IMPORTANT UPDATE: DUE TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS CRITICISM I HAVE GONE BACK AND CHANGE THE TIME SPAN IN WHICH THIS STORY IS BEING TOLD, WHAT WAS 1 YEAR, HAS NOW BECOME 1 WEEK. YES A HUGE DIFFERENCE BUT HE ASSURED ME, AND I AGREED, THAT THE WAY THIS STORY IS GOING THIS WILL MAKE MORE SENSE FOR THE COMING PARTS. THANK YOU, THAT IS ALL.
Rationalization.
The realization of rational thought being obsolete hit me. There was nothing rationale about what happened. Speaking of rations, I was hungry. It had been 2 days since I ate, the hunger I had made my stomach grumble. I reached out for my pack that lay on the ground, my magic enveloped it as I floated it over to me. As I opened it was to my relief that there were still plentiful amounts of sandwiches left, though they only lasted me a week. I took care not to get the sandwiches soggy from the current downpour.
Based on my location, as I had gotten out of the forest roughly the same way I came in, I was only a couple of kilometers away from Ponyville. I had been in the, middle of the everfree, which was actually closer to Fillydelphia, and Marehiem, rather than Ponyville. At the time none of those crossed my mind, it was simply a case of basic instinct, that closest to me was what was prevalent in my mind.
I started walking my way to Ponyville, I knew I needed to conserve some sort energy, as with a limited food supply I needed to make sure that it didn't run out too fast, though I knew means of getting around the whole food ordeal. Which is of course why I am still here and not dead due to starvation.
On my walk back to Ponyville I kept my eye out for anything that was recognizable, any sort of landmark I'd be able to identify. Alas, there was none. I was alone, walking down a path of lost memories; landmarks I had kept in my mind were gone; tainted as it were. An empty path, as a blank canvas, as if it were a parchment that held stories, our stories, but then were furiously erased away, leaving ghost lines across it to remind me that there was something there, and life does still exist. Though my mind thought of life that existed; myself that is, it kept the thought of life existing in our memories. Though non-sentient it was a life form that could be in as large a quantity as it wanted, so long as there was at least one pony to fuel their life in our world.
I tried to dwell on the thoughts of life, and rebuilding, though along my walk, seeing the things I saw, or rather the things I didn't see anymore, it was hard to keep my focus. I still to this day think of the possibilities that would allow us to rebuild but there is never any point as there is never any driving will, all that's left is to live lives out till none go on anymore.
I reached Ponyville; it was mid-day. Luckily the rain had stopped. A rainbow immersed in the sky and it was the most beautiful thing ever. In a world this dark, any bit of colour is something of a rarity.
The sight provoked my thoughts: Sigh – Rarity… Rainbow… my friends…
I entered Ponyville from the southern road; from up close it was a lot different then what I saw from the distance. The road itself was practically invisible, but I knew it was there; it was the only place it could be. Walking over the soot, and what I could only assume was shrapnel, and debris from the broken houses; I wandered towards my former home. However the direction of which I was going meant I would pass, Rarity's, and Pinkie's houses. I obviously had to check those out.
I had to walk all the way across town to get to my house, so I guess I had some time to take in "the scenery". Once again, it seemed a theme of black was recurring. The humble town that was my home; Ponyville, had become a necropolis. I saw bones of what I could only assume were my fellow citizens. They lay dead, in their houses, of which were crumbling, and burning to bits. It looked to be the same everywhere; there was no chance that the same fate had not come to the rest of my friends.
Though I knew my house was straight ahead on the other side of town, I took a right as I was walking, the way lead me to Rarity's house. I could hope against all odd that she was ok, or at the very least living.
What used to be a largely shaped conical boutique, and house, was now a pile of lumber. There was no sign of the colour that filled Rarity's boutique before, no sign of the dresses she used to sell, and display, and worse; no sign of Rarity. She might have been under all the remnants of the fallen house, but unless I wanted to use up all my energy to magic everything away, there was no point in even looking. Had she been outside, and knowing it was Ground Mare's Day, she probably was, there was no chance of survival. Inside however, one might have been lucky enough to find oneself in a cellar at the right moment. Knowing that it was pretty much certain Rarity was dead; I didn't have much hope for the rest of my friends either.
I left the depressing sight of Rarity's home, and headed back into the depressing sight of the town, I walked towards my house. It seemed to be around 2p.m., though the only indication was the positioning of the sun behind some clouds. It would have been nice to know the time; I can't even recall the last time I knew, it seems so long ago that time has become a useless measurement, just another indication of how little life left we have to live. There was no chance of ever really telling the time, as the clock tower broke along with the rest of Ponyville, and rest of Equestria.
I walked by many dead people, I wondered if I had ever met them, if they had ever met me. It seems so silly that the thing that mattered to be the most then was if I had anypony who I hadn't gotten to know on any level of friendship, and not the fact that I was alone in a necropolis with a diminishing food supply in a world that is dead.
Next up, along the road to my house was Pinkie Pie's, I assumed that's where I would find her, see as she's always there, even on Ground Mare's Day when she loves giving out sweets and baked goods to everypony, and anypony, especially those that came from places such as Cloudsdale, just to celebrate Ground Mare's Day with us.
It didn't take me long to find the house; it still seemed to keep it's shape though the texture seemed to change from nice soft cake to, well, the result of any of Rainbow's attempts at baking. I walked up to the door to see whatever horrors lay within, however right before I did, I saw something out the corner of my eye, it seemed to poke a hole through a cloud. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or something real, and if it was real, it was going to fast for me to see. I assumed it was my imagination; nothing was alive that fast anymore, so I thought.
Fly.
When I woke up my back was aching, the ground I slept on outskirts of Ponyville was rough. It lacked the luxury of sleeping on a cloud, as well as the comfort of sleeping in one of Applejack's many apple trees. Void of a pillow my head hurt from the sleep. Not only was my head hurting from the lack of comfort that it usually receives, but it was also being deprived of food and such. There had been food in my house, but that was gone, it probable evaporated or something during the explosion, seeing as it was a cloud and all...
I didn't wake because it was the start of day, which it was, no, I woke because it started raining on me, a quite un-pleasurable experience in my opinion. I would never have woken up that early if not so, though in hindsight I believe it was a good thing and a bad thing. The good reason was that I needed to start moving, I was hungry and I needed to find food and someplace to stay; sleeping on the ground was not quite my forte. And, well, the bad reason was; it might have been a bit to early.
Having slept so uncomfortably threw me off slightly, my back was stiff and my neck craning, I didn't want to move, though going back to sleep wasn't very enticing either. I decided that there was honestly nothing better to do than get up. I may as well have tried to start finding out what truly happened: the what, the why, and the how. Who it was that did it was irrelevant, as I knew only a crazy pony would be able to bear the burden of knowingly being the cause of death to millions upon millions of others. Considering the scale as to what had happened, the motives behind whoever plotted this entire thing must have been large. For a crazy pony with that much incentive to kill or destroy, nopony would wield strength enough to oppose that craziness, there would be no predicting how anyone of that instability would act. Though maybe that is what happened. Maybe instead what could have been maybe a small attack on something, turn out to become this, because of some sort of interference. I don't know, not even now. Nopony knows.
Anyways as I was saying; I really wasn't keen on getting back to sleep. It was miserable out here, but I knew that I needed answers to calm myself, and I needed to start somewhere. And I needed to eat something too; I was starved. The only problem was that as I looked around me, everything was dead, brunt to a crisp. There was nothing edible anywhere in sight, and I had similar thoughts for the rest of how the rest of Equestria faired, I assumed nothing dissimilar to that of which I could see before my eyes then, and what I still see now.
With a stiff body, and rumbling stomach, I started my way back to town. It was the best place to start after all. I knew the place, I knew the people, and it was close by, though I highly doubted that I would find anything worth noting about the entire affair. However, even though I knew looking for clues in the mess of Ponyville was pretty much a useless effort, I knew it was better than nothing, I mean, I still didn't even know how the rest of Equestria looked like. I didn't even know if the rest of Equestria got hit at all, or if it was just Ponyville. It had just occurred to me then; I honestly didn't know anything of what was true going on, only the little I saw of Ponyville was what I knew, I feared looking at the settlements in Equestria, I wasn't sure if my mind or heart could bear the sight.
I had to keep the thoughts out of my mind; they weren't helping. I wasn't thinking straight. I needed food, without any I just became a hopeless mess.
All this time though, I hadn't stopped walking. I was almost back to Ponyville. Why wasn't I flying one might ask? The reason is simple. Like unicorn magic a Pegasus' wings work kinda similarly, at least that's how they explained this at flight school, much like magic, a Pegasus must expend a lot of their own energy to fly, the fast you fly or the higher, the more strenuous it becomes, and the more energy is depleted. Though I have some of the most flying energy around, I couldn't feel it, it felt like it was completely drained. As a unicorn's magic happens when they want, as does a Pegasus flight, though this is only possible when they can, and when they can access their energy reserves. Eventually your energy reserves run out, and they are no more. But I knew that couldn't be the case for me, I still had loads of energy left, heck I was even about to pull of a sonic rainboom earlier. Knowing this, I knew that my energy wasn't out; I just couldn't access it. There were a number of different reasons as to why a Pegasus wouldn't be able to access their energy, I believe mine reason out of all of them, was a lack of trust for my wings.
It's hard to explain to those who don't have wing themselves, and don't know the feeling behind it, but the fact of the matter is I didn't trust my wings. I couldn't trust them. They let me be up in the clouds above everyone else at the time of their deaths, how could they let me have done that. Because of this mistrust they wouldn't lend me their flight, at least not for now.
I reached the town, my first thoughts were that of food, man was I hungry. Obviously the best places to look for were the food stores, and restaurants, as they would have proper facilities, rather than the normal kitchen fridge. Unfortunately, having proper facilities like those still don't protect food from and explosion. I honestly check everywhere, from The Bon-Bon Sweet Shop to The Haystack Restaurant, until I had only one place left to look; Sugar Cube Corner. I dreaded the thought of going back there, nothing pleasant awaited me there; even the thought of food was almost not enticing enough to make me go back, having to see my friend dead again, it broke my heart. However, these were dire circumstances, as they are now, and I knew that if surely there was food anywhere, Pinkie would probably have some, and that it would probably be in her basement.
I came out of Pinkies house, there was food, but not much, I pretty much ate it all, and the rest I stuffed into a saddlebag that was in the basement. Pinkie's basement was interesting; I've never actually been down there. The walls were a nice colour red, and there streamers and balloons, right in the middle was a metal table, large enough for a pony to even lay down on, perfect for putting a bunch of snacks on. And that's about it. I mostly found cupcakes down there, not what I find is the best food, but it's better than nothing.
I had exhausted searching the rest of Ponyville for food, I didn't want to stay there any longer than need be; it was depressing. I knew I could have gone see my other friends, but I felt that if I saw another one dead I would certainly lose my will to live too. Through sheer will, I forced my wings to open; I needed to fly away, away from Ponyville. It was around 2p.m., and I was off, flying north.
Gone.
I knew I had sat in my cellar for around 2 or 3 days. Though I was surrounded by so much food, apples that is, I couldn't bring myself to eat any, it just didn't seem right that it was my profession that kept me alive, and would be what would keep me alive. It wasn't like I needed that energy, I rarely even moved a mussel, it was almost as if I couldn't.
I became hungry on the morning of the say where it rained. Though I was hungry, and I don't usually think straight on an empty stomach, I did have one thought that passed through my mind; how in Equestria was it raining, if the weather team was dead? At that point I looked up to the cellar door, which I had left shut and thought: Is this all a dream? Maybe everything is fine in all honesty I fell and hit my head or something. Maybe it's still the same out there!
It wasn't. I had gotten my hopes up. I was now standing outside, and the rain took me. The rain had put out most of the fire the trees had, and cleaned the ground slightly, but even though it cleaned stuff up a bit, that didn't make any bit less than depressing. There was no current explanation for the weather, but there was something certainly odd about it when I look back at it, it all makes some sense now.
I sat, standing there for the next few minutes; I didn't know what to do. The days before I had been cowering in my cellar, not much of bravery there, or however you would want to call it, in short, I was afraid of finding more people, dead or alive, especially my friends. I wouldn't want my friends to have died, nor would I wish them the same fate as I; to be stuck on the planet alone, and without knowledge or hope.
There was nothing left for me at Sweet Apple Acres, nor in Ponyville. I daren't go into town, seeing Big Mac was hard enough, to know how many were in town at the time for the celebration… think about it made my heart break, especially knowing that my friends; Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, were all at the heart of it. As for Twilight I can just hope she went peacefully and was with someone at the time, I'd have hate for her to die all alone, no one deserves that.
Weighing my options, and considering all the circumstances, I made a decision. I would leave Ponyville. I still had not clue as to what happened to the rest of Equestria, however based on the number of rings I saw on the first day, I assumed not well. I was going to head towards Canterlot, I needed answers, and it was my resolve.
It was not long till it was around mid-day, I had waited around for the rain to stop, and was ready to leave as soon as I could. I left the confines of my cellar, and took with me as many apples as possible, the rest I left behind; they were the only sustenance left on Equestria as far as I could see. The trek ahead of me would take quite some time, and though Canterlot was visible in the distance and did not seem far, I knew the road I had to follow would be harder, due to it's new conditions. It would take long enough to get to Canterlot normally, 2 and half hours by train and nearly 5 hours by carriage of 2-horse power. Having to walk it all alone, while carrying a load of apples in my saddlebag would take me at least 6 or 7 hours, even though I was Ponyville's best athlete.
I left Sweet Apple Acres, I had no clue that it would be the last time I'd see the home I've had my entire life for the last time, as I have not seen it since. Slowly my home, or what was left of it was disappearing on the horizon, I cried, I didn't even give my big brother a last look goodbye, I didn't even have the decency to bury him. I still regret not having done so. There was only one thing I could do; continue walking northeast, ahead, where Canterlot lay, where answers might have been found.
I knew that the road northeast ran through the town, and I honestly did not want to go there, though now I know it would have been best if I did. Instead of heading into town via the road from my house, I knew to cut off before hand; it was only a minor detour that would allow me to surpass the town without it seeing me, and without me having to see it. It was a path I used many times, though I love my friends and family, there are just some ponies in this town that are just crazy, or at least; there were ponies that were crazy, it was a good way to avoid those certain few.
The detour, as intended, led me around the town as always. It was the same old path I took, hidden behind a hill that used to be covered in thickets and trees but was now just blackened, void of the flora, and life that in abundance upon it. It is discouraging how much has been lost, even the small things, I never knew how much I appreciated things I took for granted before. In any case…
I had arrived on the other end of town, and as I had expected, and just as it always has been, the road to Canterlot was right ahead of me. Though the road was not as it always has been, it would suffice, so long as it would show me the way. The broken road, cracked and barely unusable was horrendous to travel along, but for a simple earthpony like me it was the only way, it wasn't like I was Twi with her fancy flash walk or whatever she called it, nor was I like Rainbow, how could just fly there.
I was but a short way along; it was sometime around 2 or 3p.m. when I heard some noise. I assumed it was the wind, but why in Equestria would the wind pick up so loudly, and so fast, the weather certainly was acting odd lately, and there was no weather team behind it. I looked up to the clouds as the wind concerned me, usually it meant rain was coming, but the odd thing was the wind I heard stopped, and there was a whole in the clouds, the weather really was odd, or so I thought.
The moon came early that night; it must have only been around 5p.m. when I saw its face. Being held up in my cellar the entire time, underneath the smoke cloud, I had been able to see to moon the night's prior. It was a beautiful sight and I could not help but gaze in awe, and though it was no condolence for the millions of death that had happened, it was almost relieving as it made me know that at least our world is still here, and while it is still here, there is always a place to live. It was pitch black before long, and I couldn't see anymore, I decided to take a break and gather some sleep. I pulled off to the side of the road and lay myself down against the remains of a tree, I ate an apple and went to sleep.