//------------------------------//
// Prologue of Tragedy 
// Story: At Journey's End 
// by Burningbloom78 
//------------------------------//

I used to be a kind and loving pony, who used to be able to forgive and forget, and make things better than they were. I was a ray of sunshine like almost everypony in Equestria. I felt that nothing could ever go wrong in my life. How could it? In a world where peace reigned, how could I think of anything different?

I want you to know something about me. I am not a good stallion nor a bad one, I am just a stallion. Just like every single pony out there, I try to be the best of myself. And just like every single pony out there that went through what I have would notice a change in themselves.

The real me is still there, it's just deeper to see.

I had a daughter and a son, and a loving and caring wife who would scold and scare me for fun. I never minded it, not one bit. It was nice seeing her smile along with our children. They were the highlight of my life; the pieces of the puzzle that connected our hearts. Now those very pieces are scattered and broken.

I remember going on a trip to a sunny resort with my family. The pool was great while it lasted. It was the last time we were together, the last time I could look at them. The last time I got to hear their voices. The last time I saw light in their eyes.

When I saw their faces, housing fear and terror, I saw the tears streaming down their faces as each one of them was ripped away in front of my eyes. It was so sudden, there was nothing I could do but hope I could reach them before the inevitable happened. I was fooling myself; they died. So did many others at that resort. A force from a being who called herself "Reaper" blasted the resort and all its visitors. I saw ponies being torn apart, explode, and turned to ashes before my eyes. My family was torn and ripped apart, then exploded into tiny parts of themselves. The resort turned into a bloody field, layered with the corpses of many I did not know.

After Reaper destroyed the resort, which later was known as the "Disaster of the Celestialside Resort," she trotted around admiring her hideous work, laughing and skipping over bits and pieces of ponies like she was in some kind of mystical wonderland. She anticipated that no pony would have survived until she saw me weeping, buried underneath some debris. She greeted me like nothing ever happened and gleefully yelled in a boastful tone that she was the one responsible. 

All of my newfound despair came from Reaper, the source of it all. A unicorn of deadly magic. Amid my despair ignited the burning passion for revenge. I wanted to rip her limb from limb and crush her skull. I threatened her with every torture imaginable, and she sat there laughing her flank off like it was a joke. With a blackish-red gleam from her horn, Reaper escaped in a flash.

I was left alone, surrounded by the blood and gore of my fellow ponies, of my family. I vowed I would find her and never stop until her life was no more. My talent is tracking. If there is a trace, I can find the source no matter how far or how faint. I used this to find Reaper on multiple occasions, threatening to kill her every time, and she would run away like it was some game of tag. 

My entire life broke apart that day and I was never the same stallion I once was. I turned cold, cynical, and even monstrous at times, lashing out of anger and frustration. It will all be worth it when she's dead... Wouldn't it?