//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Three Years and Running // Story: MLP: Doomed Future // by emoshyplz //------------------------------// The silent hum of the night swayed on through disaster. Embers continued gliding through the air in what was the remains of the most peaceful town of Equestria. Hopes and dreams die with their owner; but these dreams were left behind, only to inevitably perish later. Crippled daisies and roses scattered the rubble of the once magnificent flower shop, several cloths lay in peace with the crumbling boutique, tattered, torn apart, and miserable, much like the ponies there to witness it. The silence that spread thickly over the city was only interrupted by the clopping of hooves and the sound of wood falling to the thick layer of ash, where smoke arose. Many ponies littered the ground, many of which had already passed, while others would be unable to carry on, awaiting their deaths in acceptance. There was a single cottage still standing, only with three of the four walls that it once contained. The flames hadn't indulged itself upon it yet, only one of its walls, as if planning to save the rest for later like its next meal. "Hey, gals. Look. One's still standing," Bloodbound sounded to all the others, standing beside Blind Eye, awaiting for her to ask for assistance walking quite patiently. One hoof was on a child of the flame, only big enough to cause minor damage... to wood, that is. The sound of it burning away at her hoof's coat rung through the air, but she had no intention of moving from where she was standing. "You ready to move?" Ecliptic Night shrugged, aggrivated by Bloodbound's poor sense of respect. "We could really do without your damned attitude. You know I'm not a mare, so act like it," he complained, only to be greeted by Bloodbound chuckling aloud and most definitely loud. "Aside from that, it looks sustainable enough... this house... thing, I mean. Think we could stay there for a bit? Plan some things out?" "Of course, it'd only make sense--" "Maybe a date with your marefriend?" Ecliptic Night cheekily interrupted, giving her a taste of her own medicine. It had not been long ago that they found Blind Eye crying, shivering in the cold of an abandoned home outside of any town. She was alone, terrified, and could not do anything with her blindness. They found it after running from a horde of sombra's soldiers, which had gone out to patrol Equestria's extensive boundaries. It was unseen for Bloodbound of all ponies to guide her around; she always seemed like the lone wolf type. "Shut it, or I'll kick your head in!" she growled. Blind Eye, next to her, nodded, looking forward into the nothingness that she saw. The two of them began moving, Bloodbound being sure not to make either of them step into any fire or burning objects. She clenched her teeth harder with each step, her hoof having a nasty singe mark. "Please d-don't argue, you two..." Blind Eye uttered. It was the worst possible scenario for her: she was afraid of violence, and had to live in a world completely ruled by it. Though she didn't see it, Bloodbound glared at Ecliptic Night, eyes shimmering. "Also, what d-did he mean when he told y-you that..?" "He's trying to be funny by saying I love you. You're a good companion, and all..." A partial lie. She was a thorn in her stomach, but she gave her a reason to fight, besides just saving Equestria. "...but I don't love you, really." "Not yet!" he called from a distance away. The look of Silent Storm facing his direction must have been traumatizing, because he immediately turned away, almost cowering at the mare. She turned, facing Bloodbound; she knew why Ecliptic was fearful. Her gaze was menacing, almost like she was a being from Tartarus. Her eyes pierced through, deep into Bloodbound's soul. She turned back around - thank Celestia - and headed off in the direction of Ecliptic, whom was investigating the building's exterior. "What was life like for you before all of this, Blind Eye?" Bloodbound asked, the gulping sound coming from Blind Eye being very audible. Was it a bad idea to ask her? Her answer was a shaking of the head. She didn't want to discuss it, most likely. Silence took over again, the both of them walking along the display that Sombra had created through his slave army. It only took a short minute for the two to reach the others and this suspiciously intact building. None of them could climb through the hole; Bloodbound was keeping Blind Eye moving, Ecliptic Night was only a novice in magic, and Silent Storm, well... she never took her clothing off, so it is unclear if she could fly through it or not, meaning everypony used the front door. Inside, it was like a dream. Nothing but the wall was destroyed. There were also a couple bottles of specialty wine; must've been Berry Punch's house. Several, if not dozens, of wine glasses covered the dining room table, and some were filled with wine still. The attacks only happened a couple of hours ago, so that made sense. The aroma filling the room, being closed, smelled of exotic fruits and berries, some not even from Equestria. Berry Punch may have been an alcoholic, but she was a wine taster for some big, corporate business before all this happened. These were some really old bottles. How fancy. The quadrio were lucky enough to find a map of Equestria in the bedroom. Berry Punch did use to travel a lot for taste-testing. They had to avoid the markings on it, such as circles around areas of different towns with notes pointing at them, showing both dates and times. The Crystal Empire was not on the map, but Punch had a note on the map about it, and to the relief of the three who could see, there was an arrow, notifying of the direction. Of course, only Silent Storm was even looking at it; both Bloodbound and Ecliptic were having some of the wine. Even Blind Eye was, with assistance from both of the other two, who were almost fighting just to take the position of doing so. It didn't take long before they were a bit tipsy, now visibly enjoying simplicity. It also didn't take long for the door to be bust down, a loaded shotgun - banned from Equestria, if you are wondering - in the hooves of the one who'd broken down the door. Everypony stopped, shocked at the sight... excluding Blind Eye, naturally. Though, when a voice rang through the interior, even she froze where she was sitting. "What are you doing here?!" exclaimed the voice, feeling uneasy about them being there given that the voice was uneasy. It was also apparent from the subtle shaking of the gun's parts. Everypony in the room knew who it was, even Blind Eye, based on the voice alone, but this pony was wearing a dark cloak, so it could be manipulation of one's voice. With no warning, the hoofsteps of Silent Storm were loud and screached from the wooden stairs. The pony at the door looked in Storm's general vicinity, their gun falling to the ground as the both of them wasted no time running to each other... hugging. Now the facts stood that this was indeed not the work of devious magic. For the first time Bloodbound and Ecliptic Night had seen, Silent Storm lifted her hood off... appearing to be a bat pony. Before, her eyes were mostly masked by the darkness of her drapes, the crescent irises being hazey to make them appear normal. This could explain her constant use of the hood. What could not be explained was the elegance of her mane. It was a smooth, shining light yellow, the fully-functioning light inside being reflected off it. The end was tied into a ponytail, neatly. After around thirty seconds, they had not stopped, and the other pony also lifted their hood, revealing the all-too-obvious mare, Berry Punch. After revealing herself fully, Berry Punch began to cry into Storm's shoulder area on her drapes. Even Storm let a tear or two drop from her crescent eyes. "What's up with her..?" Ecliptic whispered to Bloodbound, a mentally placed red arrow piercing through Storm. She did not hear him, but she knew just what he said... "Why would I know you--" Bloodbound was cut off not by an interruption or que, but rather by the sight that lay just ahead. The second her eyes saw it, she almost did... well, Celestia-knows what. She looked like she was going to laugh like crazy, but her face burned an unseen red due to the color of her coat. Ecliptic was deeply confused and just the slightest bit revolted. The sight that lay in front of them was a moment shared by those who are in love: a kiss. Both of the two went from clean faces to those plastered with deep red. This only lasted a short couple of seconds, but it was enough to get the two other ponies in the room who could see them to shut up. After this, they returned to normal, face color and all, looking at the three sitting down. Silent Storm went from smiling at Berry Punch to having her usual blank expression, whilst Berry Punch looked amused at the three. "So these are the ones you talked about? I've seen better, but oh well..." "Hey, don't you go mouthing me!" "I'm sorry..." At that exact moment, the look on Berry Punch's face changed into something so incomprehensibly mortifying it had Bloodbound sweating. There was more than meets the eye to Berry Punch, quite literally; her eyes were a bloodshot red, and the rest of her face was blackened out, as she put her hood up as she spoke. She looked scarier than Sombra would if he wore a pink dress. "...did you say something?" Bloodbound gulped and cowered before her. "N-No, ma'am..." "That's what I thought..." Silence pervaded the room after that. There was no words to be said for many minutes. Each pony had their own thoughts jn mind: Berry Punch and Silent Storm thought of each other, naturally, Ecliptic Night was more or less trying not to regurgitate, since he had never actually seen two mares do anything like he had just seen, Bloodbound was trying to get a grip on herself, still mortified by Berry Punch, and Blind Eye just wanted to know what the Tartarus was going on. Of course, Bloodbound also thought of Blind Eye as she always had. She was overly concerned with keeping her safe all the time, and it showed. About her thinking, she would be looking at Blind Eye half the total time. Many things were questionable about her differentiated behavior towards Blind Eye, mainly being for aforementioned reasons. Finally, the silence was broken, with the three ponies sitting down nearly jumping off their seats. "So... what brings you all here?" she asked, as it was now uncommon for ponies to be in or even near Ponyville. It was a place that had been plotted against since the first day of Sombra's reign. The thought of this brought back some memories for Bloodbound... "H-Hello..? Is a-anypony there..?" "Ecliptic, you go look around, I'll help her." "Who are y-you..?" "My name is Bloodbound. Are you all right?" "Y-Yes... I'm fine..." "Are you sure? Can you get up and move on your own?" "N-No... I'm blind, s-see..." "You poor pony... come here..." "W-What are you..?" "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you." "Thank y-you..." "Come with us, we'll keep-- no, I'LL keep you safe. It's an undying promise." "You w-would do that..? F-For me..?" "Of course I would. What's your name, miss?" "Uhm... i-it's Blind Eye..." "Well, Blind Eye, I won't let a single thing hurt you in the slightest. You have my word." This memory made Bloodbound bring out a smile. Ever since that fateful day, she had a reason to keep fighting, a reason to stay alive if she ever came remotely near death. Blind Eye more than acted helpless; she had little control of her wings, and could barely walk straight, but with Bloodbound, these problems seemingly just vanished. "We were trying to save Equestria, what else?" Bloodbound boasted, chuckling immediately after her snarky comment. She could have added in "and Blind Eye", but that wasn't necessary; she was in Equestria just like they were. Berry Punch laughed. "Who isn't nowadays? It seems like since Sombra took over, everypony's become the heroic type. I'm just trying to stay alive, to be perfectly honest..." "Who isn't?" mocked Bloodbound. This only made Berry Punch laugh even more. "I guess you're right." Berry Punch was pouring herself a glass of the wine everypony had been drinking. She prompted Silent Storm enough to drink some with her strange charm over her. Of course, one trying to intoxicate Storm would be unsuccessful, as bat ponies held liquor a lot better than others, enough to the point it used to be illegal for a bat pony and regular pony to face each other in a drinking contest. Celestia was only half-aware, yes, but she was aware of what ponies deemed biased or unfair. Berry Punch had indeed tried many times, only getting herself put unconscious due to excessive liquor; though, Berry Punch was the #1 non-bat pony drinking contest contestant in Equestria. Bloodbound kept looking through the window and at the rubble of a once grand town, now in complete despair. The fire had been simmering down, though the rising of smoke had since not changed, still blanketing the night sky. The house of Berry Punch lay directly next to where Town Hall once was, getting a perfect view of the lost dreams that died with it. Then, out of blue - or gray, rather, as it was smoke - many figures began approaching the building. Each were lined up perfectly in both columns and rows. Could it really be..? It had been three years since Sombra took over, and Bloodbound knew exactly what this meant. "Get down!" Bloodbound whisper-yelled, bringing Blind Eye down under the table and into safety. "What is it?" Berry Punch asked. "More of Sombra's soldiers... they're headed this way!"