Chapter One
It had been almost a year since all the color in Equestria started to drain.
By now, it was probably already all gone.
That was certain.
What wasn't so certain was how this problem will be solved, seeing as there is no known solution.
Hopes were lost.
Dreams were broken.
All this was true for a pegasus stallion, sitting in his home, head on the coffee table, in an uneasy slumber.
Of course, he wasn't dreaming about anything. He had lost the ability to dream about anything months back.
Suddenly, he snaps out of his sleep, head shooting upward weakly.
Even though he was sleeping, he felt tired still.
He sighed, and spun around in place, facing the mirror behind.
He once had a bright orange coat of fur, dark ash color, and bright royal blue eyes, same as his mother.
Now, it was a mixture of lighter and darker grays.
He turned back around to face the table, seeing no point in moving.
He crossed his forelegs on the table and set his chin on top of them.
He stared at the empty chair across the table. He couldn't remember why he had it, seeing as he lived alone. Maybe it was for visitors?
Speaking of remembering things, he was doing a lot less of that recently.
Sure, he remembered the basics;
His name; Niro Ashnidon
His age; 22.
The town he lived in currently; Ponyville.
And the town he was born in; Cloudsdale.
But, other than that, it's all foggy.
Feeling bored, he attempted to stand.
It hurt, but he pulled through. His wings slumped down, hitting the floor.
His stomach growled faintly, begging for sustenance.
He ignored it.
He was out of food, and out of bits.
He limped towards the door slowly, stopping only to look at himself in the mirror once more.
He looked awful; his fur was falling out, revealing colorless skin, his wings were bent and broken. His ribcage was slightly visible, his limbs skinny from lack of nutrition. His mane was a dirty mess, and he looked as if he started to grow a beard.
He continued towards the door, wings dragging across the floor, grabbing his coat.
Niro shoved his forelegs and wings into the appropriate holes. He zipped up his coat.
Niro opened the door, a blast of cold hitting him in the face.
He began to weakly trot down the color-ridden street. It was snowing.
At least the snow hadn't changed, as it has always been white.
Niro crossed an all-too-familiar bakery, an stopped.
He walked up towards it, cautiously.
There was an old wooden sign above the door. In very faded pink and blue letters it read;
"Sugercube Corner"
Niro sighed, walking away.
The owners of the establishment, the Cakes, have been out of town for.... well, since this mess started.
No one was quite sure where they were going.
Continuing down the street, he looked up, and stopped in his tracks.
The Grand Oak Library.
Suddenly, an odd sense of nervousness and embarrassment flooded his system.
It was a feeling he hadn't felt since he last saw..... her.
Niro couldn't remember who "her" was, he only remembered that he had a gigantic crush on her.
He stared blankly at the old tree.
It looked abandoned... forgotten; its leafs were gone, due to the winter season. Its wood rotting, and windows cracked and broken.
He was about 38-ish feet away, and it was at the end of the gray, snow covered dirt road.
Then, a intense feeling of being watched suddenly hit him. He looked around, panicking.
There wasn't anyone there. Well, it wasn't like he would see anyone, as the snow was falling down slightly harder.
He looked back towards the library, shrugged it off, and look a left.
Niro weakly trotted down the branching road in the cold, looking around as he went. Pieces of long lost memories flooding back.
He stops and looks forward, squinting.
There's an abnormal shape in the fog-like snow.... almost like a carriage...
Niro, slowly and cautiously, walks towards the shape.
It became more visible, and Niro immediately recognizes it as a caravan.
One of its wheels were missing, and the color-robbed paint was peeling. To add to that, its doors were open, showing that it was completely barren within.
Seeing it as no use, Niro pushed on, his hooves becoming colder from the rising snow.
He kept going until he steps on something oddly soft...
Confused, Niro looks down gasping is shock and horror as he does.
It was a pony... and they weren't alive. To add insult to injury, the pony looked as if they had died recently.... like that very morning.
Niro had fallen over from the shock, and now he was forcing himself to stand up again. He stares at them... and then he notices how malnourished they looked.
Horrifically, his stomach growls softly as he stared the corpse.
He would have thrown up, but due his own lack of nutrition, it was practically impossible.
Niro begins to turn, stopping only when he sees something shuffle in the fog-like snow.
He looks at the shuffling mass, which was right next to the corpse.
Niro watched with wide eyes as the mass stood up...
It was a filly!
Niro felt a stabbing pain in his heart... he understood the situation... the corpse was the filly's mother, and Niro had startled the poor girl.
" H-hello? " The frail looking filly said in Niro's direction, her voice was scratchy. " Who's t-there? "
Niro thought for a moment before responding, " Me... "
Niro brought a hoof to his throat; his throat ached from lack of use.
" P-please help.. " She choked out, " My mommy wont wake up... "
The stabbing pain within Niro's heart strengthened.
" Please, m-mister... I-I t-think s-she's h-hurt " She began to cry.
Niro didn't know how to answer, he had never experienced anything like this before.
He hated it.
Niro slowly approached the filly, who was embracing her dead mother, sobbing uncontrollably.
Niro sat down next to her, " I.. " He began. He didn't want to say it, since the filly had looked up at him with sad, hopeful eyes.
" I d-don't she's g-going to. " He finished in a hoarse voice, tears beginning to flood from his eyes, " I-I-I'm s-sorry... "
The filly looked at him with the most heartbroken expression Niro had ever seen.
The filly's eyes began to tear up with more intensity.
Niro slowly wrapped a foreleg around the filly, comforting her as tears fall from his own eyes.
The filly hugged Niro and began to scream cries of anguish into his coat covered chest.
Niro hugged the filly back, looking at the corpse once more.
Today is not a good day.
Chapter Two
Niro limped down the road.
The pain in his chest had been escalated. The reason being; the filly had rejected his offer for her to come with him.
Niro had looked back as he walked away, the filly sat there, sitting, and staring at her dead mother, completely silent.
He didn't really know how to react to the depressing sight, so he looked forward. He tried to push it to the back of his mind.
He continued trotting down the street, trying to think of other things. It was very difficult.
Niro had seen a lot of very depressing and heart-shattering things ever since this whole thing started; ponies lost their homes, families starve, and, of course, plenty of deaths. But still. it hurt every time.
Every.
Single.
Time..
Niro couldn't believe it. It's too good to be true...
Niro had found a literal god-send; a lost barrel of food. FULL.
He acted on instinct, wrapping his front hooves around the large, colorless, wooden container.
He forced energy into his wings, causing them to flex feebly, and lifted them as high as he could.
Right before he attempted to take off, he suddenly stopped.
"Wait...," He thought, This isn't mine. I shouldn't take this.
He mentally kicked himself.
Do it, Something within his mind said, Whoever this barrel belongs to, they obviously forgot about it.
But... this is stealing! Stealing is wrong!
So? This is the apocalypse, get used to it. You should be used to it already...
Who... who are you?
Hm...., the voice said, with faux thought. Call me.... Disharmony.
Niro couldn't think of a response. His stomach growled, ultimately making his decision for him.
Forcing strength through his wings, Niro flapped them. Pain suddenly shot through his system, making his eyes water more they already were against the cold.
Trying as hard as he could, he took off.
It felt as if someone had set his wings on fire.
Somehow, Niro had made all the way home by flying.
About halfway, his wings stopped hurting so much, and it was pretty much a leisure trip, despite the cold.
He bursts through the door, panting. He sets the barrel down, turns around, and shuts the door. He took off his coat and threw it onto the floor.
He was about to pop the lid off before...
" Hey, " A voice said. A very familiar voice...
Niro spun around.
His eyes widened. There was a creature sitting in the chair across from the one he was sitting in before. It had red eyes, that was the first thing Niro noticed. It had armor on, and it had dragon claw like things at the end of its arms. It was smiling at him, flashing shiny white teeth. There was a silver insignia emblazoned on the breastplate of the armor; it looked like the symbol for the Elements of Harmony, but it had a crack down the middle. Another thing Niro noticed was how similar the thing's hair was to his mane.
"Take a seat." it said, gesturing towards the chair in front of him.
Niro hesitated for a moment before walking forward, and sitting down on the chair.
They stared at each other. The creature closed it mouth. It had dark grey skin. It leaned back in the chair.
"Who-"
" Disharmony. " It interrupted. "And you're Niro."
Niro gulped. "How did you know?"
"I'm basically a god, so....." It said, causing Niro to do a metal backflip. " And that answers your other question of what I am. " Niro stared at it. " Don't stare. It's rude. "
Niro quickly looked away.
It was silent for a few moments.
It chuckled, "well this is.... awkward. "
Niro nodded, looking at the floor.
"So," Disharmony began, " Any questions? "
All of a sudden, Niro's mind filled with thousands. They swarmed within his mind like bees around a hive.
"Hurry it up. My time here is limited."
Niro looked up, " Why? "
" Well, " It looked up, thinking a little bit, " Harmonia would kill me if she - wait! Why am I telling you this? Anyway, I'm the one that gave you the barrel. "
Harmonia?
"Why me?" Niro asked.
" I have a feeling about you, kid. "
" W-what? "
" Oh yeah! I just realized how cliche that sounds! Oh well... " It stood up, towering over Niro. " I ought to be going. Please do try and savor that, that's all you're getting. Oh, and don't tell ANYONE about this. "
With a loud CRACK it was gone.
Niro looked at the barrel again.
The hunger must really be getting to his head. He's starting to see things!
