he slowly approached, never taking his eyes away from the rose pair that stared back at him.

"Dashie?"

The blue mare had bruises, deep purples and sickly greens, dotting her body, mainly around her abdomen and upper body. She also had a few scrapes on her otherwise fine face, but each was coated in a fine layer of dust and dirt. Her mane was unkempt and dull from not seeing any sunshine and the obvious lack of washing. Beside her, upwards and to the left, was a filly sized hole in the wall. There was, for some undescribable reason, no light coming from the hole. She was quite thin, thinner than she normally was. But, not to be pulled down, she still manaed a weak smile.

"'Bout time."

She shakily rose to her hooves, wobbling as she stood up. Giddy with happiness and sick with sadness, John rushed to her side, giving her a warm embrace and a quick peck on the forehead. Helping her up, suporting her with his body, he noticed something. Or rather, the lack of something.

"Your wings."

The answer was to be expected.

"Discord took 'em again."

She lovingly embraced him, but the images from before, the screaming, his aura... He pulled away quickly, turning away as to not see her uncertain eyes, betraying her pain. It hurt him as well, but he couldn't let what he saw come to pass. It seemed so real, like an epiphany of what was going to happen. He couldn't let destiny win; he had to change it. But yet, destiny had a way of doing it anyway. So he tried, with all his strength, not to hug her tightly, to kiss her unrelentingly or to just cry. He wouldn't let it happen. He wouldn't become a monster.

"Dashie?"

"Hmm?"

John used his magic to place her on his back. "Hold on tight, don't argue, you're in no state to run with me." Before she could voice her opinions, he was already off, sprinting out of the door, and towards what he hoped would be a certain end.

Answers To The Questions I Didn't Ask

Chapter 28 - Answers To The Questions I Didn't Ask

John felt another being force itself into his consciousness, and he wasted no time in sliding to a halt, literally inches out of the door. Rainbow Dash carefully slid off his back, her hooves thumping against the cold stone as they made contact. Her hind right leg buckled slightly under her weight, and she let out a suppressed hiss of pain, clenching her teeth in an effort not to scream. After a moment of composing herself, she noticed that John had still not moved, and craned her neck to look at him. Now that they were outside and in the light, she could get a proper look at him, and look she did.

His eyes, once full of life and happiness, were dull and dead to the world. The dark bags under his eyes revealled sleepless nights. His mane was limp and dirty. His grey coat had lost some of it's colour, become even lighter than it had been, and his coat was stretched taunt over his bones, giving him a haggard appearance. Here and there, speckled across the grey, were dark spots and blotches of crimson, dried into the hairs. All in all, he looked horrible.

"John?" She whispered, wondering why he was so silent, and why he had stopped running immediately after beginning. No responce. "John?" She nuzzled him lightly, confused. "This isn't funny John." He remained silent, unmoving. She put a hoof to his face. It was cold. Not just cold, but freezing. Almost as if he were dead. "John!" He began to tremble slightly, and his eyes flickered with awareness for a second. She recoiled away from him, studying his face in fear. What's wrong with him? His lips began to move silently.

"You wouldn't dare...." She heard two voices speak at once, in her head and from John. As if he were talking to himself. She flicked her ear, before leaning towards John, almost to the point of touching noses with him. His breathing was shallow, and each exhale sounded forced.

"I would. Would you risk it?" A completely different voice echoed in her ears and in her mind. It was a lot deeper, and extremely cocky, almost goading her. She knew that voice...

"If you do, I'll hunt you down, and I'll..."

"You'll what? You're too boring, Shaded. Perhaps I could change that..."

John's eyes flashed, and she jumped backwards, before her eyes widened in shock. His eyes had turned red. Rainbow Dash heard a click, saw a flash of an extremely bright light, and that was all she remembered, aside from a feeling of falling into an infinite void. A moment before she was lost to the darkness, however, she heard one last thing.

"DASHIE!"

John screamed in anger, awakening from the calmness and jumping head first into the realms of rage. How dare he do it again! HOW DARE HE! He could feel the stone beneath him becoming warm to the touch, almost hot. He looked down, and he saw that his hooves were surrounded the auras again. He saw red. By now, he didn't care. He'd burn down Canterlot if he had to.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

His hooves burst into unforgiving flame, engulfed in magical fire, twisting and licking up his legs, but he didn't feel the pain. The edge of his vision was tinted a vicious blood red. His wings became longer, the feathers ending in points. His mane became ethereal, igniting into a bright blue and white flickering blaze. But his eyes... the whites of his eyes clouded over with a bright yellow, highlighting the bloodshot edges. The irises were aglow with the pure, concentrated fury of a millenium spent imprisoned, producing a frightening illusion of malicious red flames dancing in freezing cold winds. The edges of his eyes gave off orange smoke, trailing past his ears. He reared up, eyes full of undisguised madness, and slammed down on the floor. It cracked, and a tremendous amount of dust was thrown into the air, leaving a slightly smoking crater about hoof deep in the tiling. Pushing off from the hole, he burst into a gallop, his ears dead to the pounding and hissing of his hooves scorching the stone underhoof.

His lips curled inwards, forming a silent snarl as he thundered back up the stairs, fury blocking any rational thought. But then again, something was nagging at him, much like an itch, from the back of his mind. Something keeping him poised ever-so-carefully on the brink of a frenzied bloodlust. Regardless, he powered onwards. After a while, he was able to think for himself, but not able to control his limbs; they were on autopilot now. By the time he regained his composure, he found himself dashing down the hallway into the main chamber. As he approached the door, he scowled, lips curling back even more. He slid to a halt, studying the scene.

Gage was lying there. It was obvious he was dead. Surrounding him were quite a number of dead Changlings, one in particular grabbing his attention. John's eyes went from the disfigured horn imbedded in Gage's stomach, to the splintered stub on Chrysalis' head. Both wounds were bathed with gore, and it was pooling down beneath their shattered corpses. Looking closer, he saw that Gage had a very small smile on his face with his eyes closed. He was at peace.

The same could not be said for Chrysalis. Moving closer to get a better look, he leaned down, listening intently. She was still breathing. It was soft, shuddering and raspy, but she was breathing. Her mane was stained with blotches of crimson, and patches of it were plastered onto her face, the sides of her neck and on her back. Her wings twitched ever so slightly at random. There were scorch marks on her forehead, as if something had exploded or discharged. Magic? He knelt down, and touched a fiery hoof to her wing. There was a muffled shriek of pain and a foul odour of burning, but she didn't move. With a grim grin, John, completely out of control, effortlessly lifted the broken Queen into the air, the mixed aura gripping her in place. He slowly raised a hoof, and curled it inwards towards him. The Changling floated in his direction, and he gestured with flick of his leg. She quickly gained speed, and an audible smack could be heard as she crunched against the far wall. Silently laughing, yet also repulsed by the action, he approached the body. Her wings were twitching more often now. With a growl, he raised her off the floor once more. Red was quickly creeping up on the edges of his vision again, and soon, he would lose control.

"Do you know who I am?" He whispered as Chrysalis awoke, only to be pulled towards him. Her entire body was in a magical vice; one thought and she would be crushed. She coughed, choking slightly as John increased his grip on her throat, moving more power to there. She wriggled in pain, confused but knowing of what was going to happen. He smirked, fire dancing in his blood red pupils. "Open your eyes." John whispered again, watching her green pupils dilate as she saw what was in front of her. She hissed in trepidation, seemingly intimidated by the 'pony' in front of her. She tried to squirm her way out of the grasp again, but John compensated by applying more pressure to her throat. Her eyes bulged out, and she shook her head quickly, either in answer to his question or to plead with him. John laughed. It wasn't like a normal laugh though; it was deeper, filled with a mortifying passion that chilled him to the bone. It felt... unnaturally pleasant. He pressed harder, leaning forward with his hoof still outstretched.

"I'm your worst nightmare."

John grinned widely, laughing again. His eyes stayed locked with Chrysalis' for a moment, before she was roughly tossed towards the open door, towards the bridge. She landed with another crack, her crown rolling off of her head. Outside the door, and beyond the bridge, the battle was still in full swing. He could end it, right now. Kill her. But then, the chaos stops. Decisions. It was as if two voices were on either side of his head, their honeyed words sweetly said and noted. As he strode across the bridge, she weakly tried to raise herself off the floor, but slipped, legs giving up on her. He laughed again.

"Where's your confidence now, Changling?"

Her eyes darted towards her crown, milliseconds before it was crushed and melted underhoof by the celestial fires, rivers of black dripping off the edge of the bridge. She was half-heartedly picked up and tossed again, this time landing on the other side of the bridge. John watched in dark glee as she rolled to a halt at the hooves of a Changling locked in combat with a stallion. The stallion and the Changling exchanged glances, and stopped fighting. Around them, the remaining portions of each army stood idly, entranced and mystified, too afraid of the newcomer to do anything. Chrysalis didn't move this time around; she was probably too broken. Her 'subjects' backed away slowly, never removing their empty blue eyes from her hornless forehead. John, unrecognisable to the crowd, slowly made his way to the defeated Changling. Sensing his aproach, she turned her head pitifully, too weak to do anything else, her once malice-filled green pupils clouded over with resignation.

"You will regret the day you marched into Equestria." He growled, but it sounded weirder. Twisted. Chaotic. As if at least four voices were saying it. Unknown to the stallion, high above them in the sky, the pegusai stopped still, watching on in interest. She was, once again, effortlessly pulled into the air. Her head lolled downwards, her mane tattered and dirty, her crown gone. John breathed in deeply. He was going to make an example of her. Even higher in the inky black sky than the pegusai, the stars twinkled and the eclipse flared with light, glowing of its own accord as if it were radiating power. The blazing halo around the edge began to get brighter, casting a heavenly glow down. Where it touched John, around his shadow and around his hooves, it burst into flame. White hot flames that could be felt from where the soldiers were standing, the wave of heat washing over them. As if it were a combination of heaven and hell, and he was to judge. Dark stormclouds appeared out of nowhere, blinking into existence, circling and massing over John. He looked up, past her dull eyes, into the night sky. A thin smile worked its way onto his face, and he looked her straight in the eye.

"You will burn for your crimes."

"W...wait..." She croaked out, pleading with him with her eyes. Something came to life inside of him; he raised an eyebrow, but kept her held aloft, as if to say explain.

"W...we were... forced... into conflict..." She gasped, not daring to look inside John's burning eyes. "...My subjects... were... starving to... death..." She coughed violently, a little droplet of blood dripping from one corner of her mouth. "...Ponies drove... us... away from our... home... near them. No way to... feed without... positive emotion... around us..." She coughed again, miniscule drops of crimson cast to the floor in a red mist. "We... I... was desper...desperate..."

"Where is Discord?" He whispered into her ear, speaking into her mind and thoughts all at once, a cacaphony of hushed voices expelling themselves into her mind.

"Celestia's... tower..."

"Thank you..." He growled, and with a twist of his hoof, her head was violently pulled around, snapping her neck. With a strangled sigh, she was dropped to the ground wordlessly, not spared a glance from John, who was already striding back into the castle. Remembering something, he spun around, fixating a murderous stare on the rest of the Changlings.

"Burn."

He turned back. The air became thick with the screams of the Changlings, and the smell of cooking flesh. Ignoring the pleas from the stallions, he strode over the bridge, eyes full of rage again. The Elements would be useless now... He had to tell them... John shook his head, and began to gallop towards the Hall of the Elements.

/br/

"Can you hear that?" Twilight flicked her ears, listening intently to the rumbling from across the castle. Shaded must have found something, or the fight had moved inside.

"Hear what, Twilight?" Rarity questioned, looking towards the door.

Infinity Blitz and Lazer Bright were standing guard just inside the door. Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were a little behind them, but close to the vault door nevertheless. All were pretty nervous, and all were confused.

"Ah hear it." Applejack announced, gazing towards Twilight.

"Me two!" Pinkie added, smiling. She was a paragon of emotions, as unreadable as... well. Something.

"DASHIE! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Blitz and Bright's eyes went as wide as dinner platters, but stayed in position. The voice was definitely Shaded's, but amplified, like the Royal Canterlot Voice. Twilight's eyes also grew wide. Surely she must have misheard!

"Ah knew it! Ah told ya he was evil!" Applejack spun around to face the door, looking by far the angriest Twilight had ever seen her. She could have sworn that her eyes had gone grey in that brief moment.

Fluttershy, if it was possible, was even angrier. Her eyes went cold, her facial expression eerily calm, and she raced out of the door.

/br/

The voices in his head...

John stumbled up a step, coming precariously close to faceplanting.

"I could never hate the mare I love, Dashie..." They whispered, cold, dead voices echoing with each beat of his hooves. By now, the anger had worn off, and he was back to normal, albeit very scared of himself. Nopony knew what damage he could cause if he was permanently like that, which is what would happen...

He had barely managed to restrain himself from killing Chrysalis, only just managing to instead give her a painless death compared to the one he had originally had in mind.

"Who are you...?"

"I don't know!" He cried out, shaking his head to try and clear his mind of the parasitic thoughts.

"Do you seriously think that I enjoyed doing the stuff I did...?"

"NO!"

"Shaded...?"

"Shaded...?"

"I'M NOT SHADED!" He screamed, falling and rolling to a stop with his forehooves clenched against his ears. He lay there for a few seconds, whimpering silently to himself.

"Make it stop..." He whispered, tears in the corner of his eyes, slowly dripping onto the polished stone beneath him.

"Shaded...? I'm so sorry..."

"Arrrgh!" He screeched, fumbling to his hooves and running a few strides, before falling over again.

"Understand what...? That you don't love Rainbow Dash...? That you cheated on her, driving her to try to commit suicide...?"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." He cried to himself, unable to stop or block out the voices in his head.

"JOHN!"

The voices stopped. Something had banished them... for now, anyway.

"JOHN!"

Something was calling him. Or somepony, could it be Twilight? No, she only knew him as Shaded. That meant...

"Luna!?"

"John! You must listen! You are in gre..."

"Luna?"

Silence again. He was alone. With a weary sigh, he dragged himself to his hooves, beginning to gallop away. Soon enough, the voices returned. Thankfully, he was close to the Hall now, so maybe Twilight would be able to put some form of block over his mind? That could work. Closing his eyes and feeling for the stars, he tried to regain some energy from their springs, but failed without the armour.

Huh, go figure. I'm able to move the fricking moon, but can't take energy from the stars.

Funny, if he kept thinking about irrelevant things, he could block out the voices. That could also work. He ran into something soft, yet unmoving. Whatever it was, it was not being pushed around. John picked himself up from the floor, eyelids fluttering, trying to clear his head as the voices caught up with him. Standing over him was the Element of Kindness.

Fluttershy's bright blue eyes pierced John's soul, looking all the way through him as if he were made of glass. Instead of being filled to the brim with happiness, or kindness, they were clouded over in rage, locked in battle with his own blue eyes. Refusing to look away, or just unable to, John couldn't help but cower slightly under her gaze. He was afraid. The yellow pegasus was snarling down at him, her teeth clenched and bared, wings spread in anger as she regarded him with as much happiness as one would show a stain on their coat. The grey stallion, sprawled on the cold stone floor, stared up at the mare defiantly and fumbled to place his hooves in such a position as to be able to lift himself up. In the distance, somewhere along the corridor, he could hear the rest of the Elements of Harmony, racing to catch up with Fluttershy. After a moment, John attempted to push himself to his hooves, but was shoved back down harshly by the mare.

She growled something, her cold icy irises unwavering from their assualt.

John blinked a few times, shocked, and tried again. He was pushed down another time, but with a lot more force behind it.

"Fluttershy!" He heard Twilight shout out, and the mare backed away slowly, never looking away. John pushed himself backwards cautiously, a mixture of emotions and thoughts blasting through his brain as he watched the five mares giving him cold glares made of nothing but fury. Twilight had less of a nasty expression, but it was anger all the same. Once back on all four hooves, he cracked his neck. Before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a swift and bone-breakingly powerful kick to the chest that sent him sailing gracefully across the room, before smacking into the far wall and sliding down it with a noticable difference in grace. As he slumped at the bottom, he hissed in pain at a sudden burning inside his right wing, and scowled upwards at his attacker.

The Element of Honesty spat at him from across the room, before audjusting her cowpony hat and approaching him. Fluttershy walked at the same pace as Applejack, whilst the others were considerably slower.

What the hell?

He blinked past a few tears of agony, noting the horror and betrayal in their eyes.

"You monster!" Applejack snarled, snorting at him. There were a few tears in her green eyes, but she either didn't notice or ingnored them. Her expression was dark, as if she wanted justice. Fluttershy was exactly the same. John closed his eyes for a second and breathed in. As soon as he did so, he felt something hard smash into the side of his face. His head rolled to the side, and he felt a vacant slot in his teeth. He tasted blood, hot and coppery, and he spat it out on the floor. The side of his face felt numb, and he tentatively raised a hoof to touch it. It stung at his touch.

"Where is she?!" He heard one of them say. He didn't know or care who had said it. They had just attacked him.

Rage boiled inside of him, twsiting and churning, expanding like a gas to fill every vacant space. His eyes began to water, but he didn't bother to blink. He felt a muscle twitch violently in his face, and he growled in pain, the sudden realisation that they, the Elements of Harmony, the very ponies he was trying to help, had just attacked him without warning. He began to shake without control, eyes clenching shut in an attempt to block their stares.

Monster.

The shaking and twitching stopped all of a sudden.

"Shaded?" He heard a whisper, and sensed a hoof in front of him.

His eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of blood red irises. The crimson swirled as if it had a mind of it's own, various shades curling around each other. The whites of his eyes had become yellow, tainted and stained, a somewhat ugly bight yellow, and at the edges, a darker yellow melded and blended with the lighter counterpart. The pupil was still black, but it was now a cold, merciless ink that was darker than black could ever be. Applejack and Fluttershy recoiled away in shock and fear, jumping backwards a few feet.

John refused to move however, a small grimace appearing on his now darker face. His mane and tail greyed slightly, bringing back unwanted memories for the girls. As his lips thinned, his eyes focused on them, the pupils shrinking by a considerable amount, and a small trickle of blood escaped from his lips, painting a line of red down his lips. He scowled, and wiped it away with the back of his hoof, examining the vital liquid against the dark grey. He chuckled slightly before lowering his hoof.

The girls backed away slowly, retreating away from John. He raised his head slightly, eyeing the nearest one: Applejack. She blinked back at him, confused, before the gravity of the situation hit her. Without warning, she was yanked forwards back to John, a yelp echoing around the room as a red aura enveloped her. Twilight leapt forward, as did Rarity, but were both quickly thrown backwards by the same aura, crashing down a few feet away.

Applejack squirmed as she was brought closer, trying to fight against it. As the orange mare wriggled, John swore that he could hear thunder overhead, loud and clear against a sudden silence. It boomed in his eardrums, deafening everything in comparison. Memories raced past his eyes, flashing and disappearing as quickly as they began. The sounds of each, however, were whispered into his ear, reverberating again and again.

"What did you do to him you...you...MONSTER!?"

As each one was repeated faster and faster, it slowly amounted into a demonic choir, hissing and melding horribly with another.

"...Monster!"

John stared coldly into Applejack's forest green eyes, a snarl toying with the edges of his mouth. The orange mare, still struggling valiantly, could only watch in fear as the pegasus examined her with a vacant, merciless gaze. Steadily, he began to squeeze the life from her, smiling as he did so like a pleased child.

"MONSTER!"

Something sparked inside of him, and he growled at the sensation; it felt like an itch deep inside him. As he concentrated on it, the aura surrounding Applejack vanished, and she gasped for air, retreating backwards and stumbling. John's breath caught in his throat, and the red swirling energy around his forelegs dissipated, returning the room back into it's natural ambience. He froze in place, unable to breath or move all of a sudden. He was helpless. He felt pain erupt into existence behind his eyeballs as an impossibly bright light burst into the center of the room.

Then, he found himself able to move. He tilted his head away, lifting up a foreleg to shield his eyes as he squinted at the source.

The...hell?

Then, the room returned to darkness, all lights extinguished in the blink of an eye. And out of the gloom, with a softly glowing blue light to guide her, strode the Lunar Princess. Her mane wasn't ethereal, and she was a lot smaller, younger even. Dark bags under her eyes highlighted the pale blue eyes that scanned the room, and her legs trembled as if she could barely support her own weight.

"Luna!"

John heard Twilight cry out in joy, and observed as the purple unicorn embraced her, temporarily forgetting about him. The others soon joined her, creating a group hug that warmed John's heart. Slowly, he began to think, realising just how close he was to giving in to his anger, and... He blocked out the thought, repulsed at his actions. But then, he listened to his heart, and let himself admit the truth.

I could have killed her.

He blinked, time slowing down as he looked down at his hooves, raising them up to his eyes and studying them. His eyes traced the edges, the individual grey hairs and finally, the splotched stain of blood. He felt his heart grow cold, and he dropped his head, letting it roll as his hooves hit the floor with a bang.

What have I become?

The yellow tinging his eyes slowly faded to reveal the white again, giving him a less demonic look. His greyed mane diminished, replaced by two-tone blue. The lone cutie mark on his right flank regained colour, but John didn't notice. His now lighter grey ears flattened against his head as he heard hoofsteps approach. As quietly as possible, he breathed out, a ragged sigh of breath escaping his lips, accompanied by a lone teardrop that sparkled in Her presence, shining like a diamond before it descended, splashing down in front of him.

"John?" He heard Luna whisper. He was afraid to open his eyes, but at the same time, relieved that she was here, be it to help or punish him. He carefully raised his head, fear ripping through his body as he steadily opened his electric blue eyes. He was met with the worried face of Luna, and the confused faces of those assembled behind. Somehow, Bright and Blaze had stealthily sneaked into the room, and were joining the girls in observing the pair.

Before he could open his mouth, there was a stab of agony in his skull, and he barked in shock, recoiling away. It was relentless in the attack, worming through any and all mental barriers, as if it had a mind of it's own.

And then, the soothing absence of pain as Luna closed her eyes, and lightly touched her horn to John's head. After a moment, he shook his head, looking up at the midnight blue alicorn with renewed trepidation.

"Why... is this... happening to... me?" He hoarsely gasped, the volume barely louder than a whisper in the wind. Luna gave him a sad smile, reassuring yet sorrowful. She sat down carefully next to him, and began to speak.

"John... I am so sorry. I can only imagine what has been going on in your brain, and I don't want to."

"He just tried to kill Applejack!" Rarity interrupted with an icy glare to accompany her statement. Luna turned around and scowled at her, until the unicorn mumbled something and went silent again. Luna exhaled, and continued, an even sadder look, almost as if in shame.

"I should never have given you a portion of my power. That is why that happened..."

John coughed, looking up sharply. "I don't understand."

"The original Shaded Comet, as with all full Royal Guards, recieved a portion of my sister's power. That is what makes them white. For an alicorn to remain healthy, and to be able to bestow such a power upon a pony, the alicorn must give the reciever the equivalent of a third of their power, or magic. There are two types of magic: Magi, and Anti-Magi. Anti-Magi is the opposite."

Twilight cut in this time. "Chaos Magic..." She breathed. Luna nodded.

"Discord, long before I was born, was an alicorn, but Anti-Magi corrupted him, turning him into Chaos itself. Discord gave you a third of his power, which balanced out Celestia's remaining Magi inside Shaded, and since it is fuelled by negative emotions, it eventually became dominant over you."

John nodded slightly. Luna looked away.

"My Magi is unstable. Since I was corrupted by Anti-Magi before, my magic still contains traces of it."

This is what that," She motioned at the black around her cutie mark, "Is."

John nodded again. "So when you gave me a third of your power, it balanced it out again, but the negativity in your Magi fuelled the Chaos?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. That is why you are hearing voices. It is the Chaos inside of you trying to turn you by accessing your worst memories. Thankfully, due to it being so closely balanced, you never fully turned. But because all three combined, you came to possess mixed powers."

"The aura..."

"Yes. I told you about Shaded's ability. It was never his to start with. He was corrupted with Anti-Magi the day he got his cutie mark, which is why he can burst into flame. It is a mixture of Celestia's power and Chaos."

Twilight caught onto something. "Hold it! Why do you keep saying 'Shaded' or 'Original', and not 'You'? You make it sound as if he isn't Shaded..."

John and Luna shared an uneasy glance.

John answered for her. "I told you before, I am not Shaded Comet. I'm John."

"Excuse me?"

John rolled his eyes. "Shaded died the day you found him in Manehatten. I'm a human, and to make it easy, we're the dominant species where I come from. We kinda resemble monkeys, but we're taller, and way more evolved. I died, and somehow, I was reborn as Shaded, even though he is dead."

Twilight just stood there, flabberghasted and gobsmacked, unsure of how to respond. She initially opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a "huh?".

Luna nodded again, looking away for a second before turning back, looking even more sad. "John, when you were brought to Equestria, it wasn't I who brought you. It was Chrysalis. You were brought back and are now sustained through Chaos and tainted magic..."

He cocked his head to the side, curious.

Luna swallowed. "When Magi or Anti-Magi is transferred between objects or people, the reciever will always undergo a change. And it can't be reversed."

John remained silent, analysing what was just said.

"So, I'll keep having 'moments' where my body will try to audjust to the Chaos, but your Magi will stop it, therefore putting me in an eternal loop?" He slowly asked. "You're saying that until Chaos takes over my body, I'll be cursed? And because it's tainted and Chaos Magic, I'll end up becoming more and more corrupted each time?"

Luna nodded gravely.

"And it can't be reversed?"

A shake of the head confirmed this. John sighed, closing his eyes. Luna's eyes brimmed with tears, and she hugged him.

"I'm sorry..."

John shook his head. Luna moved back, confused.

"No. Chaos won't have me." He looked up at the girls. "I'm sorry. I really am."

The girls whimpered, before rushing over and embracing him as well. Their coats rubbed softly against his own, but he couldn't bring himself to look them in the eyes, instead closing them again. They needed to know.

"Girls. Listen to me. I need you to grab Dashie, and get the hell out."

"Why? You're not facing Discord alone!" Twilight returned, an edge to her voice.

"You don't understand. I now do." He paused, looking at them, an eerie calmness in his heart.

"Earlier, before we got here, I had a vision. I killed everyone. Not just a few ponies. I burnt Ponyville to the ground. I personally killed all of you. And Dashie..." He moaned, unwilling to remember. "I watched as I killed her, slowly scorching her to death..." His voice broke up, and he choked gently. "And it will happen if I don't do something."

He raised his head, gazing out the window at the still burning corpses of the Changlings.

"I need to kill Discord, so this never happens again." He stopped, frowning at his hooves. "And myself..." He whispered.

Luna released him, her voice soft. "I need to lower the moon. Girls, I'll need your help in getting Celestia to raise the sun. It should be just before dawn."

The girls relinquished him, standing up. John followed suit, straightening up and looking over his shoulder. He hissed at the sight of seeing his right wing broken, but didn't feel any pain. Instead, he looked up and out of the window, towards Celestia's tower.

"Please. Look after Hope." He asked, not looking away.

Behind him, the leaving group turned around one final time.

"We will. Thank you, John. And, we're sorry."

Twilight answered for them for the last time. And then, they were gone, leaving behind a lone grey pegasus. The pegasus didn't stop staring out of the window, gazing down at the carnage he had wreaked, and then, Ponyville. A single teardrop sparkled in the half-light outside as it fell gracefully, eventually dropping out of sight. The pegasus closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry..."

An End?

This is the only chapter where I will include Author Notes in the actual original story

Chapter 29: An End?

John, despite everything that had happened, was calm. Not the "calm" kind of calm, like when one is relaxing, but the "calm" where you have accepted your fate, and have given up trying to escape it. He was still standing at the window, gazing out at the wreckage and debris of the battle. By now, the Changlings had fled, leaving their dead behind; they were eager to escape the wrath of the ponies now that their Queen was dead.

Either that, or they feared that they would suffer the death that their now burning compatriots had. He couldn't really blame them; being burned to oblivion wasn't exactly high on his to-do list. Even if the invaders were dead, the ends didn't justify the means; what he had did in his rage was unacceptable.

The ponies outside were cleaning up, spirits high; they had won. Somewhere inside the castle, Twilight, Princess Luna and the others were going to raise the sun to usher in a new morning; a new day. A new beginning. To his knowledge, they had already freed Princess Celestia, so it wouldn't be long.

He sighed, turning away from the window.

"John!" He heard Applejack shout. Turning to face her, he raised an eyebrow when he saw the five of them in the doorway. Unmoving and as stoic as ever, he watched as they slowly entered, observing him cautiously. Once they were all inside, heads lowered slowly, Fluttershy, the pony he least expected to, began to talk.

"We're here to...uhm...help you get Rainbow Dash...if you don't mind, that is..." She softly announced, cringing slightly when he looked at her.

Of course she's afraid of me. Why wouldn't she be?

"I appreciate it. I'm not really going to have any time to get her out with what I'm planning." He returned, attempting to keep his voice quiet and level. He didn't want to seem hostile at this moment in time, and he didn't want to get angry; there would be plenty of time for that later. Glancing back out at the window, he shook his head to get his mane out of his bloodshot eyes, and exhaled a deep breath.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." He curtly added, briskly pivoting and beginning to trot towards the door. Hoofsteps behind him indicated that they were close behind. Not bothering to look back, he stood in the corridor outside and tried to flap his wings. He was awarded with a burst of unbelievable pain in his right one, and his legs buckled slightly with the intensity. Regardless, he swiftly gathered his wits, and recovered.

"Guess I'm not flying there." He growled.

Twilight approached from behind. In the darkness of the hallway, her horn was radiating with a soft violet glow, casting shadows along in front of them. A soft breeze made her mane ripple slightly, but she ignored it.

"I could teleport us there..." She offered.

As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a dark, maniacal chuckle that surrounded them on all sides, casting a chill down all of their spines. John straightened up, immediately going into a defensive state of mind. The girls' ears all flattened against their skulls, and Fluttershy whimpered quietly.

There was an abrupt, eerie silence afterwards, leaving them all thoroughly creeped out.

"I would think not, my dear." John heard, the deep and melodious, seemingly cut-off, voice reverberate inside his skull. The girls all looked as if they heard it too, by the looks of things. Twilight immediately stiffened, and frowned, her lips going thin.

"Don't you dare!" She warned the voice, not eager to experience being hornless again. Rarity and Fluttershy, both with their respective warnings, scowled up at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Applejack and Pinkie Pie shared a knowing glance, the former rolling her eyes.

John heard a click, and saw a flash of white. Groggily, he shook his head to rid it of the blasted blurriness, and was greeted with shrieks of horror and a group of earth ponies. Not that it really applied to Applejack or Pinkie, but seeing Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight as earth ponies was still a shock to John. They looked a little too different.

"Give us our horns and wings back!" Twilight demanded, stomping her hoof once to make her point more clear. John's head snapped around to see if he still had his wings. He did, but his right one was still broken. he sighed.

"I thought it best to let you keep your useless wings, Shaded. They're broken, after all, aren't they..." Discord's voice purred, and John grimaced slightly, but it was quickly replaced with a jaunty grin.

"Nope! Only one's broken!" He cheerily replied, trying to annoy the spirit. He was still at a disadvantage, whether he had them or not, so consequences were irrelevant.

"Is that so?"

SNAP!

John screamed in agony, eyes rolling up into his skull as the girls watched, helpless, as his one good wing was twisted violently to the side by Discord's magic, breaking it instantly, and tearing the flight muscles underneath. Paralyzed due to pain, he collapsed on his side, landing on the ruined wing and causing him even more torture. The corners of his mouth were flecked with froth, spittle flying from his lips as his howl became silent; he was in too much pain to even breath. Out of the five girls, Fluttershy regained her wits first, and rushed to his side.

"They look broken to me!" Discord's peals of laughter echoed in John's skull, and the pain continued ten-fold, intensifying with every second that passed. Okay, consequences were relevant. Now he had no wings. Instinct kicked in after a few moments of terror. John, still in extreme agony, managed to force his eyes open and begin to break free. The twisting stopped abruptly, leaving John shaking in pain. His eye were watery, the edges bloodshot and reddened. Fluttershy quickly turned him onto his front, trying not to touch the fractured wings and destroyed muscle as she leaned over him, attempting to lessen his suffering.

"I...spoke...too...soon..." John gasped between ragged breaths, sucking in air like there was no tomorrow in an effort to alleviate the unbelievable punishment between his shoulder blades and down his back. Within seconds of him speaking, a soft blue light began to slowly twist around his back, pulsing every few moments. He deftly raised his head in surprise; the magic felt cold, and was greeted with Twilight's concerned face.

"Are you alright?" She asked, worry lacing her tone.

"I'm fine. Thanks. " John thanked Twilight and with the help of Fluttershy, shakily rose to his hooves. He stopped the unintended magic flow, slightly annoyed at the use, but relieved at the fact that he had done it sub-consciously. Out of the blue, he was overcome with a coughing fit, and he tumbled slightly, staggering off to the side. Again, Fluttershy raced to prop him up, pushing her meager body weight against his own in an effort to keep him standing. It eventually stopped, and John turned to face Fluttershy.

"Thanks."

"No uhm...problem..." She whispered.

"Tut-tut, Shaded. Clock's ticking. Rainbow Dash is waiting." Discord sung the last part in sing-song. Something inside John reared it's ugly head, threatening to break loose, until Pinkie Pie put a hoof on his shoulder until they went slack. He raised his head, eyes pointing forward, locked on the door leading out of the hall, and into the maze of corridors, and breathed out.

"Let's go."

/br/

A few hundred metres below, massed in the stone courtyards outside, was the bulk of the attacking ponies, carefully and steadily moving the few scattered dead, respectfully keeping their tongues restrained as they worked. As each body was moved, be it pony or changling, each pony could feel the after-battle fatigue settling into their bones, suddenly seeping into their souls, a complete lack of energy siphoning their will to continue. Regardless, they continued.

Shadow Light, grazed and cut in several places, his black coat thankfully obscuring any gore dotting him, finished pulling aside one of the pony combatants, a grey pegasus. A spark of regret ignited inside as he looked apon the deceased pony one final time. Looking closer at the dull coat, he could see very faint splotches of white here and there, giving him a greyscale camoflage pattern. His violet mane was slightly singed in places, particularly at the back. His eyelids were closed, and he looked as if he were at peace with everything. He didn't know the stallion's name, but he had seen him. He had been mapping the army below, under instructions from Shaded. From the looks of him, he had probably been hit by a Changling when it shot out of nowhere, with the impact right in the back of the neck, breaking his spine. Hopefully he didn't endure that much pain; it was possibly painless. But he was still dead.

Not many had been lost on the pony side, in comparison to what the Changlings lost, but enough blood was spilt on either side. The Changlings, when they saw Chrysalis executed in front of their beady blue eyes, ran away with their non-existent tails between their legs. Their dead still spanned the courtyard, but the ponies were civil enough to move them aside, planning to burn their remains later in a mass grave, perhaps even thinking about erecting a monument? But that would come later.

Shadow sighed, brushing a few errant strands of his mane out of his eyes with his hoof.

Was it worth it?

Pushing his thoughts away for the time being, he trotted around to the head of the remains of one of the many Changlings that had been burned to death. The dead blue eyes stared emotionlessly at Shadow as he grimaced down at it. The chitin-like armour it had naturally was scorched in places, and underneath the black he could clearly see the full extent of the damage. It wasn't pretty, to say the very least. With a small moan of tiredness, he grasped the Changling under the pony-like legs it had, and used his wings to flap backwards.

/br/

High above them, lounging on the balcony of Celestia's tower, Discord chuckled. Behind him, encased in magical bindings to prvent them from moving, lay Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna and the newly awoken and very tired Princess Celestia. With a snap of his fingers, Discord did something unbelievably despicable; something that defied anything and everything that life had to do with. He watched for a few seconds, joyous with the success, and lay back down, patiently awaiting the arrival of one Shaded Comet.

/br/

The Changling twitched in Shadow's grasp, and he yelped in confusion and fear, darting backwards a good few feet in shock. Finding himself unable to move, he blinked in disbelief as the Changling that he had been carrying shook it's head, the eyes becoming a piercing red that looked like they searched his very soul.

It was obvios what came next. He shrieked like a little filly. The "Changling" snapped the horrendous gaze of it's crimson eyes onto his own bright ellow, and snarled. Similar reactions came from around the field, and he backed away, eventually coming into contact with another pony. He looked over his shoulder, and saw Seregant Wolfee, baring his teeth at a pair of reanimated Changlings as they came closer.

And then, the fight began anew.

/br/

John heard the scream from inside, and dashed to a window, fearfully peering out into the courtyard. And his eyes immediately grew cold and he looked away, forcing the five mares to follow him as he began to double his speed.

"What's going on down there?" Twilight asked, panting ever so slightly at the sudden burst of speed. The others, excluding Applejack and Pinkie , all had similar expressions.

"You don't want to know." He replied, nowhere near kindly as he galloped down the corridor, skidding to a halt at a flight of stairs leading upwards in a spiral. Towards the end. Wordlessly, he began his ascent, slowing down as he had to mind his step. The girls followed behind, exchanging a few hurried whispers as they moved, earning them a glare from John when they slowed down. He didn't stop moving, however.

Eventually, after a few more seconds of running, they ran out of stairs to climb. The angles flattened out to form a short corridor towards a door. The door was made of gold, presumably, but didn't reflect the light, even though it was shining brilliantly. As if it were trying to entice him. Behind that door...

He shook his head.

The girls caught up, clambering up the last few steps to join him, laboured breathing giving away their tiredness.

"You alright?" He asked, tentatively raising a hoof towards the gasping Rarity. She shuddered, nodded slightly, and coughed daintily into her hoof.

"Quite, darling. Just give me... a moment to... catch my breath." She managed, wheezing slightly. It wasn't that she was unfit, it was probably that they had just ran at full speed up a flight of stairs that seemingly went on forever.

John turned around.

The next thing he knew, there was a throb at the base of his skull, and he felt a sharp, swift stab at his stomach. In front of him stood Discord, in all his insanity and twisted glory, giving him a smug grin. Looking down, he saw red bubbling around three taloned fingers, attached to something that resembled an eagle's claws. Confusion. Realisation. And then acception. He felt the warm blood dribble out around the entry holes, and coughed. A small amount of blood sprayed out, giving Discord's face a mottled appearance. With an even more smug grin, Discord slowly clenched his claw, curling it up whilst it was still inside of his stomach. The girlsd screamed, and he could hear struggling from behind Discord.

"John!"

It was Dash.

With a growl, he looked Discord in the eye, and was rewarded with a blink. With a deep and dark laugh, the mixed up spirit threw him aside, wrenching the talons out in one swift movement. A dull ache inside of John erupted into existance, and he winced as he was tossed across the room, hitting the floor roughly and rolling for a few moments. As soon as he stopped moving, he found himself facing the floor, his breath coming in ragged, irregular intakes.

Through the haze of crimson that had begun to cloud his vision, swirling in the corners of his eyesight, he managed to raise his head enough to see what was going on.

Discord had Rainbow Dash by the throat, lifting her up to his eyes, inspecting her with a voluptuous expression.

That feeling stirred up inside of him once more, and he felt the cool relief of magic beginning to heal his wound; the blood slowly dripping from his grey coat forming a miniature pool underneath him had stopped flowing. But still, he couldn't replace the blood lost, but he didn't care. It was the end, here and now. Slowly and surely, he began to raise himself to his hooves, wobbling slightly. After extending a few inches above the stone, he collapsed, his legs refusing to listen and obey his commands.

He looked up again. Now, Discord was holding her over the balcony railing. If he dropped her, she would die; they were almost at the top of a mountain, with at least three kilometres of uninterrupted airspace between here and the ground.

No.

He tried again, pouring all of his strength into the effort. As he struggled, the girls sub-consciously moved aside to create a clear path. The voices began to speak, and he welcomed them, letting them spur him on. Slowly, but with a lot more determination, he placed his front hooves either side of his face, and pushed upwards. It hurt more than anything before, just in that small movement. His brain was groggy, slow to recieve information, and his head felt really light. Like air.

Gritting his teeth, he managed to stand up, staggering forward slightly as he scowled ahead, a drop of blood flying down as he moved. It began slowly at first, and he barely felt his hooves touching the floor, nor did he hear them. Nor did it matter. It looked to him like he had quite a bit of distance to build up speed, but he didn't trust his vision. Instead, he broke out into a hobbling sprint, blanking out the pain as he gritted his teeth, keeping his eyes dead ahead.

He flashed through the doorway, leaving behind a trail of crimson that dotted around here and there. Discord moved, tilting his head. In front of him, Rainbow Dash's eyes frantically searched for a way out.

He didn't spare a glance for any of the ponies there, he just kept moving. He could faintly hear their gasps, and as he got closer, the world slowed down. Time trudged past at an agonising rate, and he shouted, his voice raw and feral, commanding it to speed up. As soon as his lips parted, and the growl escaped, he saw Discord turn around in confusion, dropping Rainbow Dash on the balcony as he spun, eyes wide. He had no time to move.

John jumped as his legs buckled, grabbing Discord around the waist as he sailed past, pulling him down with him. As he inched over the balcony, he felt the spells that Discord had been casting shatter. He smiled at the spirit, and then they fell together, unable to move. To the end.

"JOHN!" He faintly heard somepony scream as they began to speed towards the ground, over two kilometres below, their combined weight pushing them faster and faster. Immediately, he felt a twinge of regret, but he pushed it aside, locking eyes with the draconequus. Behind Discord, John watched as they flashed past the battlements on the edge of Canterlot, and then glanced down. With a roar he let loose all of the Magi that he had, good, tainted and bad, in a single burst of speed. Raising a hoof, he twisted in the air, turning around whilst being battered by the air below, placing Discord underneath him so that he absorbed most of the impact.

The draconequus laughed, but the sound was lost to the wind as John's hoof connected with his mouth, and then pushed away from the stunned spirit. Still roaring to keep his anger elevated, he observed Discord's body go limp, beginning to turn as they fell. Spiralling in the air, John audjusted his angle so that he was level with the body and stretched out his hooves. The body below him was still falling, but at a faster rate thanks to being a dead weight. John sucked in a breath, feeling the Anti-Magi take over, and strained to keep his eyes open as his speed increased faster than he thought imaginable.

And finally, he screamed in pain as he felt the Chaos begin to, at long last, take over his body. It was exhilarating and excrutiating at the same time. He pushed into Discord as he dashed past, colliding into the spirit's midsection as they came closer to the ground. His eyes began to water, the thin streams trailing behind and evaporating in the hued flames behind. For once, instead of being a mixture of blues, it was made up of every colour in the spectrum, the light given off providing a tail of white that followed him, painting a streak in the sky.

The draconequus below him blinked in surprise, howling in pain after feeling the multicoloured flames lick his body.

John, however, felt completely at peace, strangely enough. It was as if he were watching his life actually go by, a combination of his and Shaded's floating through his brain. All the sights, smells, sounds and textures that he enjoyed and hated whisked past, carried along by a choir of memories that equally sung his accomplishments and hollered his failures. It was a weird sensation.

Through the haze that had been pulled over him, he heard a rattling boom that echoed in his eardrums, drowning out everything else as he joined Discord in yelling.

The last thing John saw before being enveloped in darkness was the green grass on the plains outside of Ponyville being flattened by the wind, and then, nothing.

/br/

Twilight leapt forward in an effort to stop Rainbow Dash from following the pair, tears streaming from her eyes. Her hooves tightened around the cyan pegasus' midsection as she felt her horn again on her forehead, tackling Dash to the floor. All she heard was Dash screaming and sobbing, calling out as her hooves weakly scrabbled against the balcony floor in an effort to haul hersel over.

"Dash! He's gone! There's nothing we can do!" She pleaded with the Element of Loyalty as Twilight sensed the flapping of wings underneath her, and she grasped her even closer, embracing her so as to stop her from moving.

Rainbow Dash screamed defiantly, her hooves lifting her up somewhat as Twilight struggled to hold her down. Quickly responding, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie joined her in attempting to hold her against the floor, their hooves all holding the quivering mass of pony that was Rainbow Dash.

The Princesses rushed past the six struggling ponies, peering over the balcony to see what was happening. The pony and draconequus had just passed the battlements, and the remaining guards that had been fighting rushed to the edge, staring over in shock.

Speedy Recovery, the first to realise, was looking intently over the edge, a smile plastered on his face. He didn't appear to have seen John pulling down the spirit, assuming that Discord had fallen off the balcony. It was a fair assumption, but if the pair were falling slower, he would have seen the pony which was once his brother underneath, pulling the usurper down with him. The other guards sped to the edge, eventually breaking out into a pile of brohoofs and cheers.

High above them, with a better view, the Princesses continued watching, the two pairs of eyes following the duo's descent. After a silent exchange, they began the process of lowering the moon and raising the sun.

One of the pegasus guards remaining decided to leap into the air, and flap over the edge to see where Discord would land, and several others decided to join him. In particular, a certain Shadow Light. Once over the edge, he began cheering when he saw the velocity of the falling spirit pick up randomly. Then, an underlying sense of fear took over, and he flew down, squinting down. All of a sudden, he was blown backwards slightly in shock by an unexpected roar. As he regained a general sense of direction, he gasped in shock and almost forgot to flap as he saw the grey pegasus that led them into battle.

Shaded Comet.

"NO! SHADED!" He angled himself down and persued, his wings tight against his body.

Speedy Recovery then dashed back to the edge, a pit opening in the bottom of his stomach as he heard Shadow's exclamation. Every other combatant rushed back, heads jutting over the edge so they could see. Silence fell over the entire castle as they stood, disbelief rocketing through their bodies as they watched the grey stallion twist in the air, pushing Discord beneath him.

Several other pegusai pushed off from the battlements, swiftly following Shadow.

After a few seconds of free falling, every single pony following the duo was blinded temporarily by a burst of light, throwing them off course. When the blurriness receded, and their eyes audjusted, their mouths dropped open.

/br/

In the small, tranquil town of Ponyville, tension was at an all-time high. A group of ponies were attempting to keep everypony else calm, shushing them so that they could hear the Mayor speak. It was a fruitless endeavor, however, and all they succeeded in doing was stopping a few ponies from turning the crowd into a riot.

It was for a mixture of reasons, some far fetched, some not. In particular, quite a few families were beginning to get worried about the states of the family members who had gone to Canterlot.

Regardless of reason, the townsponies were furious at the lack of action that was being taken. It was moe down to nerves, but that was forgotten in an effort to pin the blame on somepony else.

One particular pony, a certain pegasus filly by the name of Scootaloo, was sitting away from the crowd, staring up at the mountainside city in the distance. Beside her was a white pegasus filly, doing the exact same. Both were worried, both were afraid.

After what seemed to be hours, Scootaloo excitedly pointed up at the blackened sky, towards the city of Canterlot. Hope tilted her head before flapping her wings happily.

"It's Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo shouted over the townsponies, and they all turned to watch as a rainbow streak graced the sky, pointing straight down.

After a few seconds, the streak had only begun to get brighter, the sky below brightening up behind it. The streak, presumably Rainbow Dash, continued going straight down without stopping, gaining speed.

"Is she doing a sonic rainboom?" Scootaloo asked to herself, watching in confusion.

Then, the sky brightened up enough so that they could see what was falling.

"DAD!" Hope screeched, racing off from where she had been sitting.

Scootaloo sat in silence, shock numbing her thought process as she watched the streak get bigger. Eventually, the rainbow behind Shaded got more fiery, devasting and beautiful to watch as a creature below him went limp. Time slowed down as the grey dot against the oange sky got slower, and then exploded.

There was a flash of light, and a shockwave of rainbow flames expanded from the distance, casting the sky into a gorgeous maelstrom of colour as the wave continued to circle out, rushing past their heads far above them. Scootaloo was aware of her body moving, but her eyes were fixated on the faint rainbow gracing the sky, and the bright streak of light that was moving towards the ground at an unbelievable rate.

And then the boom hit her.

/br/

The fields of unused, slightly hilly land outside of Ponyville were framed by the beauty of a long awaited sunrise, the oranges and pinks casting a dazzling glow over the sky. If one was to look closer, they would see the last remnants of a rainbow fading away. And directly below that, at the end of the rainbow, was a plume of smoke. A light morning breeze gently wafted the black smoke away, revealing a scene of destruction. Trees and grass alike were blackened and burning, and everything within a kilometre radius had been flattened by the force of the impact.

Several ponies were gathered around the fringe of the destruction, ranging in height, colour, gender and type. The closest to the fires were six mares, two unicorns, two earth ponies and finally, last but not least, two pegusai. All of their heads were lowered in respect, but eyes were frantically searching the wreckage for any sign of a certain grey pegasus.

They had already been here for a number of hours, and were now giving up the search. They had found neither hide nor hair of the pegasus, and finally accepted that he was gone. They had been in the dead centre of the zone, and the most they found was charred dirt and a lot of ambient magic in the air.

It was safe to think that John was dead; the magic given off by the deaths of both him and Discord would have absolutely and utterly nuked their bodies into nothingness, thus leaving nothing. But that wasn't to say that that was the truth; there were other possibilities. But for now, with no other answers, he was dead.

Behind the six were hundreds of other ponies from all over Equestria, curious as to what they had seen. Three alicorns, tall and majestic, stood over them. One pink, one blue, and one white. Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence. Cadence really was just there, listening to the tale that her aunts were reciting to those gathered.

The Tale Of A Shaded Comet.

Well then. It is done. Or is it? Before I reveal the answer, I will get straight to the thanks, list of OCs and whatnot.

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Alright, OCs first. Bear in mind that if you are not mentioned in the OCs, there is still chances for the sequel. If you are mentioned, it's becaue your OC was used. If you aren't, you'll have a better chance for the sequel. In no particular order:

Ironheart: Ironheart OC

Lazer Bright: Lazer Bright

Infinity Blitz: Lazer Bright

Dark Shot: Superscififan

Shadow Light: Indistinct Shadow

Drew Silversmith: Azure Scythe OC

Lieutenant Gage: Chief Wolfee

Sergeant Wolfee: Chief Wolfee

Rewire Stitch: AllTheStuffILike

Azure Scythe: Azure Scythe OC

Frostbite: kabul1337

Halo Eclipsed: ninjabrony

Hayzu: ninjabrony

Decay Mourn: DXRough

Terra: bouncingbob2

Tundra: GAMMA DAWN14

That's quite a few canon OCs, isn't it?

-

Next up, the list of thanks. Only a few of you will be on here, so don't take it personally.

To Chief Wolfee:

You've been an extreme help with this story. You've provided many a scene and OC to help the story along. You, when I was ready to just quit the story, gave me the kick in the arse I nedded to continue, even if you didn't realise. Our competion of sorts on deviantART has given me quite a few laughs, and provided a bit of inspiration here and there. You even did a review on YouTube. I thank you with the utmost of possible thanks, my good sir.

To Indistinct Shadow:

You were an amazing pre-reader for the short period of time you pre-read, and I am extremely sorry that I'm not going to submit this chapter to you, as it's a surprise. SURPRISE! Anyway, you've pointed out a few crutial grammar and spelling mistakes that I would normally never notice, and helped me correct them. I thank you.

To bouncingbob2:

You wouldn't really think that I would give you thanks, but you were one of my more persistant OC submitting authors, and I need to say this: I am so so so so sorry that I couldn't put Terra in faster. I can come up with countless excuses, but there is NO excuse for laziness. You were one of my first reviewers, and have provided VERY inspirational feedback. Breaking my personal code of formality here on FanFiction; cheers bro.

To ninjabrony:

You provided one of the most interesting OCs I had. You actually tailored them so that it would fit in with the story, they weren't massively ovepowered, etcetera etcetera. For the love of Luna, they were in a relationship! I thank you.

And finally, last but not least, To everybrony.

That's right, I said everybrony. As in you lot. You all are amazing in your own ways, and I effing LOVE YOU! I LOVE LOVE LOVE ALL OF YOU!

-

Now, the last bit. This is where I'm completely honest with you and myself.

When I first started writing this story, it was because I was bored. When people started to notice it, I upped my game. Longer chapters, OCs and all that.

I think I failed.

There was never a storyline; this was ALL from the top of my head, with the exception of a few scenes  submitted by Wolfee. There was so much room for expansion that I never used, and I even lost fans over it. The situation at the start was an instance. I randomly killed off Shaded. There's no excuse under Luna's moon that could pay up for that. And then, I brought John's daughter in without ANY foreshadowing whatsoever. That's where I, for lack of a better word in my vocabulary, fucked up.

Which is exactly why I'm doing a sequel. To right ALL wrongs. This sequel, the name of which I haven't decided yet, will be started soon. Sooner than you'd think. If you don't want to continue John's story, stop reading here. I will put in a bit of a break, and then the very end of The Tale Of A Shaded Comet, and a lovely bit of foreshadowing. Points and cookie will be awarded for those who can guess where.

See you all very soon.

Jadazzle1994

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There was a flash of bright white light, disguised by the sheer amount of snow that was falling. All that was around was white, white and more white. Here, there were no pegusai to monitor the weather, and it took free reign of the countryside. The snow had been falling for almost a millenia, and was still showing no signs of stopping. The wind howled like a wild beast, a cold chill in the air sweeping over the landscape, drowning out all possible sound that would normally happen.

From the flash of white, a pony tumbled out of nothingness and into the snow, falling flat on it's face. The pony, a pegasus stallion, lay motionless and seemingly dead to the world around him. He was in no way disguised from the snow, as his grey coat stood out quite clearly, and his two tone blue mane was even more obvious.

A rainbow-coloured wave of fiery energy sped overhead, followed by an extremely faint explosion so far off in the distance it was scary. As soon as it passed overhead, it stooped dead, refracting off something invisible. The thing shimmered into existence directly in front of the still stallion, revealing a gateway made of rock. In the middle of the rock, shining brilliantly in the snow, were three gems. Crystals, even.

From the gateway appeared two more ponies, dull coloured and confused, their coats void of any lustre the should have. After a few moments, they noticed the pony lying alone in the snow, a layer already beginning to blanket his coat. Rushing over, they turned the pegasus over, studying his body for signs of life. He was warm to the touch, and as soon as a hoof made contact with the grey, there was a breath.

The pony was breathing!

Quickly, they began to move him towards the gateway, a portal appearing instantly. The pony being dragged began to shiver, his forelegs twitching slightly. On a whim, one of the other ponies, a grey mare, opened one of his eyes to check if he was actually awake.

She blinked a few times at the colour; a deep crimson, and smiled when it moved. Carefully, the two pushed him into the gateway, and swiftly followed. And then, the gateway was gone.

END.

The Beginning

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Shaded Comet yawned heavily, turning over on the cloud he was napping on. Burying his head into the soft, fluffy mass, he opened his eyes, wincing at the bright sunlight. Shaking his head, he stood up on the cloud, waking himself up.

He had weather duty again today, under Rainbow Dash, the weather captain for Ponyville. Running his hooves through his teal blue and electric blue mane, he stretched his grey wings. The feathers rustled as he braced himself to take off.

In the corner of his electric blue eyes, he saw a faint streak of colour flash past, lazily painting the sky with the full light spectrum. Rainbow Dash, obviously, he thought to himself. It was suspicious; she was almost never up early. Unless it was an emergency.

Rainbow Dash zoomed past the lone cloud in the section of the sky. Shaded's section, she realised. Should she wake him up kindly, or forcefully? If he wasn't already up, that is. Deciding apon her action, she stealthily flew up to the underside off the cloud.

"Heh, he's not gonna know what hit him!" She giggled to herself, as she prepared to buck the cloud out of existance. Rearing back in the air, her back legs parallel with the cloud, she kicked the mass of water particles as hard as she could.

She was rewarded with a long, drawn out yell as the dark grey pegasus fell through the air where the cloud had previously been. When she saw his face when had he flown up again, she burst into laughter. "Ha ha hah! The look on your face!"

" Ha ha hah! The look on your face!" Rainbow giggled as Shaded glared at her, eerily calm all of a sudden. He was actually laughing inside, Dash had actually caught him by suprise. He actually considered laughing, but he didn't. Nopony had actually ever heard him speak, let alone show any emotion. But Dash had come so close.

And that's why he liked Dash. He felt comfortable around her, more confident about himself. But he still showed no emotions towards her. However, he let himself smile, and tilted his head to the side, as if asking "what"?

Rainbow Dash was immediately disappointed. She wanted to hear his voice, to see him show any emotion. But he never did. But then she saw the smile. That was the closest she, or anypony in fact, had made him speak, to make him show emotion. " YESSSSSSS! I mean... uh... we've been asked to go to the library... We need to leave... like now."

She lowered her head, embarressed. If anypony saw her like this, her reputation would be gone. She shouldn't be celebrating like that! She was Rainbow Dash! The hard-to-get pony of Ponyville! She shouldn't have feelings for Shaded!

Snapping back to reality, she quickly assessed the situation. Shaded Comet wouldn't tell anypony about her outburst, because he never spoke to anypony. And it seemed like nopony else acually heard her, so she was in the clear. For now.

" We need to go get Twilight first though. I don't know why, but Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack have all been asked to go as well. We're taking the train." She explained to him. He nodded, and together they glided towards the library, where everypony was meeting. She looked out of the corner of her magneta eyes, peeking at him. His mane. His tail. His- NO! BAD THOUGHTS!

Shaded saw Rainbow Dash trying to look at him without him noticing as they descended. She really wasn't good at that. She seemed to do it a lot, he noticed. Maybe she has feelings for me too? He thought to himself, refusing to speak, as much as he wanted to. He caught her eye, and he winked. Much to his amusement, she blushed, her normally cyan cheeks turning a light, rosy pink.

When they touched down outside the front door, the blushing had just subsided. He shook his mane, and immediately Rainbow Dash was blushing profusely again. She turned away, and after a while looked back round. This time he didn't stop himself, and he grinned at her. He was definately more comfortable, confident and outgoing around her.

As soon as the traitorous emotions had blossomed, he had locked them deep inside himself yet again, vowing to not let himself do anything stupid. I will not do that again,he simply thought to himself.

Rainbow Dash was now sweating in embaressment. He had winked at her. Her cheeks got warmer, and a pink glow appeared. Nice going Dash! She kicked herself as they landed, barely making a sound as their hooves kissed the ground. Dash looked at him, hoping he wasn't looking at her. He was shaking his mane. He's so cute!No! NO! NO NO NO! Her blush intensified, and she turned away quickly, hiding her face. When it had dulled slightly, she turned round again.

He was looking at her. And then he grinned. GRINNED! Her brain exploded, and she was narrowly saved by Applejack walking outside. If she hadn't, she thought, I would have kissed him. A colt! Eww!And then her mind was overriden with fantasies.

Shaded greeted Applejack with a nod. "Howdy Shaded! Howdy Rainbow!" Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash was deep in thought. "Anyhow, ah think Twilight wants too see tha both of ya now." Shaded nodded again, and walked inside, with Rainbow Dash in a trance behind him.

Twilight greeted them, and explained to everypony that Princess Celestia wanted them to go and investigate some missing towns in the farthest reaches of Equestria. But she specifically wanted Shaded Comet to lead the investigations, as he was a Royal Guard Sergeant before he came to Ponyville. The Battle for Canterlot was too much for him, and he retired young, studying about the changling species, and how they coordinated the attack on Canterlot.

He was now an expert on Changlings, and that is why the Princess wanted him to go with them, to see if the attacks were from changlings. Twilight finished explaining, looking expectantly towards Shaded. He returned the look, nodding.

Rainbow Dash was still day dreaming about Shaded Comet when Twilight asked if she had understood everything. She awoke, spluttering. "Yeah yeah Twilight, I heard ya." Twilight rolled her eyes. Few,she talked to herself in her mind, that was close.

Shaded left the library, and collected some notes on changling formations, attack plans and other related things for Twilight to study on the train to Dodge Junction. And his old armour and weapons. Rainbow definately has feelings for me. He took flight, and landed back at the library in, as Rainbow Dash would say it, ten seconds flat.

Giving the notes to Twilight, the group departed from the library, walking to the station together. Rainbow looks distracted, maybe I should... No. Not now. Maybe later. When Equestria freezes over. He sighed, startling the group. They very rarely heard Shaded mak a noise that wasn't breathing.

Boarding the train, he sat next to Rainbow Dash, who was staring out the window. She didn't even notice. She was too busy staring, her mouth agape, at the ominous black cloud in the distance. Wait, WHAT!

Shaded had a heart attack. That wasn't a cloud of smoke! It was a changling army! He ran to Rarity, and pushed her towards the window with his head, pointing with his hooves at the cloud, frantically trying to make her see it. Rarity gasped, screamed and fainted.

Holding his ears in pain, Shaded snorted in disbelief. He checked  his personal armoury. Two razor sharp blades were melded to a pair of blue gauntlets adorned with his cutie mark, an electric blue fireball with a grey inside. Remembering how he got it, he was filled with nostalgia.

*******************************************************************************************

A younger Shaded Comet was in the barracks of the Royal Guards. His new armour heavily contrasted with his manebut at least his blank flank was covered, so he didn't really care. He never really voiced his opinions. He rarely spoke. But, the training he recieved had given him a newfound confidence.

He walked outside, beginning his first night patrol. Everything seemed calm. There was a slight aroma of apples in the breeze. But he could feel building tension. Something is going to happen... He thought to himself, adopting a more agressive stance as he continued.

An unexpected rustle from the bushes behind him alerted him to the presence of another pegasus stallion. This one was jet black, with a red mane and red eyes. His cutie mark was a dagger and a coin purse.

He was a thief. And he was carrying a sack of goods from a nearby shop he had broken into. Shaded narrowed his eyes, and raised his sword. "Stop right there, and put the sack down." He commanded, the anger in his voice all too obvious. The thief put it down, and twirled towards him, a bloodied dagger in his left forehoof.

Shaded blocked the attack, but another thief, obviously working with the first, approached from the side. Joining the fray, thay battled for a few minutes, steel clanging against steel. Shaded saw thesecond thief lower her guard, and took his chance. Blocking the first thief again, he dodged a wild swing from the second thief, an Earth pony, and stabbed her in the gut.

Cleanly pulling it out, he finished the thief with a quick cut to the throat. Blood gushed out of the fatal wound, and she gave out one final, drawn-out breath. Shaded took no notice, and turned towards the first. There was no site of him, until he saw a red mane waving in the wind as he soared away, quickly gaining speed.

The young pegasus swore, and took off after the thief. He was slowly getting away, he noticed. And then a primal voice inside his head egged him on. FASTER! FASTER! FASTER! The air around his wings got hotter, and a sound cone appeared in front of him. He blinked through it, the high speed dragging his skin back. FASTER! HE'S GETTING AWAY!

There was an incredibly loud BOOM! and all the air around him transformed and combusted into a bright blue fireball that resembled a meteor. He grabbed onto the thief and murderer as he roared past, the fire burning his throat and his face as the thief struggled against him, crying out in pain as the fire licked his skin. He dragged him off to the side, the fireball intact, and flew with the no longer struggling thief all the way back to the castle.

Celestia awoke with a start. All she remembered that she was falling asleep, and out of nowhere, an angry voice belonging to the new guard, Shaded Comet, spoke. "Stop right there, and put the sack down." Celestia grew cold, as she looked out of the window, seeing a swordfight between two thieves and Shaded. She was about to call for help, when she saw Shaded dodge the second pony, and stab her in the gut. She winced, watching Shaded finish the thief and murderer; as she had a bloodied dagger, and Shaded had no injuries thus far.

Then, she saw him look around for the first attacker, who was fleeing by air. Celestia judged the distance. Shaded had no chance at catching him.  Seeing him take off, she still had doubts over his speed. Until she saw a sound cone forming around him. Her mouth opened in astonishment. And then, a BOOM! erupted around Canterlot, and Shaded was surrounded by a blue fireball that streaked behind him. He quickly tripled his speed, and caught the thief. She grimaced, as she could hear the thiefs screams as Shaded brought him back to the castle.

She went outside, and saw the thief, clearly knocked out, and Shaded Comet, who was dutifully standing beside him, his mane singed, and his face covered in burns. They weren't serious injuries,Celestia noticed, until she saw Shaded trying to speak.

His throat was burned, and the inside of his mouth scorched. His vocal chords were heavily damaged as well, by the looks of it. And then he fainted in pain. Celestia caught him with her magic, and picked up the thief as well. She carried them into the town, and into a hospital.

Two days later, Celestia visited Shaded in the hospital. He was making a recovery quickly, but as the doctor warned, as much as his face would heal, his vocal chords wouldn't. He would find it incredibly painful to speak in excessive amounts.

As he got up, and bowed to her, she noticed that he had a cutie mark. It was an electric blue fireball with a grey inside. It looked like a blue comet. "I cannot thank you enough, Sergeant Comet." The Sergeant part confused him. "Me, a Sergeant? Cough Cough..."

Celestia was in shock, his once deep and melodious voice had been reduced to a raspy, scratchy voice that made her heart ache. "Yes. You have been promoted. Congratulations. It seems you have two prizes today." She replied, still in shock. "Two?" He asked, coughing again afterwards. She pointed at his flank with her horn. "You have a cutie mark, and a magnificent one at that."

*******************************************************************************************

Strapping on the rest of his armour, he sighed gently, preparing for battle. There would be blood spilt today.

The Rebirth

Chapter 7: The Rebirth

John stood still, letting the water cascade down his shoulders and face. The gathering clouds were darker than ever, and there was the occasional flash from the heavens, swiftly followed by a rattling boom.

Staring impassively at a group of teenagers that were lounging around in the small shelter they had under a tree, he drew in a breath. The cold air revived his senses, and smelt faintly of smoke, the woody aroma calming him.

He flexed his fingers, relieving them of the numbness that resided in his arms. The teenagers hadn't spotted him yet. He moved his gaze, concentrating on one of the two girls. Hearing her laugh, he tensed.

She was apparently his girlfriend. Reaching into his trouser pocket, he drew out his phone. He was close enough to hear every word she was saying, but ignored her voice, instead focusing on the only male voice.

She had been cheating on him, since the day they met. He had, unfortunately for her, found out about it recently. He hadn't confronted her, because each time he tried, she was always with her family or her friends. As much as his thoughts for her were now bitter, he couldn't bring himself to announce it in front of them.

It hurt him to think about her. They had been together for two months now. She was, apparently, still in love with him. He activated the phone, hovering over her name on the contacts list.

John hadn't wanted it to be like this. He had wanted to take it slow, and she initially agreed. He had thought that she was the one. All of his previous girlfriends had been the same, except they had all told him .

At least they were honest. He closed his eyes. Her friend had told him everything when he had asked. She told him about every conversation, every question and every single occasion that she had ever cheated on him.

She had lied to him, laughing about it behind his back. She was exceptionally unkind about her opion of him, and she was jealous of her friends and their boyfriends. She hadn't been loyal to him, and as such, ruined their friendship.

The magic in their 'love' was now slashed, decimated, utterly destroyed. His fingers clenched. He took a step back, into the shadows. He pressed the button, and called her. After a few rings, she answered. He watched as she shushed the boy.

"Hello?" She tried to sound innocent.

"I know everything." The steadiness of his voice scared him. In the distance, her face turned to one of shock.

"John? What are you talking about?" She still attempted the act.

"Don't lie to me. You know you have." A tear appeared in the corner of his right eye. Stepping forward, he continued to stare at her.

She still didn't see him.

"I swear I haven't! Whoever told you, they're lying!" She began to make pathetic crying sounds.

"I see you with him. Under the tree. I'm waving goodbye to you." He sniffed, raising his hand as he walked away. Sticking up his middle finger, he turned his head towards her.

"It's over." He hissed down the phone, before starting to increase his speed. As he reached his car, an old blue Ford Fiesta, he ended the call, not wanting to hear her excuses anymore. Opening the lock, he sat down in the worn seats. He let his head drop and hit the steering wheel.

"WHY! GOD DAMN IT!" He roared, letting all of his anger out. He punched the dashboard, hearing the plastic crunch under his fist. He sat like this for a while, calming down. He had been looking forward to seeing her today.

He was in his last year at his School, and was one of the most talented musicians there. He had signed up for the end of year production as a singer, for which he was also famous in the school, and was turned down by the Drama teacher. That had crushed him.

He had to get home and properly calm down. His anger and general emotions always had a snowball effect on his family. Exhaling deeply, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. A sticker on the steering wheel caught his attention. It was Rainbow Dash.

He had watched My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic for two years. It had an unbelievable ability to calm him down, but also make him sad. He really liked the show, as it was light hearted, and didn't need blood and violence to be popular. The characters were interesting, and their personalities engaging.

Rainbow Dash was his favourite. She was, in his opinion, the funniest, the most engaging and she had traits similar to his own. He had searched for a girlfriend tirelessly for the ideal personality that Rainbow Dash had. But in vain.

He put his foot down, ignoring the screech of his tires. The rain battered relentlessly at the windshield and roof, giving off metallic pings every time it hit. His anger slowly escalated, making his heart ache again.

He closed his eyes, for a split second, as he went through a junction. Why? He thought to himself, tears brimming under his eyelids. Hearing horns blaring, he was shaken from his thoughts. When he opened them, he yelled in fear.

There was a sickening smash of metal on metal, and he was flung out of the windscreen, breaking the glass. Flying through the air, he felt... Wierd. A sharp pain in the base of his skull erupted as he hit the floor, and all was black.

Rainbow Dash floated in the air in front of the statue of Shaded Comet. It had been exactly a year since he had died, and the day was still fresh in her memories.

She had renounced her love for him, without knowing that he had heard her. He then went to Manehatten. That night, he was killed in a Changling attack. And in the morning, his body was brought back.

Princess Celestia turned it to stone, and infused it with a prophecy. Rainbow Dash stared at the prophecy, letting her eyes wander over it.

"From nothing to greatness, ashes to ashes, he will be back soon, at lightning's flashes. The soul of an innocent, the body ravaged, to combat pure evil, the holder savage. Remembered, disgraced, a persona displaced, Shaded Comet, you cannot be replaced. Until you return, your body shall remain, locked into stone, broken through magic supermundane." She read quietly read aloud. Her eyes filled with tears, and she let them drip into the grass below.

"When will you return?" She raised her voice a little, her sobs contorting her voice.

"When can I apologise?" She almost shouted, her composure cracking.

"Why did I say I didn't love you!" She screamed, hugging the statue. Her cries of sorrow could probably be heard all around Canterlot. But she didn't care. A flutter of wings above her alerted her to the presence of another pegasus. It was Lieutenant Gage.

He put his hoof on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. The brown pegasus had been the equal of an older brother to Shaded. His green eyes kindly regarded her with pity.

"It's alright Rainbow... He'll be back." He sighed, moving his hoof back to the floor.

"It's been a year. I'm beginning to lose hope in this prophecy" Rainbow Dash whispered, hugging the statue tightly, the cold stone chilling her. The statue that contained Shaded's body seemed to return the look in her eyes, even though he was inanimate.

Gage began to turn away. "Don't lose hope. You and your friends brought the Changlings to justice four months ago. Stay loyal to your thoughts, Rainbow Dash. Stay true to yourself." With that, he took off, returning to the barracks.

The warm summer air comforted her as she raised herself into the air. The sun was shining, and Canterlot was sparkling in the sunshine that Princess Celestia had gave them. Rainbow Dash flicked her rainbow coloured mane away from her eyes. She put her hoof on the statue's chest.

"I'll be back soon." She whispered so quietly that it was barely audible to herself. She fluttered her wings, and flew back to Ponyville.

John was surrounded by black. He was seemingly weightless; floating in space. Looking around, he saw no escape, and began to panic.

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap." He stuttered, his eyes twitching. His breathing became laboured, coming out in harsh gasps. A light pierced the darkness, throwing John's surroundings into relief. He was actually surrounded in grey. Searching for the source of the sudden brightness, his jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Good afternoon John. You are probably wondering what happened." Princess Celestia smiled at him, standing a few feet away. "I asked your God to let me bring you to Equestria after you died. Your God agreed." Celestia blinked at the hyperventilating human. "Are you feeling alright?"

John nodded weakly, trying to understand. He was in Equestria. He had died. But why was he still a human?

Celestia answered him. "You will not be a human for much longer. You will become a pony known as Shaded Comet. I preserved him in stone. And yes, I can read minds before you ask."

John nodded again. Celestia continued talking. "There is however, a catch. As you are effectively being reborn, I have to erase all of your memories, and give you a completely new memory that is partly blank. You will gain some of Shaded's memories, but only enough to know who you are. You will also reatain any memories and skills you had as a human."

The Princess paused again for confirmation. When John had given it, she closed her eyes in concentration. "I am communicating with you telepathically. I'll meet you when you have been reborn as Shaded. Oh, there is something you need to know," She looked directly at him, her eyes still closed. "When you are being reborn, there will be a massive output of energy released. Be prepared."

With that final sentence, she dissapeared from his mind. The grey around him began to crack and shatter slowly. He glanced up at the top. He could see lightning flashing towards him. Closing his eyes, he was rushed with an onslaught of memories that didn't belong to him. Energy rushed into him, elevating his senses and paining him beyond words. Screaming, he heard one final crack from the apparent stone around him, and all was then silent.

He felt himself being thrown forwards through a barrier of fire, and hit something soft. Opening his eyes, he realised that he was in a flowery bush. He raised his hands to his face. They were hooves now. His forelegs were a light grey and covered in burns. Shakily getting up from the bush, he extended his wings. They were little more than bones held together by sinew.

It suddenly hit him. He was alive!

Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of a seriously massive studying session. Her nose buried in a book, she was at complete peace with herself. Calm only existed in her mind at the moment.

Smiling in contentment, she turned the page with her magic. Or at least tried to. her horn fizzled, the magic blocked. "Huh?" She felt her horn; it was intact. beginning to worry, she stepped outside onto the streets of Ponyville.

The sky was almost jet black, the clouds gathering over Canterlot in the distance. Swirling, lightning crackled in the centre of the freak storm. Most of Ponyville was staring in shock at the uncommon spectacle. The lightning flashes became more frequent.

Her eyes followed a single bolt of the energy that streaked towards Canterlot. It seemed to be aiming for something. Time slowed down as it descended, striking the mountainside city.

She didn't know what it hit, but she could guess. As soon as the bolt struck it's target, the sky immediately lightened by a fraction. Her jaw literally dropped. A faint roar could be heard in the distance, complementing the pillar of blue fire that was erupting into the sky from Canterlot.

Her mouth started to form words, speaking of it's own accord. She could understand what she was saying, and it shocked her beyond thinking.

"From nothing to greatness, ashes to ashes, he will be back soon, at lightning's flashes. " She whispered to herself. "The soul of an innocent, the body ravaged, to combat pure evil, the holder savage." She became louder, now speaking normally. "Remembered, disgraced, a persona displaced, Shaded Comet, you cannot be replaced." She raised her voice, now almost shouting.  "Until you return, your body shall remain, locked into stone, broken through magic supermundane!" She finished, shouting the final phrase so everypony could hear her.

The pillar exploded, creating a blue shockwave of fire that spread into the sky, clearing the clouds, allowing the sunlight to enter again.

"Shaded is back!"

Rainbow Dash lounged on a cloud, lazily regarding the clouds gathering over Canterlot. A tear gathered in her right eye, and slowly trickled onto her face. She thought of Shaded. It had been exactly a year today. Turning away, she began to sniffle.

A sudden silence below her caught her attention. Looking down, she saw Twilight and the usual market stall owners staring into the distance, their mouths open as if in shock. She turned her gaze to the subject of their disbelief, and almost fell off the cloud.

There was a twisting pillar of fire above Canterlot, roaring with an unbelievable intensity. Lightning flashed inside the tornado, making it pulse with energy. She could faintly hear the roaring flames from her cloud; they were that powerful.

Now flying, she darted up into the air to get a better view. As she did, the flames discharged into a wave of blue energy, spreading through the sky. Her heart began to soar. "Shaded?"

The Solar Eclipse

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.