Chapters Our story begins in another dimension, in a country shrouded in mystery. The world is torn apart by war and hatred, a home in which love...friendship...hope, once built, all go to die. A world once filled with light, thrown into its own darkness and its own eternal hell. There is a prophecy foretold by generation to generation of a filly born during the dark ages that trots a path paved of endless knowledge and light that ensures hope for all who tread that path. It is her that fuels their hopes and dreams.
In a dark, stormy and cold city called Bangogh resides the barracks for the Republic forces and is the capital of this crime ridden land and so begins our journey. GrimmHold and several of his colleagues just finished their basic training in the Republic barracks "YES... now we can finally make a difference in the fight against those terrorist bastards, right Maltball!?", as Maltball flips his mane out of his face as he replies "You can bet your sweet flank on that one" Maltball adds a seductive wink along with slightly sticking his tongue out as a tease to his previous comment, GrimmHold is left speechless and blushing at the same time "Well lets go see how the girls did". They then trotted over to the female’s side of the barracks, but they stopped because they heard a loud thunk with a painful grunt nearby. They hurried to see what’s going on and came around one of the many Republic sleeping quarter buildings to see one of their colleagues being beaten to a pulp. He had bruises everywhere with multiple gashes in his skin and his hair was mangled and dirty. They saw somepony standing over him "Where's my FUCKING money you piece of shit!" before their friend could say anything the stranger bucks him in the ribs. He coughs up blood and gasps to try to get a breath of air the stranger then pulls out a Bowie Knife, "Maybe my friend here can persuade you to work harder or convince you not to be a lying sack of crap", said the stranger, "HEY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING FUCKER THATS OUR FRIEND" GrimmHold shouts.
Out of the shadows a few extra ponies reveal themselves. The stranger replies "This is none of your business... you better leave before you meet an unfortunate fate."
"NO, YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" commands GrimmHold. The stranger smirks "I warned you... kill them all, they're witnesses" commands the stranger. His hench ponies then starts charging toward GrimmHold and Maltball with a short sword and rusty knives. The first attacker goes in for a jab to GrimmHolds rib. He dodges it by leaping to the side and counters with an upset stomach punch and knocks the first attacker back, but due to the intensity of the punch he drops the short sword and GrimmHold takes hold and takes a swing at him. The attacker regained consciousness and barely leaps out the way, but GrimmHold misses and severs his tail "YOU BASTARD, THAT WAS MY MARE MAGNET!" comments the first attacker as he uses a round house kick. Grimmhold once again leaps backward and back in to perform a diagonal axe kick and finally hits him while he was on the ground. GrimmHold readies the blade to behead the attacker he then adds force to cut all the way through his neck, he grins as the blood from the beginning of the cut splats on the wall and his face. Then his grin gradually grows into a full out smile as he continues to cut through the tendons and muscle and into the bone making a sick snapping noise. He smashes the enemy’s severed head causing his eyes and brains to come out along with the rest of his tongue and other glands pour out of the neck.
While this was going down Maltball was in a brawl with the second attacker who held old rusty knives. The attacker began throwing them at Maltball who dodges four and gets a fifth knife in the flank. Filled with rage he then pulls it out leaving an open wound over his cutie mark where the knife was lodged. Maltball takes the knife and charges towards the 2nd attacker as fast as he could. Maltball began doing as many stabs as he could as the 2nd attacker was left defenseless from the now berserking Maltball. with every stab he counts and laughs hysterically "1 stab, 2 stabs ,3 stabs, 4 , why stop there when you can add more, 5 , 6 , 7, Daddy said Mommy was a whore, 8 , 9 , 10, he had me stab her more, 11 , 12 , 13, 14, Daddy called me his little boy, 15 , 16 , 17, daddy used me like a toy, 20 , Daddys not alive anymore." As the knife pierces the attacker’s body 20 times with blood splattering everywhere, the stranger realizes his hench ponies were defeated and tries to run away. GrimmHold starts running after him but quickly stops to snap Maltball out of one of his unexplained stabbing spree, "COME ON... THERE'S NO USE IN BEATING A DEAD HORSE". They then continue their pursuit of the stranger, but after 6 minutes of non-stop chasing, the stranger is then cornered in a dark alley with Maltball and GrimmHold blocking the only exit both holding the weapons they acquired from the previous fight in their mouths. Their faces and bodies were covered in blood and sweat and their adrenaline rush was coming to an end. "Lets make sure this pony doesn't hurt anypony else" suggests Maltball.
GrimmHold nodded in agreement as they approach him. he tries to fight them off and use his magic to pull the weapons out their mouths but he fails and every time he tries to knock it out he ends up getting a cut, the stranger then realizes with every cut inflicted upon him that there was no escape he backs up to the wall and then reflects on all the lives he ruined and all of a sudden in a moment of weakness he decides to pray to the goddess of light in hopes of salvation. GrimmHold and Maltball stop to look at him " What the FUCK is he doing?" replies Maltball, " He's seeking forgiveness!?" comments GrimmHold with disbelief, " AWW HELL NAW.... ain't shit going to save that ass from me!" says Maltball, as he leans in for the kill "NO...STOP!" demands GrimmHold, as he jumps in to bounce Maltballs blade is blocked and swatted away with GrimmHold’s short sword. "H...HOW DARE YOU....ARE YOU CHALLENGING ME!?" angrily replies Maltball”. “NO, he's requesting a 2nd chance we should allow him to redeem himself" comments GrimmHold. Maltball pulls back, "But we can't just let him go" says Maltball. "Yes we can" answers GrimmHold as he turns away to go back, Maltball with built up anger then charges the stranger. He ends up missing the first attack and ended up breaking the stranger’s horn off his head. The stallion yells in pain because of the piercing pain shocks through his body. GrimmHold turns back to try to stop him but Maltball already had the stranger pinned up against the wall. "STOP" yells GrimmHold as he once again tries to grab a hold of him.
Maltball pretends as if he didn't hear anything as he thrust the rusty knife in his mouth directly into the stranger. Maltball stabs him 6 times in the face one stab was in the right cheek, the second was above his left eye, the third was in his muzzle, the fourth was below his right eye that caused his eye to become petruding from the socket, the fifth was between his right cheek and right side of his muzzle in which caused the right side of his face to crash into itself, the last stab was right where his horn used to be. With every stab blood had tainted and covered his blade running down the opposite end toward the hilt eventually staining his teeth as he made every stab. Maltball left the knife in the last hole and drops his lifeless body onto the ground and picks up his horn and walks away casually sucking on his victory trophy. As he's sucking on the trophy he doesn't notice that he's salivating all over it. His saliva drizzles down the horn washing the now dried blood off the other end of it. Soon, it begins to rain heavily all around them. They notice they are covered in blood so they decide to stay out to wash it off. The ground becomes soaked with watered down blood.
The 2 stallions wait awhile outside a little longer. After a while Maltball starts dancing in the rain, laughing and smiling while the rain drizzle upon his skin, "What should we do about the bodies?" comments GrimmHold. "Well remember when we used to work in the munitions workshop when we were little, and how there was those giant smelting pots they used to melt the metal and turn it into ammo shells... we can dispose of them there" replies Maltball. "But they’re too heavy to carry there, plus we might have a problem if the rigi mortes kicks in" responds GrimmHold. “Well I’m a master swordsman now... I also have a few extra large potato bags" replies Maltball, as he pulls out a satchel and opens it to throw his trophy in with other trophies he had, but out of all this time GrimmHold was unaware of this collection his only best friend had accumulated.
Suddenly, the severe storm bell starts ringing, they hurry back to the base to pick up their friend and from there they hurry to the fallout shelters. Hooves dirty and muddy as they run through the mud, hearts beating fast while they rush to safety, Maltball occasionally slips in the mud but gets right back up. They finally end up making it, coming to find the rest of their colleagues made it as well. A couple minutes passed before they eventually opened the door to see if there were others. As time passes, nopony else comes so they then close the door. In the moment of their safety, all was silent in the fallout shelter other than the sound of the whistling wind, bustling leaves and the faded sound of the sirens. The whistling changed to roaring, they heard screams and yells of others and the horns and engine of vehicles and trains and the stalling engines of planes from outside. Sounds of cracking and snapping of trees, windows being shattered, even explosions in the distance as they fade one after another the screams stop. Once everything else had stopped they then turned on the radio to see what is going on.
The group had learned that they were hit by a tornado.
They all had decided to wait until it seemed safe before they came out. The fear circulating the room prevented any talk with one another. What felt like an eternity passed before they then opened the door. The sun was shining with a slight overcast and a gentle breeze that had a scent of rain, blood, gasoline, fire, with multiple other smells that would permeate the air. Everyone stared in disbelief as they exited the shelter.
Snapping out of their daze, then rushed to help others buried by debris like a pharaoh in a tomb. Their searching and searching led to pulling dead, bloody and mangled bodies out of the fallen debris in hopes of finding survivors. The gathered bodies of humans and ponies lost in this tragedy were put in town square to help with the lost and found program. Later GrimmHold and Maltball do some more searching and trot upon a small cottage that had a cargo train land on it a causing the foundation to collapse. It was even more confusing because the surrounding area had seemed like a barren wasteland. Nopony would have even been able to tell that houses where there until you saw the concrete slabs. The 2 decided to search for survivors and began clearing the massive chunks of dry wall and wood.
Once they cleared a good portion they hear a tiny sneeze from where the train was. They both look back to see three arms sticking out from the debris. All were dirty and bloody, but different sizes. One was large, the second was a tiny bit smaller than the first and had longer nails, and a few were broken. The third was the smallest of all with long nails as well. GrimmHold stares in disbelief, when he notices something wrong with Maltball. His eyes were pin pricks just staring at the scene. Then all of a sudden Maltball falls into a psychotic break down, visions passing in his mind none in which he remembered. ‘WHAT IS THIS?’ Maltball mentally yells. Visions similar to what he is currently seeing swam through his mind, but the buildings were mostly burning. There weren't hands that are sticking out but hooves. One that was white, another that was dark red and a small pink one that was twitching. He sees hands removing the debris to see a tiny little colt. Then all of a sudden, the visions stop. Heart beating fast and breathing heavily, Maltball falls back trembling in fear.
Meanwhile GrimmHold is clearing the debris. Eventually the rubble loosens and GrimmHold finally pulls out what seems to be a survivor. He digs them out a little more to find a little girl, covered in dirt and blood. She rubs her eyes to adjust to the light and clears her throat with a cough. She looks back to see where she had been pulled out of and sees the other two hands. The girl quickly jumps up and runs over to the two mangled bodies "MA'MA... PA'PA!!!" she yells while tears fall down her face. While the words ring in Maltball’s ears, another vision forces its way to the fore front of his mind. The vision shows a gruesome scene where a little pink pony yells "MA'MA.... PA'PA" just like what is happening outside the vision. During this time she pulls out her parents, crying repeatedly yelling for her parents. In this instance he regains focus to see her attempting to revive her parents eventually collapsing on them crying into their blood soaked clothes. Reacting quickly, he jumps up to pull her back. She tries to resist and squirms to break free of his grip. The girl then turns around to try reviving them again but passes out. Grimmhold was frozen in confusion in what he had just witnessed until he then notices her pass out. “DID YOU JUST KILL HER!?" yells GrimmHold". “NO she tired herself out" replies Maltball nervously, “We need to hurry and get her to the hospital”. They both nod in agreement and run as fast as they can to get her to a health center.
Maltball and GrimmHold eventually make it and burst inside. The nurses in the waiting room immediately take the girl to an emergency room while a doctor is shouting orders to prepare for the worst. "Doctor, will she make it?" asks Maltball. “She'll be fine as long as she hangs in there... she just needs some hope. The X-rays show several of her ribs were fractured and she has a lot of nasty cuts and bruises. She’ll need surgery." says the doctor. GrimmHold looks at the name tag pinned to the doctor’s coat. ‘Dr. Bellows’ it read. "Do you know where her parents are, we may need her information?" adds Dr. Bellows. Both GrimmHold and Maltball look at the doctor with a sincere and sympathetic face and explained what happened. "When we found her... her parents protected her from the impact... they didn't make it" exclaims sadly. The doctor is shocked and says in a tone of disbelief "Dear...god", as he falls back into a nearby chair staring down. Doctor Bellows wipes his face with his hands and stands up, "OK what I’m going to have you do is go out and save as many people as you can.... I'll do it for free" comments Dr. Bellows. "Yes sir!" replies both Maltball and GrimmHold with a salute following their comment. "Hey, while you are at it, could you check on my family for me?" asks the doctor while he gives them his address and a picture of his family. Before they part ways, Maltball turns back and shouts to the doctor with confidence and a smile, "LETS SAVE AS MANY PEOPLE WE CAN HERE... KEEP ME UPDATED ON THAT LITTLE GIRL PLEASE!?” The doctor looks at him and nods his agreement as he waves a farewell to them.
They rendezvous with the rest of their colleagues to gather more news at the town hall with its beautiful architecture, glistening floors and carefully painted artwork on the walls. "How many have been recovered?" asks SabreDash. "I believe 586 total, but there's still about 6,613 missing" replies NovaStrike with a worried tone. The atmosphere within the town hall continues with its chaotic frenzied pace along with everyone yelling at each other.
"We have reports of burglaries rising and murders as well. Looters have taken to the streets", announces AppleRaid with his rough, coarse voice.
"HOLY SHIT, what the fuck is wrong with people doing stupid shit, especially after a disaster" rants OmegaZeit. "I don’t know, some ponies are just trash." comments BlackRose. "You’re such a hypocrite BlackRose... just stop being a bitch" replies TwilightFang. "YOU WANNA GO YA FUCKING TRAMP... I can't help it that you are all inferior to ME." replies BlackRose with a scowl in her tone. "Hey you two stop fighting there's already enough of that right now" commands Skootles as she holds them both back from fighting.
"We'll see y'all later, we have a few more places to search" comments GrimmHold as he turns around and leaves. Everypony stares at the spot GrimmHold had just occupied. “Had he been there the whole time?” was the question on everyone’s mind.
GrimmHold and Maltball leave Town Hall, as well as the strange scene, and head out to the address that Dr. Bellows gave them. Studying the address they notice that it was in the disaster zone. They feared the worst, but that didn’t stop them from searching the zone. Hopefully, it wasn’t close to the area where the tornado made land down. It wasn’t long before they finally found the place. They saw the house where the address had led them to was burnt down, the frame barely standing.
GrimmHold looked into the house carefully avoiding the debris that was still hot and charred. Maltball pulled out the photo in hopes of seeing what they look like. In the picture, it shows a scene where Dr. Bellows and his wife and three kids having a picnic on a hill on what seemed to be a nice day. The picture sent chills down their spines as thoughts of what may had become of those happy faces emerged. They searched all over the property, high and low, but found nothing.
"I’m getting exhausted, we should call it a day" pants Maltball with disappointment. At that moment GrimmHold flips over a porcelain bath tub to find four severely burnt bodies with the stench clinging to the bodies and the tub. "Is that them?" asks GrimmHold. "I don't know but they’re still alive, barely." comments Maltball.
Once the call for help had been made and the badly injured family rushed to the hospital, they return to the hospital to go see Dr. Bellows and inform him of happened. Slightly relieved he turns to Maltball, "The little girl you were worried about is recovering fine".
"Can I see her?" Dr. Bellows nods and leads him to the girl’s room. Before entering the room to see the little girl, Maltball turns to the doctor and says with a smile "I’m sure your family will be fine... try to give them some more time to recover".
Without a word more they split up. GrimmHold and Maltball walk in the room to see the little girl relaxing and breathing through air tubes. “Maltball... I don't know what it is with you lately but why do you all of a sudden have any interests of humans... I remember that you hated humans" mentions GrimmHold.
"I...I don't know when we were out there I kept having flashbacks... b .. but I don't remember any of the events... I realized that I don't even remember my childhood much... do you?" responds Maltball.
"Now that you mention it I don't remember mine either... obviously I remember how I met you... do you?" GrimmHold asks.
"Yeah we were both taken in by the Republic forces after the rebels burned down our homes... I suppose we owe it to them on how we survived even though we went through some intense training" replies Maltball.
"Hell, maybe one day we'll run into those bastards and get our revenge” sais GrimmHold.
It wasn’t long after their conversation that Maltball decides to stay by the little girls side. He thinks to himself "Humans are such weird creatures... they’re all kind of squishy, are very violent in nature AND are blunt from time to time. I only know a few who mean well, but can't help but to harm others".
He stops reflecting and looks at the little girl, she looks no older than 8 with long blonde hair and she looks kind of pale. She seemed well fed. It brought peace to Maltball to know she's ok. Maltball waited by her side for days and those days turned into weeks. It had turned out that seeing her parents the way that they were, along with her injuries, threw her into shock and caused her to go into a coma. In the end, he waited and checked on her over the next 7 months, 10 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes. He had been keeping track of the time for some reason. Everyday he went to go and talk to her, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to respond, but he talked to her in hopes of comforting her.In a way, it was comforting to him.
But nothing lasts forever.