Grief
Grief
"Dash?" Twilight started, watching Nightmare with a weary eye. "I think we underestimated Jason's power."
"It's not a big deal, just hit him with the--oof!" She felt her back hit something hard as she was slammed up against a tree and the breath left her lungs. Twilight threw a spell towards Nightmare, which he rolled midair to dodge, losing his concentration enough to let Dash go. Dash looked around enough to see that Pinkie and Fluttershy had also been thrown against a tree and a boulder respectively, and she looked away soon enough to dodge a bolt of magic as it lanced through the air.
Jason'd never done anything like this before, why the hell was he so powerful all of a sudden? The Nightmare only partially accounted for that, he only added the way for the griffin to re-represent his strength, maybe a small amount of added energy, but this? She peered out from behind the bush, narrowly pulling her head back behind it before a spear whistled by. As soon as this was over, forcing him to sit in a library and learn magic definitely wouldn't be the worst idea.
The only ponies left inside the clearing were Cadence and Twilight, who were taking spells and throwing them back at the Nightmare. The parasite easily deflected the magic, setting trees ablaze and blowing holes through the forest as the magic took its toll.
Dash moved through the bushes, checking that the element was still around her neck. All they needed was a break in the action, a gap long enough for them to charge up the elements and evict the Nightmare. But that meant waiting for Jason to run out of power or for him to take his own body back over. And at this point, both of those seemed like a long shot.
She pulled Jason's gun off her back, aiming it at the Nightmare through a gap in the branches. She pressed down on the trigger before pointing the gun at the dirt. She couldn't shoot the Nightmare, not when Jason was still in there. Dash squared her hooves and took off, barreling into Jason's body before the Nightmare could react. They hit the ground in a ball as she went to stab at a leg, something non-lethal at least, but missed as she was thrown into the air.
A spell flew straight towards her before it was deflected by one of Twilight's, and the battle resumed below. Rarity extricated herself from the bushes and joined in the process of spell flinging. Dash could see the angry glint in Applejack's eyes, flitting out of the bushes a ways away. With Nightmare back in the air, there was nothing she could do, even if she could get a jump on Jason. And Dash wasn't sure she wanted Applejack to have that chance, not when a shot at the nightmare could mean a crippling wound later on, especially if something broke to a bad enough extent.
Who's side was she on, anyway? Dash wanted her friends to win, but that meant that Jason would lose, and if he won she would be dead, but at least he would live. The choice seemed obvious, kill Jason and be rid of the problem, but even if they did take out Jason, the nightmare would just shift bodies.
So it was the elements or nothing, with no way to use them. And given the fact that her love had apparently given Jason more power than even he had thought, things weren't looking good in any sense of the word.
_____________________________________________________________
Jason watched the carnage below as wide eyed as he could when he was trapped inside his own head. The things Nightmare was doing, he'd never even attempted. Large scale uses of magic that he'd thought were out of his league, or at least seemed to tire him out enough to make it seem that way.
He snapped himself out of that thought and returned to trying to take back over his own head. Or at least, sabotaging Nightmare as much as he could.
Classical music started to play, and the Nightmare shrugged. "I don't know what the big deal is about this, I mea-"
It's not like it's 2 Girls 1 Cup or anything, right? Jason chuckled, his laugh echoing around as Nightmare stuck a hoof to his head in an attempt to block out the images, narrowly avoiding another spell.
"You're fucked up."
Don't like that? How about talking fruit? He said, trying to cover his fear for Dash and the others with a joking manner, pushing more images through the Nightmare's head. 'Hey apple!' It said, as the Nightmare growled and shot a ball of fire towards Twilight, as Dash swept her out of the way. The end of her tail caught on fire slightly, the embers glowing orange as she landed and rolled, smothering the small burning dots.
Jason winced and tried to hide the sudden emotional change, before he halted his wings and Nightmare fell to the ground with an 'oof' and attempting a counter-strike in his head. But it wasn't as strong as before, as the battle dragged on it got easier and easier to exact his own control on the Nightmare, although easy was still a relative term. It may have just be the increased mental facilities he was directing towards battle, but the extra wiggle room was useful nonetheless.
The Nightmare screamed out in rage as he slammed a log into Cadence, throwing her off into the brush as a slight shield of magic deflected her away. Nightmare knocked Twilight, Dash and Rarity up against a flat rock that marked the edge of the clearing. A pair of hooves narrowly missed his head as he ducked under Applejack's ferocious buck, before she joined the others on the wall and he dove around a spell from Twilight.
"So it's come down to this, huh?" He asked, floating a Jason's knives out of Dash's saddlebag. The knives slowly made their way over to the four until one jerked towards the wall, sticking in the end of Dash's ear as she yelled out and tried to move her hoof. Jason tried to take control enough to pry the knife back out, but the Nightmare seemed to have been expecting the attempt. "Somehow, I expected more." He pushed the other knife against Twilight's throat, watching as the edge drew blood and her horn stopped charging a spell. "But I guess we can't all get along, right?"
Nightmare jumped backwards as a beam of navy blue magic hit where he was just standing, leaving a heavy scorch mark as the other ponies fell off of the rock, quickly scattering again. Dash held onto her ear for a moment as blood started to flow more freely. He'd probably cut off a good quarter inch, Jason thought as guilt started to register in his mind.
"You fuckers and your dues ex machina." Nightmare growled, ducking behind a tree as the top half blew off and then stepping out again.
"If you'd have finished with them faster we wouldn't have this problem, now would we?" Luna asked as she landed, folding her wings away. "You were always the one to gloat."
Nightmare put a hoof to his mouth, and it came away bloody. "I wouldn't if it wasn't so much god damn fun. You can't just kill someone, that's without style. You've got to leave your mark on their brain as well, not just their stupid little body."
Luna turned and watched an angry Cadance stumble out of the forest, covered in leaves and branches. "Admit it, Nightmare, you've already lost."
"I haven't lost until you kill this vessel, and I don't quite see that happening." He grinned. "And besides, without the time to use the elements, how are you going to actually stop me?"
"We don't need to kill you to win, it's easy enough to just knock you out and use the elements then." Luna replied, the air around her growing dark as her horn collected energy and she squared her footing. Nightmare hit the dirt as a hevy cloud of magic shot over his back, and as he turned a near perfect circle was cut from the forest behind himself.
Nightmare let out a low whistle. "I see you're impressed in there as well."
You could say that... Jason replied. He'd be rubbing his eyes right now if he could. But I'm nowhere near out of fun things to show you, so... He sifted through a few memories. More porn, or annoying noises? I'll just do both. He overlaid Nyan cat with more porn, balancing the sounds to their most annoying level and throwing in an air raid siren for kicks as the Nightmare shot forth another volley of spells.
"Get the hell out!" Came a new voice as Evening jumped into the clearing, taking slow but purposeful steps forward. Jason started to feel a pressure on his mind as Evening tried to invade through the hive mind link, and he tried pull her in with him. It only partially worked; he could still hear her yelling out there as she advanced towards the Nightmare, and he figured that if she was all the way in she couldn't do both. "Yeah, how do you like the hive mind, huh? Not too fun, is it?"
Evening was visibly straining, and her muscles tensed for a moment before her disguise blew off, fading away as Twilight and her friends looked on in horror. But Jason's mind had become just as much of a battleground, as the two of them finally gained the upper hand and started to push the nightmare back, into smaller and smaller parts of Jason's brain.
"Fucking-- do it now!" He yelled, before he lost control of his mouth once again. Twilight snapped out of her slightly dazed expression and pulled the others together as the elements started to charge. It wasn't fast enough, the nightmare still had too much control...
The six ponies started to put off light, brightening until it was almost hard to look. And as the light grew to an almost sun-like brightness the Nightmare counter attacked and sent Evening reeling from Jason's head. He watched her silhouette collapse against the light from outside, before the light got even brighter and she disappeared. The Nightmare flared up his horn and rose into the air, floating up the spears he hadn't yet used and hurling them at breakneck speeds just as a rainbow colored trail impacted his body. The outside world became whitewashed before disappearing completely into an equally white nothingness, and Jason was left feeling rather alone. And yet it was a stark contrast to the previous chaos.
Maybe he had passed out, or maybe all the white, the purgatory as it seemed, happened in a few seconds. But either way, as he finally returned to consciousness the Nightmare appeared to be gone, finally fucking out of his head. Several groans reached his ears and he pulled himself to his hooves before he could even really see. Bad idea. Immediately he fel back down as one of his forelegs bent and cracked. It was definitely broken, probably from when he had hit the ground.
His vision returned slowly, blackness proceeding swirls which led to the eventual usefulness of his eyes once again. Jason didn't like what he saw, as he started to drag himself over towards the others with his uninjured fore-hoof. It took him about a minute to pass by Evening, who was luckily still breathing and appeared to be making some noise on her side of the hive mind.
Luna was standing over Jason, twirling a hoof in the air as he went past before she ran off again.
Twilight was already to her feet, shakily however, as she tottered over towards Pinkie, who was crying at the spear poking through her thigh. "T-Twilight, I just woke up and then-" She let out another sob. Twilight saw Jason and jumped backwards, charging up her horn just in case.
"I'm good, Twilight. Well, my arm's broken, but you know. It's going to be fine, Pinkie, I'll fix you up." He got to Pinkie and maneuvered himself around, putting a back hoof to her thigh before he wrenched out the spear.
"How's that friendly?" She yelled, her face turning to one of rage as Jason started to heal the wound. Twilight sighed and dropped her guard, sitting down next to her friend as Applejack ran up, tears already plastered to her face.
"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked, poking at the scar on her leg.
"It's--It's--" She broke down again, running back to where she'd come from with a slight gesture for them to follow. Straight towards the form of Dash,which hadn't moved from the ground. Cadance was hunched over, pressing a swath of red to her neck. Jason's mind stuck on those words. Hadn't moved...Red swathe
He hardly had time to think before he pulled himself to his hooves and galloped over, tears falling readily because of a combination of pain and assumed grief. Jason slipped as his leg bent again and fell, sliding against Dash's back as she laid on her side, and he quickly propped her head alright, eyes burning as unbridled tears came to his eyes. A hole through the side of her neck easily attested to what had happened as Cadence vacated the wound, her hoof covered in blood. But as Jason healed the wound he knew she was long gone, there was just too big of a puddle of blood.
Jason let out a squeak, a sound that was supposed to be a sob but came out choked as a rock formed in his throat and his vision blurred. He jiggled her head, trying to get her to revive. Her eyes focused and she raised a hoof slightly, choking slightly as the corners of her lips turned upwards.
"I love you, Jason. Sorry I had to die like this." She said weakly as her eyes started to get glassy. "Don't forget me, okay?" There was a long pause before her lips formed another set of words. "Tell Scoots I love her, and that goes the same for you, you big goof. I don't care if I'm being redundant, I-" A tear rolled down her face. "I love you so much."
"Come on Dash, you've had worse." A tear hit her in the eye, and she didn't even flinch. "Please, just--" He started to cry openly, tears running down to his chin as he stroked through her mane with his broken hoof. "You mean too much to me, I can't lose you..." He buried his head in her mane, soaking it as he continued to weep. He heard her heart beat, once, twice, three times before the number halted and his chest seemed to contract.
A feeling of total despair passed over him as he listened harder, listened for anything that meant she was still alive. But nothing came, a cruel reminder of his healing inadequacies that hurt him in the worst possible way. Several minutes passed before he even noticed Dash's other friends, gathered around in their own stages of grief, although Luna looked the most composed.
"I know you're gone Dash, but, but--" He grabbed his saddlebag off of her back, sliding out the black box that he hadn't considered opening until now. "I love you, and I want you to have this, it was made for you anyway." He said, wiping away a few tears as he slid his engagement ring onto a few of her primaries. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save you." Rarity started outright bawling as he slipped the ring on, squeezing her arms around Applejack as she looked on at the scene.
"J-jason?" Applejack started, her voice unsure.
"Yeah, it's me." He said, not ceasing the movement of his hoof through her mane as the appendage started to swell.
"Ya were gonna propose, huh?" She asked, fresh tears falling out of her eyes.
Jason tried to respond before he realized he didn't have any words left, as he moved his hoof to touch at the scar that was left on her neck. "Y-yeah." He finally got out, hugging the limp mare against his chest as he cried. "I wanted to wait until we got back, and now she'll never know!" He yelled, the following sobs muffled in Dash's still warm chest, her soft hairs tickling the cracks in his chitin. "I- I don't know what to do anymore, you were the one that kept me alive this long, and then- and then I can't even repay the favor." He let out another heaving sob, already feeling the hole starting to form in his soul.
Jason felt hooves wrap around his back as a set of wet eyes contacted his shoulder. "Is- is she really gone?" Evening asked, still in her changeling form as tears slid down her face. "She can't be, Dash survives everything, this isn't right!" She pushed her muzzle into Jason's shoulder, only serving to make him feel worse. Maybe he'd overreacted before about things being his fault, but this legitimately was. He could've tried harder, there was still a chance that he could've altered the spear throw.
"We can bring Dashie back, right Luna?" Pinkie asked, her mane thoroughly deflated. "Right?"
Luna sighed, as one of her own tears hit the ground. "No, magic is well limited on matters like those." Her breath caught slightly, before she continued. "As soon as a pony's dead, there's very little we can do, and the power of life and death is well out of my power."
"But- but- you're a princess!" Pinkie replied, looking at her angrily. "How can you not have a spell somewhere for something like this?"
"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, trying to calm her friend.
"No! I just want a real reason!" She yelled, planting her rump on the ground and crossing her arms as she stared at the princess.
There was a long silence before Luna eventually spoke up. "As much power as we have, there are limits, absolutes, constants. Maybe we could keep her body alive, maybe we could bring Rainbow Dash back to life. But it wouldn't be her, the mare you know is already gone. It would just be a husk."
"A fucking vegetable." Jason spoke up, "The one thing worse than death." Another long silence dawned, peppered by short sobs and drips of tears. "Where's- where's Scoots?"
"Do you want her to see?" Rarity asked through her tears, fruitlessly trying to calm herself.
"Just- Someone get her, Dash was her mother, she deserves to see it, not hear this through word of mouth." He said, feeling a sense of numbness flow over his body as he stared down at Dash's motionless face. His eyes continued to drip as he slid her eyelids shut, and he started taking off her armor. Jason set it into a neat pile as he uncovered her matted blue fur. A big chunk of the upper chest plate was missing, whether that was from him or something else he couldn't be sure. Her holster came next, the riot shield and other saddlebag following closely before her element, which he took special care in setting against the pile.
What hurt the worst, though, was that somewhere after the carnage was over she'd been laying in this pool of blood and spluttering out his name, waiting for the aid he should have provided, but she never received. He could've prevented this in so many ways, and yet here he was, clutching at her body as it cooled in the midnight hours. Jason started to weep again, for her, for what he should have done, for all the things he would never be able to do. That warmth when they cuddled, her tender caress. Even the feeling of her flowing love, something that he would never feel again.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, looking down at her as the pain in his arm intensified. He could feel the bones starting to set, but he couldn't care less if he was crippled by overusing the broken limb. The fact that she looked like she could wake up at any time only made him feel worse, as her immobile chest sang a silent song of disappointment. That was another thing, her heartbeat. And that hurt the worst, something so simple and rhythmic, a pattern that was ingrained into his mind, and yet it was gone in a moment, without so much as a hint that it was leaving.
There was some crashing in the foliage nearby as Evening returned with his daughter, her purple mane as windswept as usual as she skidded over, coming to a halt with tears already in her eyes. She bumped into Jason with open arms, crying into his chest as she saw Dash's body.
"She's gonna be okay, right Jason? Jason?"
"No Scoots." He hugged her tighter and put his head over her shoulder as his tears continued to flow. "She's gone. And I killed her."
"What?" She said, in unison with several of the other ponies around.
"I wasn't strong enough, I could've done something more but I didn't. And now- She's gone forever and I'm to blame!" He yelled, hugging Scoots more tightly as he wept. "I'm sorry, I'm just so sorry."
"Jason," Twilight started shakily as she walked up and nudged his shoulder, avoiding Evening's hoof like it was poison oak. "Either way, we need to get you to a hospital, you can't let your hoof stay like that."
"No, I'm not leaving her." Jason replied, not looking up at her.
"And I'm not letting you stay here, you'll just make yourself fell worse. It wasn't your fault, Jason."
"I know better than anypony," Luna spoke up, sighing to herself before continuing, "that the Nightmare is nearly impossible to fight, and that there was very little that you could have done."
"But that's just not true!" He yelled back, tears of frustration sticking in his eyes. "I had an advantage, I had some power over what I did. It wasn't just me, Evening was there, and we were winning. And yet here I am, powerless as usual." He let out a sob. "She always was the strong one. It should've been me."
Twilight snorted, in a way that almost sounded angry. "Shut up." Jason stared at her. "You can't beat yourself up over things like this, when I'm sure you know that any way you went ponies would have died. Even then, you can't look back on it and hate yourself like you do, you're just going to end up feeling bad for no reason."
"But-"
"I know she meant the world to you, but that's exactly why you can't act this way, you've got to look at the memories, the good times you shared." She replied, angry tears joining his.
"We were always fighting, there weren't that many."
"Then I guess they mean more." He felt himself lift up into the air with Scoots and Dash as the surrounding environment took on a purplish hue. "Now I'm getting you to the hospital, whether you want to go or not." Jason sighed, looking down at Dash's face again as they started to move. At some point between the clearing and the town he passed out, exhaustion and blood loss finally overtaking him as he nestled his head against Dash's neck, feeling Scoots stick to him like glue.
_______________________________________________________________
Jason woke up with a start, breathing heavily as he looked around the small hospital room. He tried to raise up his arms to his eyes as the reality sunk back in, from the annoying pulsating in his arm to Scoots, firmly planted over his arm under the covers. He smiled before the whole weight of things came crashing down and tears came to his eyes, vivid memories of the day before sticking in his mind's eye.
Evening was back in her pony form, curled up at the end of the bed in much the same manner as Scoots, and occasionally let out a snore or twitched her legs, as if she was chasing after some sort of invisible animal. Jason almost chuckled, but his thoughts weighed out any humor he could derive from Evening.
But every movement, every shift of the light turned into something Dash related as his mind filled in her almost unending presence with portraits of its own. It wasn't anything he could see though, it was always just to the side of his vision, just out of reach. He heard a quiet sob from his side and looked down towards Scoots, who was looking back up at him teary eyed.
"Are you sure we aren't just having a nightmare?" She asked quietly, before laying her head flat again.
"As much as I wish we were," His breath caught. "As far as I can tell this is real." He pulled her up against his chest and wrapped his hooves around her tiny back, rocking slightly as he tried to make the filly feel just a little bit better. They sat there for what felt like an hour, as Scoots' crying slowly ceased. If he didn't have her after all this, well, he really didn't know what he'd be doing right now. Probably well on the path to insanity, worst case scenario.
A thump sounded against the door, and there was a pause before a hoof knocked.
"Come in!" Jason yelled, his voice sounding foreign and broken. He halfheartedly cleared his throat before Lyra walked in, rubbing at her head as Octavia and Bon Bon followed.
"How're you holding up?" Bon Bon asked, her eyes slightly red and puffy.
"Not too well." He said, sighing. "I just- I don't know what to do anymore. She meant so much, and now that whole part of me is just gone..."
"I wish I could tell you I knew what you were going through, but I really can't." She said, sitting down in one of the hospital chairs.
"So who's your friend, Jason?" Lyra asked, looking at Morning. "You haven't already replaced Dash, right?" She asked, starting to look enraged.
"No, she's just a friend." He tried to wake her through the hive mind, before he realized he had no idea how to do what she had done last night. Jason kicked a hoof into her back through the covers, and she jumped awake, flying a foot or so in the air.
"Jason, go dammit! Don't do that to me!" She yelled, and Jason couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Oh yeah? Well why don't you just turn around and say hello?"
"I'm still not letting you off the-" Her mouth froze as her eyes locked on Lyra, before she sprang off the bed and hugged the mare, bringing them both down to the ground. "Lyra, I missed you so much!" Evening yelled, hugging the mare tightly.
"Who is she!!" Lyra yelled, trying to worm herself out of the changeling's grip.
"Oh yeah." Evening replied, blushing slightly before she got up and dropped the disguise. "Remember? I rescued you in Canterlot?"
Lyra stopped her slight retreat, before finally moving forward and returning the hug. "You found her?" She asked Jason over Evening's shoulder, receiving a simple nod in response as Scoots giggled. Jason squeezed the filly against his side slightly, glad that she was. The two mares hugged for a while as the room became silent.
"At least there's still something nice to come of today." Lyra said as she let go, tapping Evening on the shoulder with a hoof. "So are you planning on staying?"
"If I can find a place, I guess."
"You can stay with us, Evening." Jason said. "I'm sure we have space somewhere."
"Well, I suppose I'm staying." Evening replied, a smile gracing her lips.
"So Jason," Octavia started, "what have you been doing all this time away from home?" The others gathered around, before more ponies gathered at the door.
"Well you're sure the popular one, Jason." Twilight said as she walked in with her friends, pushing the room to an almost full capacity. "And it's your call on whether you want the Crusaders in here, considering your hoof and all." Jason pulled his hoof back and punched the nightstand, receiving only a small jolt of pain in return as the ponies gasped. So then it was mostly healed already. Must be the cast.
"Yeah, I'm good. It's just about healed up, and I won't go into a lot of detail with stabbing or anything." He said quietly. At least there were distractions, anything to keep him from thinking solely about Dash. "So let them in or whatever, I like kids anyway."
"Maybe I should let ya host the next sleepover." Applejack suggested with a chuckle.
"Hey, let's not go that far." He said, chuckling as Scoots punched him in the arm. The laugh aroused conflicting emotions in his head though, should he be doing anything but mourning Dash? She had died maybe eight hours ago, and he was already laughing. That seemed disrespectful on every level to someone who meant so much to him. At the same time, he knew that thoughts like that were just going to depress him. Another Catch-22, he couldn't win either way.
Only a few seconds later the bed was covered in another three foals that stared and ogled at Jason like he was some sort of alien, which in a way he was. They poked him all over with their hooves, and Jason craned his head backwards to get away from the prodding as Scoots laughed her head off. Jason glanced over at her before levitating her friends into the air and setting them down at the end of the bed. There was a new one he didn't recognize, though.
"You're...Rumble?" He asked, taking a shot in the dark.
"Y-yeah, I am Jaso- uh, sir!" The foal replied, his prior confidence seemingly evaporated.
"Just Jason's fine, everyone else calls me that anyway." Rumble nodded, looking away. The room went silent before Scoots poked Jason in the arm and he remembered why they were all staring at him, and knocked himself in the head with a hoof. "Sorry. I'll just get to the story then." Jason sighed as a tear slipped out of his eye, sliding down to his chin.
"We don't have to hear it..." Fluttershy ventured, looking pretty sad herself.
"No, you're all here anyway..." He sighed again before beginning. "We left Ponyville a while ago, rode to Canterlot in a chariot, and ended up meeting some old friends there. The ponies actually like me there, so it was kinda nice looking at all the civilians pointing and waving excitedly. Anyway, we talked to Celestia and she showed us a stained glass window that has me and Dash, Tank and Potato during the whole Canterlot battle. We met up with a griffin named Eravel," Jason got choked up again, waving a hoof like he was going to continue but wasn't able to.
Eventually he continued after taking a few deep breaths. "We left with Tank and Eravel, and arrived in Windforge a while later. I met Shining again, we drafted another Team Green Bean, and-"
"Why did you need another?" Lyra asked. "Aren't you pretty much the best?"
"Yeah, but there're only eight of us, we needed more to-"
"Why?" She asked again. Jason put a hoof to his face and chuckled.
"I'll explain, just give me a minute." He paused, trying to remember his train of thought. "We needed to free some hostages that the griffins took from Canterlot. So at night we went there and stayed stealthy for about half as long as I wanted to, and basically we lost six hostages before we could free them all. Then we got stuck in the town hall, had to gun down like seventy griffins before the other team met up with us, then we got ambushed as we were leaving. All told, it was a good day."
"How is that good?" Twilight asked, putting a hoof up to stress her meaning.
"Because we killed a lot of griffins and rescued most of the hostages. That sounds like a victory to me, especially with the fact that some of those griffins enlisted. But I'll get to that. Next ca-"
"Sorry Jason," Rarity started, "But when you say 'gunned down'..."
"Ah," he looked around the room until he saw his stuff, tears threatening to surface as he saw Dash's armor, before he floated the gun over and tried to refocus his attention. "Sorry about all this." He floated over one of her shin guards and balanced the piece on his hoof, looking at it with more than a hint of remorse.
"Where did she get that armor?" Applejack asked, glancing over at Evening. "And if'n ya don't mind me askin', why's she here?"
"I'm going to-" He cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice from wavering. "answer those in order. So Rarity, this is a gun, you've seen it work, I just hit griffins with it." She nodded and cringed. "And onto you Applejack, chitin kinda breaks off after a while, and it fit her alright, which is a little odd considering the fact that I'm a lot bigger, but it could have shrunk or something. Anyway, that's the deal with that."
"And her." Bon Bon reminded.
"Oh yeah. I- well, it'll be explained when I get to it." Applejack rolled her eyes. "I can't give everything away, right?" He smiled weakly, starting to feel a little sick to his stomach. He sighed, before resuming the story again. "We set up camp in this forest clearing with a hill, fortified the shit out of it, and then got attacked maybe a day later. The griffins had these bottles full of, whale oil I think, and basically they threw it with a flaming fuse and it would go burn stuff when it exploded. They were called Molotov Cocktails where I came from. Took a bunch of casualties with that one, although it only seemed to raise morale. Guess the ponies really wanted the griffins dead."
"Did you kill any there?" Scoots asked.
"A couple, maybe. No one was ready, so I didn't have any of my weapons. But I did knock out a couple with my hooves, that's always good. Shining was in the fray with us, but I swear, those were some of the worst burns I've ever seen. I guess I should speed up a little, but this is where Evening comes in. We were patrolling and we found her, arguing with herself in the forest."
"It wasn't that bad!" Evening shot back, frowning heavily.
"It really was pretty bad. The truth is, in short story mode, that Chrysalis has basically total control over changelings, and that's why she rules like she does. All changelings have a hive mind, but it's really just an extension of the system we use for figuring out emotions. So yes, I technically have one, but not with any real control. That pretty much explained why Dash and I were sharing dreams." He paused, trying to keep himself collected. "And now Evening's there too, so it's all one big happy family." Everyone in the room took a step back.
"So is it like a disease, do we catch it?" Pinkie asked, sticking to the back wall.
"No, I think it's proximity for a long period of time. And I can just kick you out, come on, I'm not a plague victim."
"Sorry." A few of them said.
"Yeah, Christ. To cut this shorter, we destroyed a griffin army in the forest where one of my squad members was killed," He sighed again, "and then we moved to the capitol after receiving some griffin troops. We started an operation that I'm not obliged to tell you about until it's declassified, but-"
"Even me?" Scoots asked.
"Sorry, I don't know if you're a spy or something. Can't be too careful." She giggled and he continued. "I found a missile launcher and we moved into the city after these large scale protests started. But man, missiles. I fired this thing, and it's like Pssssssssssssssss BANG!!!!!" He yelled, showing them the movement with a hoof. "Dash said it was...really...awesome." Jason looked downwards, his head somewhere else.
"How did it follow a path like that? Did you arch it?" Twilight asked.
"No, it guided itself." He replied shortly. "To finish off this story with a sad ending, we lost Eravel, so he's MIA with a spear wound, fought and killed the king with the Nightmare in control until he took me over, then I killed two other members of my squad when Nightmare pulled down the building. And now I'm back here, and over half the guys I had under my close command, my entire sub squad even, is gone." He put his head in his hooves and tried to keep himself from outright sobbing in front of all the ponies present.
"It just hurts so bad!" Jason yelled, soaking his hooves as he cried. It hadn't really sunk in until he'd told them the whole story, and he hadn't thought about the losses more than just in terms of Dash. And it was just too much, he felt empty, devoid of the ponies he'd known most dear.
"You want us to leave?" Fluttershy asked. "I- I can't even imagine what you're going through right now, but it can't be good."
"Yeah," he replied, wiping his eyes and trying to gain back a portion of his resolve, although as he continued to speak it was clear he wasn't recovering. "I'd like some time alone with my daughter, and my thoughts, honestly. It's just- I've lost most of my friends and what could have been my fiancé in sixteen hours, and I just feel tired and empty." He said, wiping his nose with a hoof. "Evening, you may as well stay too." He continued, watching Twilight and her friends nod and leave, while Lyra, Bon Bon and Octavia came around to the side of the bed.
Lyra spoke up. "I know you want some time to yourself, and I'll leave in just a second, but I just wanted to offer my condolences, if nothing else." The other two nodded. "And by the way, she's in the morgue, and from what the lady said they'll have an open coffin funeral service in a few days. Just figured you'd want to know." Jason nodded, a jerky movement that alluded to just how he felt.
Octavia took a step forward. "Of all the ponies I know, you really deserved this the least, Jason. Especially with your daughter like this. I wish there was more I could do." She took a step forward and hugged Jason, as the other two joined in as well.
"Thanks for this." Jason said, wiping his eyes again. "I'm just- I don't know what to do with my life anymore. Everything's just gone, all my plans. I'm glad I have this little devil though," he shook Scoots slightly and she smiled. "And I don't plan to let anything go wrong with her." He continued, leaning down to kiss the filly on the forehead. "She's all the family I have left, excluding Evening."
"Well there was only Dash." Lyra said before Bon Bon shoved a hoof in her mouth.
"Shut up!"
"Those guys that died, Tank and Eravel, even if they are still alive, they were like brothers to me, honestly. It hurts."
"You're sure you don't want more company?" Octavia asked, giving him a slight smile.
"No, I just- no. Sorry."
"It's totally fine, we'll probably be at the griffin if you need us." She replied, turning to leave after putting a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. "It get's better, just give it some time. I know it hurts."
"Yeah, it does." He replied, watching the door close behind the mares as they left.
"How long till it gets better?" Scoots asked.
"I don't know, Scoots." He lowered is head and nuzzled under her chin, trying to raise her spirits. "But I know it will, eventually."
"Promise?" She asked, and he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"Promise." He replied, as the door creaked back open a little.
"I-is it alright if I come in? I'll just be a minute."
"Uh, sure, pony that I can't see." Jason said over the bedspread, watching as the door moved a little more and hoofsteps approached the bed before Rumble tried to jump up, immediately losing his grip and hitting the floor with a dull thud.
"Ow."
Jason heard Scoots chuckle, and he lifted up the foal onto the bed with his magic. "You're a clumsy little guy, aren't ya?" He asked, smiling at the little kid.
"I guess, sorry." He replied, shrinking back a little.
"You don't need to be afraid of me, I don't bite." Jason replied, wiping at an eye.
"Well, hopeyoufeelbetterScootsgottagobye!" He turned to leave before Scoots grabbed his tail with a hoof, pulling him backwards onto his flank.
"Just tell him what you were going to- oh." She saw what he wanted to say in his eyes, that he didn't want to keep the pair of them a secret. And she couldn't blame him, not after all this went through. Jason had said pretty clearly that they were the only two left.
"Tell me what?" He asked, looking between the two of them.
"We're dating!" Rumble yelled, closing his eyes and crouching down. Jason's face went blank for a few seconds. Well this was unexpected, he thought.
"Since when?" Was all he could ask.
"Two days ago, I guess." Scoots said, blushing heavily. "Just don't get mad."
"Uh, how old are you again?" He asked.
"Twelve and a half." She replied.
"Is that normal around here?"
"I don't know, probably not!"
"You're the same age, correct?" Another nod. "Well then I'm not mad. But I'm going to meet him before you do anything further. You haven't done, anything, right?"
"We kissed a few times." Rumble ventured, still hunkered down as his face turned red.
"You two are so adorable, being all scared like this." Jason said with a chuckle. At least something was good under all this bad news. "As long as it's just what it is now, I have no problem with it. But you better not move this along faster than you should, you're only kids. I'm sure you're tired of hearing this whole kid thing, but I'm serious this time. Now if I could actually be left alone, I mean I'm happy for you or whatever, but at the same time, I'm just-"
"I get it, I'll see you later Scoots." He hugged her and waved before trotting back out the door. Jason's thoughts shifted back to Dash. While before he had wanted to keep his thoughts off of the mare, now he felt like doing the opposite, like he deserved to feel all the grief that came along with her passing.
"You really think I'm family?" Evening asked, her eyes tearing up again. It was a weird look for the changeling, almost like he half expected her to break out laughing and ask if it was good acting. Such an out of character thing for her to cry like she was, no doubt feeling emotions she wasn't too familiar with.
"Yeah, of course. You've looked out for me, and changelings like us need to stick together." He replied, sticking a hoof out against hers. She smiled and curled back up at the end of the bed, trying to hide the ensuing tears, although Jason couldn't pinpoint how she was feeling.
"I wish I could hear her again, just one more time..." Scoots said quietly, carefully pulling Jason's arm out from around her. "I need to stretch, my legs hurt." She said, hopping off the bed and trotting around.
"I could- I could be her if you want. For just a moment. But it isn't her, and it never will be, you have to remember that."
"Fine, just-" She waved an arm around. "Please?"
Jason sighed and shifted, looking at the cyan fur that popped up along his now more slender arms. He grabbed Scoots as she jumped up, hugging her tightly as he started to outright weep, grief cutting through that he could mimic her body all he wanted, and yet her mind would be gone forever. It hurt worse, the tease that sent him over the edge from acceptance to attempting to bring her back, the one thing that he couldn't do.
"I just wish I could go back, see her before everything that went on, maybe give her a warning."
"Yeah, I wish-" His gut wrenched as his face snapped through about ten emotions in a second.
"Jason?"
"Scoots, you're right. We're leaving the hospital."
"Why?" She asked, tears still running out of her eyes.
"You know how I said I didn't want to abuse my power and play god?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I'm making an exception."
"But Princess Luna said you can't bring her back to life!"
"And I don't need to. If she never died, we don't have a problem, now do we?"
"Jason, you feeling alright?" Scoots asked, touching a hoof to his forehead.
"Perfect, now come on, we have a lot to do."
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
1,028 users online
1,514,645 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
He does have a week theoretically via a time travel spell. Thus if he were to write down all that was to happen and send it back to himself in the past he could theoretically change the future. I guess Jason is going
Hey I'll volunteer an OC to take the Nightmare's possession and get erased from existence via a spell. A Jedi did that to the body jumping Emperor clone.
Oh. My. God. You had better update this quickly or the tears won't stop. The way you handled the emotions was top notch, and Jason Turing into dash at the end was very heartwarming. Possibly the best chapter yet. (Out of both stories)
Manly tears were she... OH FUCK I bawled like a baby
your right I did cry, manly tears, just a little. but it was mostly because I didn't blink for a whole 12 minutes... AAARRRGGGHH MY EYES! THEY BURN WHEN I BLINK!
MY GOD. THE FEELS25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9uvxseZxb1rwn89bo1_500.gif
ERMAGERD
TERM TRERVERL
Please make it be a dream, I don't want this to happen to Jason. But its your decision so If this is the way it is... then its the way it is. I will always read anyway :')
Dashie? Dashie? DAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEE!
Good thing I don't have a Grief seed or else I'd be close to going witch.
when I saw morgue I instantly thought and hoped this would happen
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=27HeqKzAOYs]
Just reading the new chapter again... My chest feels so tight from just thinking about it, I hope it gets resolved, I'm not good with my favorite characters dying in things. But this just shows how great the story is, I'm actually crying now.
Who died from the building collapse?
Who is MIA?
Eravel (all of my sads are on this one)
Who is just dead?
I miss Eravel... And that other gryphon I no longer remember the name of.
I was almost expecting that soul magic to come into play again, or maybe a reference to princess bride and the miracle worker.
"She's only Mostly dead! Big difference between 'dead' and 'mostly dead'!"
A sad sad day in equestria indeed!
If I had to guess, he is probably going to do something similar to what Twilight did in that episode where she goes back in time.
Also, WE WANT FUCKING ERAVEL!
If he doesn't end up coming back, then I will do something akin to this:
i.imgur.com/wXq0LdW.gif
Eravel and Dashie D: These 2 gotta live yo, they just gotta!
GAH! THE FEELS! THEY BURN!
2543981 I loved that line in that movie. It was so perfectly random that it fits everywhere.
2544209
Okay. I gotta see whatever anime/cartoon that is from. That was actually freakin' hilarious, and eased the sadness off me after reading this chapter.
i.imgur.com/qIUbDaM.gif
I sense some wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenaniganry going down!
DA BUCK IS GONNA HAPPEN NEXT!
Evening is best changeling. I wouldn't have thought to use the hive mind as an attack, neat use.
I love how much love Evening is getting from everyone.
Poor Dashie.
My thoughts get away from me. HAVE GOOD NIGHT.
Well congradufuckinglations, you made me sad like you wanted
(your a bastard
), so I'm guessing time travel is in the works on how to bring her back.(You gonna use the Doctor or the spell that Twilight used in It's About Time for this?)
2543981
skip to 29 seconds
And honestly, I could see this going on without dash too... with more feels shed of course.
I hate you. I very literally, hate you. That said, this story is amazing. They better be able to bring Dash back.
Damn.... I thought only Shortskirtsandexplosions could make me feel that bad. Please redeem yourself in the next chapter so I can stop contimplating suicide.
Let me guess, Starswirl The Bearded's time travel spell?
2545076 Meh, didn't really like that movie
Also isn't strange that every story with the name 'Winds of Change' in my favourites list all updated at the exact same time?
2546999
Eh, to each their own.
that was really hard to read when i read that dash died
Just...just
Dramatic battle
Tears of sadness
Tears of rage
Swearing
Flipping the table
Disappointment
ORGASMS OF JOY AND JIZZING RAINBOWS
followed by screaming the following
"IT IS HARRY POTTER RIPOFF TIMES MOTHERFUCKERS"
Good sir only few stories can elitist legitimate emotion changes from me the only two being
My Little Dashie and Past Sins
You are now up there.
With all the win
Shadow Reaper
Poor Jason, he just can't seems to get much good luck. However, if he can't get good luck, it seems like he planning on making some good luck. Great job with this chapter!
C&Cs:
...not when a shot at the nightmare...
> Capitalize ‘nightmare’.
"You fuckers and your dues ex machina."
> Correction: ‘deus’
"If you'd have finished with them faster we wouldn't have this problem, now would we?"
> Comma after ‘faster’.
Nightmare hit the dirt as a hevy cloud of magic shot over his back, and as he turned a near perfect circle was cut from the forest behind himself.
> Comma after ‘turned’.
...and he figured that if she was all the way in she couldn't do both.
> Comma after ‘in’.
…started to push the nightmare back, into smaller and smaller parts of Jason's brain.
> Capitalize ‘nightmare’.
And as the light grew to an almost sun-like brightness the Nightmare counter attacked and sent Evening reeling from Jason's head.
> Comma after ‘And’ and ‘brightness’. Combine ‘counter attacked’.
But either way, as he finally returned to consciousness the Nightmare appeared to be gone, finally fucking out of his head.
> Comma after ‘consciousness’.
Immediately he fel back down as one of his forelegs bent and cracked.
> Comma after ‘Immediately’. Correction: ‘fell’. And lastly…owwww…!
She yelled, her face turning to one of rage as Jason started to heal the wound.
> Comma after ‘rage’. Replace ‘as’ with ‘until’.
Straight towards the form of Dash,which hadn't moved from the ground.
> Space after the comma.
...Red swathe
> Lower the casing for ‘Red’ and add an ending ellipsis.
But as Jason healed the wound he knew she was long gone, there was just too big of a puddle of blood.
> Comma after ‘But’ and ‘wound’.
Jason let out a squeak, a sound that was supposed to be a sob but came out choked as a rock formed in his throat and his vision blurred.
> Comma after ‘sob’.
Well why don't you just turn around and say hello?"
> Comma after ‘Well’.
"Who is she!!"
> Replace one of the exclamation marks into a question mark.
"Well you're sure the popular one, Jason."
> Comma after ‘Well’.
So then it was mostly healed already.
> Comma after ‘So’.
Only a few seconds later the bed was covered in...
> Comma after ‘later’.
So at night we went there and stayed stealthy for about half as long as I wanted to...
> Comma after ‘So’ and ‘night’.
"answer those in order. So Rarity, this is a gun, you've seen it work, I just hit griffins with it."
> Put an ellipsis before ‘answer’.
...although as he continued to speak it was clear he wasn't recovering.
> Comma after ‘speak’.
And by the way, she's in the morgue, and from what the lady said they'll have an open coffin funeral service in a few days.
> Comma after ‘said’.
But I'm going to meet him before you do anything further. You haven't done, anything, right
> Comma after ‘But’.
"Well I'm making an exception."
> Comma after ‘Well’.
This is the very first time I got teary while reading a story! Good job you dick :P
THE FEELS!!! That's the closest I've come to getting teary since forever.
That thing you wrote at the end gave me hope though. DASH BETTER LIVE MRMFMRPPMGMPRH
Well done. You, as an author, have complete control over my (and many others') emotions, using mere words.
I want to say omg great story, but I'm feeling sad now so I'll come back later T_T
EDIT: Came back later. Dash lives; thank you :'D
*notices tears on face* when the hell did that get there?
Emotion twisting...(grumble)...
I honestly don't know what to say, Iv'e been sitting here for a few minutes and I just don't know what to say. Not only that but I also have to stop every few words to hold back tears.
Also you make me feel bad, I didn't cry this much when my grandparents died and they were some of the nicest people I can imagine. Still this was made to get this reaction while it just was their time as it were.
I'm gonna go to sleep now and hopefully when I wake up I won't be sad.
OMG this chapter had so many feels. Amazingly well done, absolutely beautiful. And I know she's gonna be brought back but I kinda would have preferred Dash stayed deceased, it may sound dumb but that's my opinion. I felt like the death was good character development for Evening, Scoots, and Jason. And bringing her back just seems like a disservice to that. Either way it's not my story so my opinion doesn't matter
keep up the good work!
I feel sick reeding a chapter like this one.
Well I guess I expected him to cheat death too much to feel da feels at full extent; still there tho
Playing god will never work out but I dont care at this point. Go jason
...My FEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLSSSSSSS NOOOOOOOOI DASHIE!!!!!
Well I'm in fucking tears. OH MY GOD. But. Dash. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Is dash gunna cheat death bro? I know she will...., right?
I had to read ahead a little bit just to make sure of something.
If this had been the end, my brain would need to expand to the size of the solar system to encompass and house the rage I felt reading this.
Oh yeah, forgot about time travel.