I Woke up in a Desert

I awaken to the soft blow of sand on my face

The sun light enters my eyes as I get up

I exit my sleeping bag, and remove my clothing from the backpack

I put my survival gear on, and strap on my gas mask

"Well, back on the trail"

I walk down the desert road for what seems to be hours, no Ponyville in sight

Another day of endless sand

The wind begins to pick up

It's time

I tighten the gas mask, and stand perfectly still

The cloud is coming, closer and closer

The sound of speeding ponies in the distance

The cloud soon passes over me

The dried out bodies of ponies run past me

If I move, I'll be taken away like the horses

Eventually, the damned ponies pass

Back on the trail

Eventually I need to rest, much to my dismay

A minute resting is a minute wasted

I sit in the sand, and unscrew the cap of a water bottle

"I feel bad for the ponies, they can't open a water bottle with hoofs"

I laugh at my own joke, it helps keep my sanity

I remove my mask, and realize how dry my mouth really is

I chug the water down

Need to spit it out

I pull out my map

Almost out of the Everfree forest

There aren't trees anymore

I get up, and continue

I fall to my knees when I see it

The buildings of Ponyville are in the distance

I run towards my destination in joy

It's almost over

The wind picks up

The cloud of the damned is speeding towards me

I stop in my tracks, turn towards the cloud, and stand still

The winds are strong, the ponies look at me as they run past

They want me to fall, to be taken away with them

I won't give them the pleasure

The cloud passes

I continue

I'm surrounded by abandon houses, stores, and buildings

This place was once so full of life

Not anymore

I find a few barrels, crates, and boxes, and stack them on top of each other like a makeshift staircase

I climb them, and jump onto a nearby building

I remove the large flair from my backpack

I stab it into the roof

I set it off

Red smoke spurts from it, floating up into the sky

Now I wait

It's now nightfall

No pony has been sighted

I fall asleep

I should have gone inside, where the cloud had less of a chance to capture me

But I was tired, wasn't thinking straight

I dream of a farm

A farm full of apples

The apples soon dry out, and turn into sand

The ponies there, once kicking trees, collecting apples, become statues made of dust

The cloud comes

It takes them away

I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating

The flair has gone out

No one has come

The sun is up

I have already packed my supplies

I walk through town, looking for another potential spot for survivors

Suddenly, a stinging pain runs up my spine

I feel my back, and pull out something

A dart

"Oh no..."

I fall into the sand

The next thing I know, I'm in a dimly lit, crumbling room

The shelf is lined with packages

It's incredibly difficult to breath down here

I can't find my gas mask

BOO

I fall to the ground, and turn towards the voice

A pink pony is wearing my gas mask

She giggles, removes the mask with her hoof, and throws it to me

"Sorry about shooting you, but I thought you might-"

I pull a smoke grenade from my backpack

"What are you doing, silly?"

I put on the gas mask

I throw the smoke grenade

The smoke emits from the grenade

The pink pony soon falls over, and turns pale

She is drying out

In a matter of minutes, she is dead

I put a few supplies in my backpack, and leave

One pony down, 5 to go

I head outside, and open a package I have taken

Cupcakes

"I haven't had these in so long"

Eat it slowly, savoring the flavor

I stop eating

A strange sight is in front of me

A yellow pony riding a bear

"Oh, hi, I didn't know, um...hi"

I Look at the pony, then back at the bear

"Um...so...what are you doing here? I mean-"

I stop her

"I'm looking for survivors. I'm trying to save as many ponies as I can. Do you know where I can look?"

“Well, Applejack said I shouldn't bring anyone to the farm without telling her, but, um, well, um, you can come if you want"

She waits for me to get up, and I jump onto the bear's back with her

She's going to lead me right to another. Kill two ponies with one stone

I'm taken to a large farm

The trees are all dead

The barn is falling apart

It reminds me of my dream

I hop off the bear, and lead into the barn

I'm greeted by two hooves to the chest

I fall over, my vision blurs

"What did I tell you, Fluttershy, you can't bring anyone here, especially humans!"

"I'm sorry Applejack, it's just-"

"Just what? Do you want to starve to death? We have enough food for us, and us only!"

The yellow pegasus squeaks, and remains quite

The orange pony approaches me

"Ok pal, what are you doing here?"

I don't respond

"Well?"

I don't respond

She kicks me again, breaking my gas mask

I really liked that gas mask

I punch her

I shouldn't have done that

"Applejack" chases me around the barn

My body only let me run, I can’t reach for a grenade

The pony is faster then I am, and I’m kicked straight into a wall

Blood streams down my face

"Alright, now. I'm gonna give you one chance to get off of my land, or so help me, I'll, I'll..."

The wind is picking up

The pony doesn't notice

"Alright, you asked for it!"

I hold me mouth and nose close, staying completely still

She speeds towards me

The cloud bursts into the barn

I close my eyes

Screams, all I hear are screams, and eventually those screams become silent

I open my eyes

She's gone, but "Fluttershy" is still here

She cowers in the corner, hacking and wheezing

I have the urge to cough too

I throw a smoke grenade at Fluttershy, then leave

While outside, I fall to my knees, and vomit

I continue looking for the other three

Still hacking and coughing

I'm lucky I didn't suffocate in the cloud

I pull out a water battle, and unscrew the cap

Just like wasting time, I hate wasting water, but I need to sooth my throat

Something drops on my head

Another drop lands on my hand

I look closely at my hand, observing the wet residue

"It can't be"

Rain is falling

Rain hasn't fallen in a long time

It isn't much, but it's something

I look up

One single cloud is above me

I hear a faint noise

"I did it! I did it!"

I back away and look up

Something blue is jumping up and down on the cloud

I put the water bottle down, and pull out a smoke grenade

My finger is around the pin

I need to be careful

Without my gas mask, I could breath too much of this smoke

Line up the target with the grenade

Cock arm back

Throw

In an instant, the blue pegasus turns around, sees my grenade, flies towards it, and hits it away

She has balls

The grenade bashes into my chest

I Fall over

Smoke is emitting from grenade

I can't breath

Looking down at my arms, I see them becoming pale

I crawl away from the smoke, unable to get up, and grab the water bottle

Water is spilling out as I lift it towards my mouth

I chug it down as fast as I can

The pain is unbearable

I drink it all

I can breath, but only slightly

Still feel like I'm going to die

The pegasus is flying straight towards me

She's seething with rage

She flies right through the smoke

She's blinded, and slams into a nearby building

She's out cold

I reach for my backpack, and empty it

I pull all of the water bottles towards me, and chug each one down

After this, I now know what it's like to suffer like my victims

Eventually all the water is gone

Still feel terrible

I pull myself up from the ground, stumbling from side to side

I grab another grenade from the pile of equipment

Only two more grenades after this

Slowly, I walk over to the pegasus

She's still unconscious

I throw the grenade, and stumble away

She'll die in her sleep, it's better this way

I go to the pile, and begin to pack my backpack

"Hopefully I won't need a drink for a while"

Carousel Boutique

I hope the next pony is in here

Traveling to this place was a nightmare

The effects of the smoke are still in effect

My skin has gained some color back, but still remains quite pale

"Hey, maybe I can pass for one of the damned"

I laugh

I enter the store

It's dark

Clothing scattered around on the ground

Slight murmurings in the distance

I follow the noise

"Now darling, this just looks fabulous on you"

I crouch down, looking into another room

The white unicorn is surrounded by mannequins

She doesn't notice me

"Now stay still, I need to get these measurements right."

She's clearly gone insane

I think to myself, "maybe if she just laughed at her own jokes, she'd be as sane as I am"

I chuckle a little

The unicorn freezes, and a look of shock appears on her face

She probably hasn't heard anyone's voice in years

Might as well put her out of her misery

I go into the room

The unicorn doesn't say a word

I pull out a grenade

"Wait!"

I don't know why I waited

"You can't go around like that. I mean your outfit's good, if you're going for a dirty survivalist, but it's missing
something."

She runs towards a drawer

She opens it, and pulls out a gas mask

She uses magic to bring it towards me

"It's the best I can give you. I wish I could help more, but my other customers need me."

I put the gas mask on

"Thanks"

I throw the grenade

She's dead minutes later

One more left

Outside

The sun is setting

"I should just get to the library and get this over with"

Walking normally now

I’m Feeling much better, physically and psychologically

Gas masks have become a bit like a security blanket for me

The wind is picking up

I’m nervous, but ready

I stand still

The cloud is coming

It just gets faster and fast

I tighten the gas mask

The cloud rushes over me

The stampede is just as fast as the wind

I struggle to keep balance

They're angry

It's angry

I begin to slightly shake, but remain in place

I see something familiar

It's Applejack

She's dried out, dark veins covering her body

I swear she is looking at me

If only she let me kill her

The cloud disappears

I need to keep moving

Running

The sun is down

The cloud appears more often then ever before

The time between each encounter is getting shorter and shorter

The winds are getting stronger too

I run whenever I have the chance

It may just be the fear getting to me, but I think I feel sick whenever it rushes over me

Just a little while before I make it

My arms suddenly snap backwards

I scream

I'm thrown to the ground

No one is near me

This is the work of magic

She has found me

I float up, and slammed into the ground

I black out

I wake up

My arms and legs are chained to an examination table

The walls are lined with pages from books, news articles, pictures of fog, icy mists, and sand storms, with pins and
string connecting one thing to another

In the center of it all is a large map of the world, with red X's over most of the land masses

"Well, it looks like you're awake! The examination is going to be so much more beneficial with you conscious"

My final target approaches me, holding a scalpel in mid air with her magic

"But first, I would like to ask you some questions"

I don't respond

"Let's start with I basic one. What drove you to kill my friends?"

I don't respond

"Of all the ways you could have killed them, why did you use smoke grenades? My research tells my that dying from
those things is a horrible experience"

I don't respond

"Maybe you just wanted them to suffer"

I respond

"I didn't want to do this"

"Then why did you?"

I don't respond

The unicorn seems upset

"No matter. If you don't wish to cooperate, that's your choice. Let's just get on with the examination"

I'm terrified, but I refuse to show it.
"Now as you know, when ponies breath in too much of the cloud, they turn into dried out monsters, and run away with the other mindless beasts. However, it's not the same with other creatures, including you. Other creatures show signs of becoming like the ‘infected,’ but eventually die."

"Your point?"

"I want to figure out why. I want to open you up and see what makes you tick"

I'm enraged

"Go to hell"

"I'm already there"

She plunges the scalpel into my chest

I let out a cry in agony

Blood begins to seep out of my wound

But something's wrong

My blood is black

The unicorn is fascinated

"Very interesting"

The unicorn takes out a small test tube, and collects the leaking blood

"I'll save this for later, just so I have something in case you...expire."

I look at her with disgust

I wish I could just get off of this table and hurt her

But then an idea pops into my head

I can't hurt her physically, but what about emotionally?

"How is the dragon?"

She stops

"What?"

"How is your dragon?"

She starts to get irritated

Do you mean Spike?"

"Yes, your little assistant, how is he?"

She's quiet

"Well come on. You've just stabbed me, I think the least you can do is tell me about Spike"

She now seems a little sad

"Spike...got really sick. I treated him the best I could but..."

"He's dead? Did you experiment on him before he 'expired'?"

"I would never do that!"

She is yelling now

"How dare you even say that!"

"You know, I've been through the cloud many times. Your little reports may say what it's like to go through the cloud, but you don't get the true picture without experiencing it for yourself. You can't breath, your lungs burn, you only want the pain to end. It's a living nightmare."

I see tears in her eyes.

"And you tried keeping Spike alive? Letting him live through that? At least I kill my victims. You keep them alive to suffer."

"Shut up!"

She's crying now

"Who's the real monster here?"

The unicorn bashes the side of my face with her hoof.

I can taste blood in my mouth

"I'm no monster! I'm trying to stop the cloud! I've been trying to stop it for years! I'm nothing like you! You're a
murderer!"

She's suddenly silent

"And pretty soon...I'm gonna be a murderer too."

She moves the scalpel towards my heart

She looks up at me

"Any last words?"

I spit in her eye

She screams, and covers her face

She slams her hooves into my chest, revealing a now bloodshot eye

"I'll kill you!"

I can see black veins in the corner of her eye

Her body spasms, and she falls to the ground, holding her eye in pain

I didn't expect this

Her horn glows, and she rips me off of the table

I'm now floating in the air

"It burns!"

She slams me onto the table

My legs then twist into unnatural angles, breaking them

She flings me across the room, and I slam into the wall

My entire body is in pain

I see my backpack next to me

One chance

I use what little strength I have to pull out the last smoke grenade

I throw it at Twilight

I drag myself towards the door

I don't expect to live through this, but I'm not dying down here

The smoke is shooting out of the grenade

I can taste it going down my throat

Just as I'm about to leave the room, I'm tugged away from the door

Twilight, chocking on smoke, is able to scream

"I won't let you leave! You die now!"

I dig my nails into the ground, trying to hold back

I see the scalpel on the ground

I quickly grab it, and am pulled farther back

I turn around.

Twilight is right behind me, the smoke is all around us

I shove the scalpel in her eye

She’s dead

After that, everything becomes hazy

It's as if I'm living through a memory, or a dream

One minute, I'm crawling away from Twilight's corpse

The next, I'm crawling through the library

Then, I'm outside

I'm not in pain anymore

I wonder if this is what death feels like

I can feel the wind on my face

The cloud is coming

I'm not wearing my gas mask

I'm too weak to cover my mouth

I think I'm going to die

The cloud envelopes me

There are no damned horses

I don't feel the cloud seeping down my throat

I hear something in the back of my mind

"My champion"

I can't talk

I can only rest, and listen

"You have proven your worth to me, child of man"

I lift my hand in the air, as if I am reaching for the voice

I don't understand my own actions

"Rest now, my champion. You are willing of my blessing."

I force myself to sputter out a faint attempt at words

"You shall become my vessel, the bringer of rebirth"

I look towards the sky, but it's as if I can see my own body changing, filling with something

"But I...you...can't"

"You underestimate my power. I've had a plan, my champion, and you will become the greatest part of it."

Deep down, I feel like I know what is happening

"Now wake up, child of man. Wake up and return"

I find myself in a desert.