Tale of a Comet: White Light

by Ashfur

Snowblind to the truth

The crater left by the crashed object was something to behold. As Twilight trod among the ruined landscape of the otherwise desolate tundra, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. It didn't do any favors to her already strained psyche, having experienced quite the shock as what she thought was Comet had attacked her and ran off. That it had let her live was strange enough, but the fact she no longer had a shadow was even stranger. Still, she theorized it was all connected to this mystery artifact, and had set off to investigate herself.

Okay, who was she kidding. She was trying to find her friends both to be safe in a group and to warn them. Unknown threats are always the scariest. So, here she was, cantering amidst the impact crater, hoping to find something, anything to tell her where her friends were. She got her answer in the form of a brilliant, shining light as she rounded a large boulder.

There, floating at eye level with her, was what she could only describe as a star. A tiny orb emitting white light on par with the flashes created while welding, but somehow not hurting her eyes in the slightest. It looked... mesmerizing. Enticing yet calming. Somehow unreal, yet there nevertheless. She felt the need to reach out and touch it, despite science screaming in her head to never touch an unknown. What stopped her was a small beam of magic light streaking past her and into the star. Whipping her head around, she scowled as her eyes met the form of a gray pegasus, holding a pendant in his hand.

"YOU!" She cried out.

"Me." Comet grinned. "Been a while, huh? Did ya miss me? Or did you just forget I'd be coming after the rest of my magic?" He held up his pendant to emphasize. One beam shot to him, one to the star, and seven more to the sky above. At least the snow had slowed to a dusting and the night sky was visible, the moon illuminating the two as they stared each other down.

Comet chuckled warmly. "So, you want to go off on your whole monologue, just skip to the fight, or surrender and hoof over the star? You can't use it, anyway."

"Well, at least it won't be going to you!" Twilight barked back at him. "I refuse to let you take another step, so leave while I'm giving you the chance! But take a single step closer, and I won't be going easy on you!"

"So be it." And Comet stepped forward. "Boss battle, ENGA-"

In an instant, Twilight shot a combination of a stun spell, a concussive force blast, and a flashbang spell at her foe before he could even react, sending the colt careening backwards into the rocks. With a sickening CRACK, she heard bone snap from the impact, and heard groaning from the rubble. Unceremoniously flinging it off, the ground shaking slightly, she approached with a fire in her eyes. "It's going to take a lot more than that to beat me, you monster. Now where are my friends?"

---

"MOM! Mom, are you safe? Please tell me you're safe!" Flurry galloped up to her mother, only pausing for half a second to ensure she was standing in the light. The chamber at the end of the tunnel was massive, easily several stories tall, with moonlight flickering in through a few holes in the ceiling. Illuminated by the dim light was the skeleton of a massive tunnel snake, likely the one to dig the caves they had traversed, curled around a ridiculously large pile of gemstones. Close to the size of the royal vault's gem supply, even. It was all immediately ignored as the young princess leapt into her mother's embrace and the others of the group soon joined her.

"Flurry?! How did you even get here? And Comet, too? What's going on?" Starlight seemed skeptical and confused until the gray pegasus turned to her and responded to her questions in kind.

"We used the pendant to guide us to the treasure! But we realized there's a monster on the loose, pretending to be other ponies and stealing their shadows!" At that remark, the gathered ponies all looked at each other's lack of shadows and gasped. The only one visible was Flurry Heart's. "We thought it might be related to the treasure, so we chased you down to see if you were alright! But it looks like it got you..."

Flurry interrupted. "It came from Comet's world, I think he said. Right?" A nod was her response. "So we came to help you handle it! After all, Comet knows it, so he should know how to fight it! Right, Comet?"

"Right. Come on Flurry, we need to find it before it escapes! We can't let it get the treasure. If it has any sort of connection, the results could be terrible!"

Flurry walked over to the gray pegasus. "Yeah, we can do this together." She put her hoof reassuringly on his back. "But you're forgetting one important detail, Comet."

"What's that, Flurry?"

"The real Comet calls me Feathers."

"Wait, wha-" 'Comet' didn't get to finish his sentence. As soon as she finished her remark, Flurry him up with a combination of Earth pony strength and telekinesis, and hurled him into the soft glow of the moonlight filtering down from above.

"AAAIIIEEERRRGGHH!!!!!"

The effect was immediate, the false Comet's flesh darkening into a shadow before dissolving in the light. As the creature underneath writhed in pain, it was clear that having his form ripped away was incredibly painful. Slowly, it stood, and the gathered ponies stepped back in worry over the... creature before them.

By all accounts, it looked like a pony in shape. Four legs, hooves, a head and torso. But there was nothing normal about this... 'pony'. Its head was replaced with a horrifying, beaklike mask with sharp teeth and seven glowing red eyes in a V shape. In place of a mane, thin metal chains extended from the spikes on the back of the mask. A rusty iron chain with a blade on the end made its tail, and wile it lacked a horn of any sort it did have tattered wings with bits of exposed bone. Even with his merely unkempt dark brown fur not adding anything to the disturbing creature's image, it still served to look intimidating. The sharp clawlike growths on its front hooves were also highly disturbing. Even it's cutiemark looked wrong, an upside-down mimicry of Comet's cutiemark with seven blood-red stars forming a V shape around one larger one in the middle.

"Oh, phooey. I was hoping to keep the charade up for a bit longer, maybe enough for that fool to succumb to the cold outside. Oh well, points for catching the illusion, I suppose."

Flurry heart stomped the ground with her hoof. "Where is Comet? What did you do to him?"

"Oh, that fool? I honestly don't know. If he escaped that rockslide, he'll be lost in the cold and freeze to death for sure!
And don't bother trying to save him. It's far too late, I've already taken your friend's shadows and you're all trapped down here! I don't often like being an ineffective parasite, but some victims I can't let live. Have fun dying of starvation!"

Suddenly, with a deafening rumble, the cavern shook again, chunks of the ceiling falling down. Shining and Cadence barely had time to put up a shield to keep the group safe. Despite the massive amount of noise, a single, infuriated voice could be heard over everything else.

---

Three minutes prior, Twilight stormed over to her opponent and threw the rubble off him. "It's going to take a lot more than that to beat me, you monster. Now where are my friends?" But as soon as she spoke, she gasped in horror. There lay Comet, a crumpled heap, grievously injured from her attack. And this one didn't have a shadow. "C...Comet?"

The battered pony lifted his head weakly, gazing past Twilight at the star. "Exter...min...a...tus. Why..."

"COMET! I'm so sorry! It's me, Twilight! Please, please don't move! You're going to be okay! Stay with me, Comet!" Tears welled in Twilight's eyes as the reality of what she had done hit her hard. Comet, on the other hand, wasn't thinking much, pain clouding his thoughts. He could barely remember escaping the collapse to the cave's exterior, then setting off after 'Twilight' in hopes of finding a way to save Flurry, only pausing once to look at his reflection and think of his past upon finding a reflective ice wall.

"Twi-light?" He glanced instincivly at her hooves, noticing a lack of a shadow. "Really...you?"

"Yes, it's me. Comet, Stay still! I can still heal you! I can try..."

Comet kicked his back leg, pushing himself a few inches closer to the prize. "Star...will help. Twi-light...please...star..."

Twilight glanced back at the star, and a thousand thoughts raced through her head. Deciding that she probably wouldn't save Comet with what she had at hoof, she decided to trust the unknown. She galloped over, took the star, and passed it to her broken friend.

Comet pulled the star close to his body, and its light seemed to react with him. It seemed to intensify in brightness, enveloping Comet in its glow. "T...thanks... Twilight. I can...take it from here." He paused. "Star of light... of hope. My will to see... the sunrise tomorrow. Please... lend me your power, one more time..."

Twilight could feel a shift in the natural magic around her. It seemed as though the world itself was pouring energy into the area. The ground shook, and began to fall apart beneath her. Amid the chaos, she heard Comet's voice pierce through it all, as did the ponies below.

"STAR SURGE! LIGHT LEGIONNAIRE!"

Author's Note:

Whoops! I made you all think Comet was with Flurry and company, didn't I? Oh well. Up next, we finally get our first of many encounters between Comet and Exterminatus, but Comet won't be fighting alone!

And no, before you ask, getting a star isn't gonna go and make him an alicorn, even temporarily. That would ruin the whole 'weak pony' thin I have going. It will, however, MacGuffin him back to full health because picking up a legendary artifact for the first time usually reinvigorates the wielder anyway.

Comments

[Mix-up]

Interesting looks like Comet will have some real trouble coming his way and his peaceful and pampered life is at an end for a while. I though it was interesting that Flurry Heart had her own moment of glory on her own instead of just being a bystander. I like the idea that Comet gets part of his old power again. looking forward to the next chapter soon.

[Ashfur]

9231391
Only part of it! And of course I had to give Flurry a moment. It's one thing to drop in a mew character and say, 'oh look hes so op' but an overarching theme here is Comet's LACK of power.

Then again I'm fairly certain Twilight could oneshot anypony Comet's age. And most folks her age. And a few other characters too. And... geez, she is such a Mary Sue...