The Black Earth

Water. A small sip was all he wanted at the moment. Solar Flare tried desperately not to think about his dehydration, due to the constant need. For two and a half days, he had been roaming the desert beyond the Everfree Forest. Twenty-two years, Solar Flare thought. For twenty-two years, my family has lived in these harsh conditions. But oh dear Celestia, the temperature has never been this hot, even if Celestia can't control it anymore. In the midst of the heat, Solar Flare cringed as he remembered enduring the nuclear winter, along with undetermineable weather. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of agonizing thoughts, instead thinking of when he was a filly, and his parents used to tell him about life before the bombs. Every night, his mother did not want to scare him with the gruesome accounts of the mutations after the bombs in Canterlot, but tales of the once-famous Twilight Sparkle, and how she harnessed the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria from emminent doom. A few years later, he had heard rumours that Twilight Sparkle, along with her daughter, Crescent Emerald, were still alive. But what was on his mind most of the time was the vast assortments of fine dishes and desserts ponies used to eat. He felt as if he were going insane. Mom, I miss you. Why, damn it all, WHY did they have to take you from me? I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I failed you, I failed dad, and I failed Silver Dust, oh mother. The vibrant sun's heat was barraging down on Solar Flare, making him nearly incapable to reminise on his thoughts.

With each step, Solar Flare felt his hooves violently hit the burning sand. His eyes were starting to flutter close, but what he saw ahead of him filled him with enough adrenaline to quicken his pace. It was a lone cactus, green with life. He stumbled over to the cactus, pulling out a small survival knife with his mouth from the worn saddlebag he was wearing. Solar Flare began to cut into the cactus, and after a minute, the top gave way to reveal the plant's green, watery meat. He scooped the peice up, and started to eat it, letting the delectable juice snake down his throat and sink to his stomach. But before he could take another bite on what was left of the peice, he felt a major pain in his temples. Solar Flare reaches his hooves up to his temples, gritting his teeth as he felt the sun's heat intensify. His vision started to blur, and he fell unconsious before he even hit the warm gritty sand.  In his heatstroke, Solar Flare started to dream of the day his life, along with his family, was destroyed by a group of pegasi bandits.

Solar Flare's back ached, as he was picking the crops to make dinner with, and stock the silo. He was born 7 months before the nuclear war, so he had basically done farmwork his whole life. His family farm bore many vegatables, and despite recovering from a nuclear winter, the crops were doing well.

"Solar Flare! Are you finished harvestin' yet?" His mother called from the porch.

"No, ma! I'm nearly done, though." He replied.

"Alrighty. Your father and brother are waiting for dinner!"

That day, he mainly picked carrots, potatoes, and flowers. When he was finally done, he picked up his basket and turned to head back to his home. The door opened with a creak, and he stepped inside. His mother was in the kitchen, preparing the meal with a usual smile on her face.

"Mom! I got the food." He said, placing the basket on the counter. She hugged Solar Flare in appreciation.

"Thank you, Solar. Go wash up, and dinner will be ready in a few."

                "Will do, mom." He told her. He left the kitchen, and entered the washroom. The cold water pouring from the sink was a metaphorical thank-you for all the work he did. There was a hard knock on the door. Who could that be?, he pondered. It wasn't that much of a surprise to him, as ponies usually came around to the small farm to ask for a place to stay, or some food to ration. His family was always happy to oblige. He remembered of a couple who had painstakingly made it from the ruins of Canterlot, distancing over 160 miles. But that also traumatized him, as he watched the couple's foal die of malnutrition right in front of him. There was nothing they could have done, because the poor foal had already starved too much, and feeding him more food would have made his stomach literally explode, due to the shrinking of its stomach because of hunger.

As he was about to leave the washroom, he heard the door open, following with a loud BANG!. Solar Flare instantly recognized it as a hoof held gun, like one of the guns his father showed him. All of a sudden, he heard his father and his brother scream. Another shot rang through the house.

"Please! Don't shoot!" He heard his brother's voice cry out.

An unknown voice started to speak. "Where are your damn supplies?"

Cautiously, Solar Flare opened the door, and peered into the living room. He was horrified at what he saw. At the front door, his mother layed on the ground, dead, with a gunshot to her chest.  In the dining room, his father was slumped over in his chair, with a bullet in his head and a puddle of blood on the table. There were six adult pegasi in the dining room, pointing guns at his brother, Silver Dust, and were demanding to know where the food was.

"Please! They are out back in the silo! Don't hurt me!" Silver Dust cried out the attackers.

"Heh, you little rat. Thanks a bunch. Give my regards to your parents!" The leader said, before shooting Silver Dust in the heart. Solar Flare held back every thought in his head that told him to scream, or lunge at the bandits. He started to sob quietly, as the bandits exited through the porch. "Burn this place to the ground, make sure nothing is left." Solar Flare heard the bandit leader say, before exiting the house. As soon as he was sure they left, he ran out of the washroom, and started to sob violently, seeing the bodies of his family members.

Minutes must have passed, because he heard the bandits laughing and heard the clopping of hooves pulling a cart. "No, chief. I think we'll just take this loot all to ourselves!"

The bandit leader started to grow angry. "Damn you to the moon, all of you!" And with that, his 'faithful' crew mutinied him, and sped away. He's alone now. I won't let that scum get away with this. Solar Flare was blinded with rage, and he stormed out of the house, and yelled, charging towards the mutinied bandit. "What the!" were the only words the bandit could muster out before getting tackled to the ground by Solar Flare.

"You bastard! I'm going to rip your eyes right out of your sockets!" Solar Flare screamed. The bandit struggled to push his gun towards Solar Flare, but Solar bashed him with his hoof before he could. Solar screamed in fury, relentlessly bashing the bandit's face. Solar Flare didn't know how much time had passed while attacking the bandit, but when his adrenaline ended, he was stamding over the corpse of a bloodied bandit, with his face so beat up it was unrecognizable (FUBAR). Solar was so tired, so exhausted and traumatized. He couldn't even think, and he ran. He ran for miles, not even thinking. At that point, Solar's dream faded, and he felt someone grabbing his hooves, and hoisting him up.

O, death, have you come to take me today?