In war, soldiers are forced to do things they don't like, and things they don't agree with. Captain Celery Stalk of the Equestrian Army was one of those soldiers; forced to turn on his own neighbors and childhood friends for the good of the kingdom and the future of Equestria.

Written for the Fallout: Equestria Group's 500 member writing contest under the prompt "Before the Bombs".

Equestria has always been a nation of harmony and friendship, founded on these ideals long before even Celestia and Luna came to rule the ponies which resided there. As with all nations it has faced troubled times, times when the elements which founded it were put to the test, but always pulled through.

However, the history of ponies was not always as it now is. Ponykind rose in strife and fear, a time long since forgotten by those ponies who live now. When a piece of this past returns to the world of ponies, the harmonious nature of Equestria disgusts it, and this mysterious evil will stop at nothing to return ponydom to it's once horrific and fearful past.

***Newly edited and with a new ending***

In the northern city of Snowhoof, Ice Crystal was born blind. After living the first years of her life without one of the senses most take for granted, she was blessed with that sense at age 5.

But while it seemed a pure blessing, the curse of loss and misery soon came to consume her life, and now threatens to pull her into a plot that would bring her very unique talent down onto all of Equestria.

***Thank you to Ormag_Necros for the cover art!***