Black Balloon lay on the ground of what had been a bustling village full of ponies and life, but now just a blackened crater of a town, a huge blemish left on the land forever.
She slowly awakened and picked herself up off the ground, her body aching all over as it was covered in burns and scratches. She adjusted her eyes to the familiar rays of Celestia's sun and for a second, she thought that last night might have been all but a dream. But her thoughts deceived her again as she saw the blackened and charred building around the air, the smell of burning wood and smoke hung heavily in the air.
"But.....why am I still alive...? Did someone save me? Or did that beast spare me...?" Black Balloon asked herself wearily as she began to walk about the rubble, kicking aside the odd remains of furniture now and then.
It was a truly horrific sight, to see charred skeletons still soundly slumbering in their homes, seeming as if the live ponies they had once been had no idea they had just died. The idea of it sent chills down her spine as she trotted through the town which was more of a desert now, the environment becoming just like the one outside the town. Covered in sand, dreadfully hot and sunny, not life anywhere......
"I must be the only one left.....which means....Meltdown! I have to check back home, there's a slight chance he survived!" She told herself, soon finding that she was running across the scorched town to the place she once called home.
"It's.....gone....all of it...burnt down to the last ember..." Black Balloon muttered. She stood in front of a still burning pile of wood and ashes, tears slowly making they're way down her face. She hadn't found anything in full condition in her house, not even her beloved brothers remains. There was just......nothing. She didn't understand how her house was in worse condition that the rest of town, it seemed fake almost.....as if it was just a mirage. Maybe it was...maybe Sunset Shimmer had been right all these years with all the hurtful comments on her sanity. Maybe she was crazy...
"No! What happened was real! I know it is! But why can't I find the slightest trace of Meltdown....it's as if he wasn't even here. Maybe he escaped the village? I'll probably never know.....but I swear to find who is responsible for that creature burning the town, even if its the last thing I do!" She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the town, making it completely clear that she was going to keep her word. I was the least she could do.
*But I'm not equipped for that kind of journey, I at least need a weapon or some water to even moderately prepare me for the dangers ahead....* She thought. She was pretty sure that there was no water in town....but maybe she could make a weapon to defend herself with. She might even find supplies while she was at it.
She spent some time rummaging through ruin, after ruin of the old buildings but all she had done was make a small bracelet. The bracelet was made of black leather and had a small blade attached to it. It wasn't much but it would provide a bit of protection from strangers.
"There is nothing left here! I'm never going to survive!" Black Balloon said in frustration. All the food in town had either been devoured or burnt into ashes. Any water did no longer exist and pretty much everything was ashes. Unless she wanted to eat or use bones, which was definitely not an option she would choose. She trotted over to the edge of town, well....what was left of it anyway, and stared out into the boiling desert. It looked treacherous and full of unknown dangers, but her only option was to venture out into it and find some form of life, a town, where she could get supplies. And maybe even come back to when she settled the score.
She wouldn't stop till she found the one responsible for burning what little she had, and she would make sure the one behind it would suffer for the rest of what little life she'd leave them with.
In the distance however, she saw a small moving shape. And it was coming her way.
UNFINISHED