Storm Surge wiped a hoof over his forehead - brushing against his disheveled onyx and blue mane back - and sending the sweat coating his face flying off. Turning his head to the east, he spotted the very tip of the sun that was rising in the backdrop of the broken city of Los Pegasus.

The radiation would be rising soon and he would be confined to his metal prison, so he sped up the pace and finished filling the massive hole at his hooves. Within a few more moments, the hole was full with only two signs that it had existed in the first place. The disturbed dirt was the first but also the least obvious when compared to the seven wooden crosses at the head of the recently filled grave.

Sitting at the base of each cross were different items for each creature buried there. The cross furthest to the left had a broken sniper rifle sticking halfway out of the ground. The next one had an empty first aid bag, and the third had a sport’s themed necklace.The next four were closer together rather than somewhat evenly spaced apart. The fourth cross was the same size as the first three and had a foal’s bottle buried halfway in the ground at it’s base. Three more smaller crosses surrounded the fourth with one on each side and one in front.

Storm knew he needed to get to the suits before the sun fully rose up, but he couldn’t take his focus off of the makeshift grave for his family. Instead he laid down flat on his back and gazed up at the still darkened part of the sky where the stars were still visible, but like all good things, they would be swept away by the tides of life.

He wanted so bad for Maverick to find him there and sarcastically congratulate him for finally taking time off of runs, or Talos doing some annoying shit to make him get up and deal with it, or Ivory being a flirty pain in the flank, hell, he’d even take the crying of two - soon to be three - foals at once.

He would give the world - despite how little that statistically meant - to have all of that back. They were the only shining light in his life of the blackest tunnel imaginable. Sure it was a faint light, but no matter how small the shine, it gave him a reason to keep going.

Now he couldn’t get that light back. The tunnel was an abyss that consumed him without their shine to look towards. Now he only had the glow of his visor to light his path ahead.

But that wasn’t enough.

That was surviving. Not living.

Well… maybe he had one more reason. If getting this Rainbow Dash back to her friends would at least distract him from his own situation then he would do it. If he could make sure nopony else would have to suffer this fate then he would do it.
It was all he had.

Storm’s survival-ridden part of his brain wanted him to drop his thoughts and get to his suit before he subconsciously sat there waiting to kill himself with the radiation, but something was keeping him rooted to the spot.

His vision had started to blur slightly, looking almost like his visor when rain droplets from a flare were beginning to pelt it. Suddenly, he found that trying to look directly at the crosses or the artifacts placed underneath was making it worse. Instead, he looked straight up as a knot was being tied in his stomach.

He had so much he wanted to say to them, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t find the words and even if he could then what difference did it make? Those were pieces of fucking wood - not his friends. His friends were hollow piles of bones underneath his very hooves.

Then he saw it.

High above the very planet he lay upon, was a single stationary star in a cluster of many dim ones. This star began to seemingly shine brighter gradually until it was outshining the others around it.

Then another one began to shine just as bright.

Then another, another, and several more until a total of seven stars brilliantly tore in the abyss of space with their respective glows.

Storm didn’t know what he was feeling upon seeing that, but he knew that he didn’t like it. The feeling could be compared to the metaphorical knot in his stomach being pulled taunt roughly and without warning, then slowly starting to get ripped apart by a blade or claws. All the while, he was struggling to keep the thinning ties together.

The sun finally rose high enough to wash away his view of the glowing stars, which he didn’t know if that was better or worse. This was how he dealt with every fucking problem. Ignore, no - avoid it until he outran it or couldn’t run anymore. At least this time he didn’t have to make the call to run, the sun above did that for him.

As the first of the slight tingles on his coat began, Storm got up and attempted to mentally gather himself before tethering the shovel onto his back and making his way down to the shed.
Once inside, Storm practically punched the lightswitch full force without even thinking about it, making the switch fall off of the rusted wall and dangle by a few wires.

“For fuck’s sake…” He muttered while fumbling with the fallen device and tethering a screwdriver to his side.

After a quick switch repair, the stallion turned to his suit for one final examination. He had done a pretty good job tuning it up last night and the process was sped up thanks to a certain rainbow-maned companion, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to wipe it clean from the Mimic encounter.

Storm grabbed a blue tool belt from a table and a rag from a rusted trash bin and began to scrub the suit’s helmet plates, making sure to pay extra attention to the cracks of the plating. The last thing he needed was stray blood flying at his eyes should he need to activate the helmet quickly.

Should? No, when.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another crimson splotch on the suit’s left foreleg armor plates. Using his Tethertech, Storm grabbed the hollow appendage as a reminder to deal with it next.

A few moments of hard scrubbing later and the crimson stains were gone, allowing the dull blue to ‘shine’ once again - if it ever did in the first place. Storm discarded the bloodied rag but something caught his eye in the process of turning to the trash bin.

Next to his own suit, was the fully completed goldish yellow and grey suit that used to belong to Maverick. Storm had forced himself to focus on today’s mission last night and it helped that he had somepony to talk to, but now in the isolated setting there was nothing stopping him from looking at it differently.

So you can fix the suit but not him, huh - you fucking coward… Came a voice in his head. He frankly didn’t know if it was his own or somepony else’s at this point. He wasn’t even doubting it came from the suit before him.

Shut up and focus! Storm mentally scolded himself. There was plenty of time for self pity later. Right now he had a job to do.

Removing his gaze from his late friend’s suit, Storm reached for his own armor. The stallion unlatched the clamps holding it, but kept the suit held up with his telekinesis so that it was standing upright. Then he undid the main mechanical zipper of interwoven locks located down the middle and stop on his hindlegs to slip inside. Keeping himself braced against the repair station, Storm redid all of the straps and zipper before the mentioned components snapped together with an airtight click. The segmented ring on his chest piece glowed it’s usual purple as did the other electronic sections of the suit after everything was firmly in place.

Storm tugged on the neck plating to move it to a more comfortable position before flexing his muscles and stretching out so that the thick fabric and metal plates were more evenly spread. Now that the suit was up to code and equipped, all he had to do was pack and wake up Rainbow, who was sleeping in the lighthouse living room.

On a workbench in the center of the room, splayed out in no particular order was an assortment of weapons. Firearms, tools-turned-guns, blades, and even a few pieces of lethal looking equipment.

The weapon closest to the corner he was standing at was a bullpup submachine gun of the late Royal Guard known as a Bullhound. The SMG was extremely compact by using the Tethertech grip’s back to also act as a magazine slot. No stock was present on standard issue Bullhounds but this one was anything but standard issue. An ‘L’ shaped scrap of metal was bolted on the back of the weapon, serving as a folding stock that was bolted to a refined door hinge. Towards the front of the SMG - on the barrel side - was a solar powered flashlight that was held in place by a custom tacrail. One magazine was already in the weapon while another was laying beside it.

Next to it was the machine pistol belonging to Talos - er, Rainbow. Storm had found some more magazines for it and placed them adjacent to the sidearm. Across from those two weapons was a heavily modified shotgun made from the combined efforts of Maverick and himself.

What started out as a standard pump shotgun for home defense became something more when the wooden fore-end and stock were replaced with jet black steel ones to prevent rotting. Much like the Bullhound, a flashlight was attached to a makeshift tacrail on the side in addition. But the most prominent change on the weapon was a large cylinder stuck in the middle of the grip and barrel, replacing where the shell loading port would have been. The round compartment had six holes, five of which were visible while one was blocked from sight by the receiver. The shotgun’s cylinder magazine was designed similar to a revolver where each shell had to be loaded individually, but there was a reason for this. Now multiple types of shells from Dragon’s Breath to Snowdrop Shells could be loaded in and selected at will. All the user had to do was release the clamps and spin the cylinder until the desired shell type was ready to be loaded into the weapon. As for ammo, three ordinary buckshot shells and a single Dragon’s Breath sat right next to the cylinder.

That was where the firearms ended on the table. In the middle and moving on down towards the opposite corner were a couple bladed weapons such as a hunting knife, a machete, and a small push dagger that was barely bigger than two bits placed side by side. Finally, at the end of the bench were three small canisters, two of which were identical. Those two had thin cylinder casings that were a dull blue which made his suit’s blue shade look polished in comparison. The outlier of the canisters wasn’t exactly a canister. It was an oval shaped item with a green hue and slanted pin running down the side. Two smokes and a frag grenade.

This was all he was able to salvage after they were- No! Not going there now. He couldn’t afford to. All he had to do was focus on the task at hoof.

Using his tethered limb, Storm lifted the shotgun in front of his face and did a one-over check on it for any damage, then he checked the flashlight, loaded the four shells into the weapon, and spun the cylinder before pumping it and placing the shotgun on his back. The suit’s back plate magnetically snapped the firearm to it. Then, the stallion looked over the melee weapons and picked up the knife and placed it in a sheath on his suit’s hip.

In addition to the knife, he also grabbed the push dagger and a piece of mane-resistant duct tape. Folding the tape with the sticky side out, he fused the tiny blade with it and then used a hoof to pull his disheveled mane upwards before planting the sticky blade carefully behind his ear to where it wouldn’t cut him. Letting his mane back down, Storm pressed into the taped spot to ensure it would stay. Turning his attention to the furthest corner of the bench, he picked up a smoke and the frag, then placed them into his suit slots.

Levitating a dark brown bag out from under the same bench, Storm began to put the weapons and gear he didn’t equip into it.

SMG, pistol, machete, flash… He mentally checked off with each item that was deposited inside the bag.

Once everything was securely inside, Storm turned to a wall mount where his Sweeper rifle was being held in place for prior repairs and cleaning. Tethering it off of the wall hooks, he loaded it with a fresh round magazine and placed his two spares into the suit’s inventory. And lastly, he placed the weapon on the other magnetic back slot of the suit.

After getting properly geared up, the stallion faced the faded gold suit and sighed. This is going to be heavy as shit. He thought before grabbing the suit with two tethered appendages and lifting it off the rack. Activating his helmet and still carrying the suit, he opened the door to the shed and led the hollow suit out before shutting it behind him.

By now the sun was almost fully visible on the horizon and the air wasn’t safe as Storm’s radiation meter read 87% on his suit’s HUD. The only safe places would be indoors such as the lighthouse or shed. Once he reached the front door to the house, Storm got inside quickly to not let any of the rotten air inside when an unarmored pony was inside.

Speaking of which, the mentioned mare was still asleep on the couch and snoring soundly. Storm walked over to the coffee table and propped the other suit and bag of weapons against the side of the appliance.

Usually he would have wanted to leave immediately for a trip like this one, but he actually wanted to arrive at Ponyville when the sun went back down. It was less of a chance for them to get jumped or spotted. He didn’t have a problem being out there with the Damned. He knew how to handle them.

It was the living he didn’t know how to all of the time.

So instead of rushing out the door he decided to let the mare sleep in for a bit or at least until he took care of something first. Sitting down in the armchair opposite of the snoring pegasus, Storm deactivated his helmet and pulled out a small black sketchbook from his suit’s inventory.

The stallion tethered a pencil in his grip and skimmed through multiple sketches and drawings of various Damned until he got to a blank page over half way through. Pausing for a moment, he opened his suit’s holographic interface and searched for his encounter with the blind mare turned Damned the other day. When he found a decent frame of the creature, he froze the playback and began to sketch on the book while using the image as a reference.

A couple minutes later and he was satisfied with the illustration. Closing the holographic tab, he returned his attention to the page. In the small space above the drawing, he wrote the word Snatcher. Underneath the drawing he began to write notes about the creature.

Extreme jaw extensions and strength. Extended reach of head. Quick recovery. Candidates for transformation: Earth pony mare, tbc…

In the middle of writing, he began to hear soft groaning coming from directly across from him. Looking up from his work, Storm saw that Rainbow was beginning to stir from slumber and stretching absently in her drowsy state. Her injured wing twitched and moved out from being curled on her back slightly, the crimson stained bandage around it looking more loose than before.

As her eyes slowly opened, Rainbow sat up and yawned while rubbing her eyes. When she removed her hooves, the mare found herself in the crummy living room with Storm sitting across from her. He was paying no attention to her and scribbling something into a small book.

“You’ve got a diary? Wow, I guess ya learn something everyday.” She managed to joke despite her dry throat.

“Yeah, I’m writing about the dumbass who charged into Damned territory the other night.” He replied, no bothering to look up from the book.

Rainbow couldn’t tell if he was trying to sarcastically return the joke or was serious about that last part. “Hardy har.” She continued with false sarcasm, “But seriously, what is that for?”

“Damned catalog.” He responded dryly. “We - I… kept a log so we could learn how to deal with each form accordingly.” Suddenly, an idea hit Storm as he finally looked up from the book and at her. “Maybe you should take a look at it before we head out.” He suggested.

The mare shrugged and held out a hoof, so he tossed the sketchbook from over the coffee table and into her hoof. Rainbow caught it expertly despite her groggy state and opened it up. She looked through the first page, for a couple of seconds, then moved on to the next. At the third page, her eyes widened slightly as she removed her focus from the book and to him.

“Did you draw these?” She asked.

“Yeah. Takes less time than writing a description.” He replied, knowing full well there was a different reason he preferred illustrating the horrific creatures.

Rainbow looked back down at the page before continuing. “They look good.”

His silence made her think he might have taken the comment another way. “The drawings - I mean. The real ones are disgusting.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Storm replied while checking his holographic screen for the time.

The mare continued to flip through the pages in silence. Admittedly she wasn’t soaking up as much info as present, but was distracted by the drawings and the things portrayed in them. Each of these Damned were creatures she had seen and interacted with at one time or another before, but now they were deformed and twisted. Storm must have noticed her facial expression change on some of them because he soon spoke up again.

“Better get used to them now.” He said with a sligh yawn. “The real ones don’t sit around and let you study them.”

Rainbow glanced up from the book once more and looked him directly in the eyes. Even from her position she could see the faint traces of red marks on the edges of them.

“Did you even sleep at all last night?” She asked, genuinely concerned.

“No, I… had some things to take care of.” He replied carefully.

Dash could tell he wasn’t willing to elaborate more on that so she let it lie. “Okay… uh, so are we ready to head out?”

The stallion nodded before gesturing to the suit and bag in front of her. “Yeah. Put your suit on and all of the gear in the bag is for you.”

Rainbow got up from the couch and put on the suit. It was far from comfortable as shown by her constant tugging on the joint areas and wing slots - specifically her injured wing that barely sat still on her back.

“Ugh! How do you stand wearing these things?” Rainbow complained, clearly less excited about the restricting apparel. “My wings feel like they are wrapped in duct tape.”

“It’s better than them getting infected out there and being forced to amputate.” Storm added. “That reminds me, we need to change your bandage soon.”

“Why not now?” Rainbow asked with a twinge of fear in her voice at the mere mention of losing her wings.

The thought alone almost made her shudder. If there was one thing Rainbow couldn’t afford to lose, it was her wings. She was still unsure about the nature of her injured wing and if it would ever live up to its full potential when this was all over.

If it ever is over.

Rainbow had been lucky enough to have enough distractions upon waking up here to not have to think about the fate of her wing, but one thing that was eating away at her was the chance of her friend’s survival. Were they even still alive? Any of them or perhaps none?

No - she couldn’t think like that now. Not when she was getting closer to finding them! All of them were probably holed up somewhere in Ponyville, still looking for a way to turn this all around and now that she was back… er - awake rather - they could stop all of this! The hellhole she was currently in would just be some distant nightmare that would be forgotten in time.

“We’re out of bandages.” Storm replied. “We can hit some houses when we get closer.”

“The sooner the better.” She mumbled while tugging at a strap to get the suit on completely.

Storm noticed her struggle and got up from the chair before grabbing the final few straps and tightening them for her. The mare must have not been paying attention to his movements at first because she almost jumped when he grabbed the strap and assisted.

For a moment, neither one said anything as he stepped back to let her get the remaining easier ones. Storm tethered a couple items out of the bag and placed them on the table.

“The pistol clips to your hip holster and the machine gun on your back. Put the machete and smoke grenade in your inventory.” He informed.

Rainbow did as she was instructed, storing everything except for the SMG that she now carried with her own Tethertech.

“Ready?” He asked, activating his own helmet.

The mare nodded. “Yeah, how do I turn this thing on?”

“Helmet icon on your chestpiece.”

Pushing the button made Rainbow’s back plates open as a golden and grey helmet was telekinetically assembled around her head. Her helmet looked almost identically to his own in shape but her visor was a light green and had two large horizontal slits as opposed to his “X” shaped one.

“This is awesome!” She commented as the HUD began to pop up around her vision. “Hey, what are all these images for?”

“Icons.” He corrected. “They display radiation levels, time of day, and a lot more shit that you’ll need. We can discuss it all on the way.”

“Great.” She grumbled. “Story time with Stormy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

The stallion’s tone meant business but he couldn’t see the mare’s amused grin from behind her helmet.

After both were geared up, the duo headed out the front door and shut it behind them. Rainbow noticed that she could faintly hear her own breathing through the helmet. It wasn’t an annoying sound, but rather a rhythmic and strangely comforting one.

But that comfort was short lived once she glanced across the lawn. Up ahead and to the left were seven crosses planted on top of some recently disturbed soil. She felt her heart sink upon seeing the smaller trio of crosses in the mix.

Dash was behind him, so she had the perfect opportunity to examine him without being spotted. The stallion didn’t seem to notice the graves at all, as if he hadn’t just recently dug them or refused to believe they existed. Instead he was heading to the gate with her in tow like this was normal - or the closest thing to it.

She wanted to say something - anything to try and make him feel better. He might not show it but she could tell he was hurting. Rainbow was the same way. She would bury her emotions behind a wall of heroics, awesomeness, and bravery, but the truth was that even she felt the weaker emotions too.

“Hey…” She began, unsure how to continue.

Storm stopped for a moment, refusing to face her or the combined grave.

“They’re in a better place now.” She continued, not knowing what else to say.

Silence.

“I know.” Storm replied coldly. “Any place is fucking better than here.”

Then he kept walking forward.

Rainbow had started to see a pattern here - even after only two days. Whenever she brought up something that was personal or tough for him to talk about, he would turn into an indifferent asshole on a dime. She wanted to help him after seeing how this was all affecting him, but reluctantly accepted that the best method was to let him figure it out.

After reaching the gate, Storm stopped, manually unlocked and slid the metallic gate aside allowing Rainbow and himself exit. Once the mare was through, he slid the gate shut with a reverberating slam and locked it.

“Ponyvilles about a day's walk from here,” Storm began, breaking Rainbow out of her thoughts momentarily, “So we’ve got plenty of time to cover the rules.”

“Rules? What is this - preschool?” She retorted, insulted by the way he brought the topic up as if she was some school filly in need of discipline.

“No, its survival, and just like everything it has rules.” He corrected while checking around their surroundings. “Rule one, never let your guard down out here. What should you be focusing on right now?”

“Listening to you - duh!”

“Wrong. Listening to me, checking around for any signs of danger, checking your suit’s HUD, and being prepared for anything.”

“What do you mean by danger? I thought those things only came out at night.” She asked.

“They do. The radiation in these parts is too much for their rotting bodies to handle.”

“So what do we have to worry about then?”

“Others.”

“Others?”

“The living. If you ask me, they are twice as deadly as the Damned.”

“Wouldn’t more ponies increase our chances of making it though?”

“No, it will increase our chances of getting stabbed in the back.”

“Gee, you really have issues with others, huh.”

“I have issues with anyone I don’t trust.”

“Then why help me? Shouldn’t you not trust me?”

Storm was silent for a moment before responding. “That’s different. Apparently, you haven’t been out there all this time. You haven’t spent all your time figuring out how to play on other’s weaknesses. The others measure you by what they can take from you - how they can use you to allow them a little more time.”

“You make it sound like everypony is a monster.”

“We all are. You aren’t standing today if you’re innocent.”

This time both were silent momentarily until Rainbow continued on. “That still doesn’t answer the question. I trust you to get us there alive, so do you trust me?”

“Guess we’ll find out.” He replied. “Back to what I was saying - You can’t ever let your guard down out here. If you see anything and I mean anything let me know.”

“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down much.” She grumbled to herself, but not quietly enough that he didn’t hear it.

“Scope glints, smoke trails, strange sounds, silhouettes, that kind of anything.”

“Got it.”

“Rule two, never fire unless it's absolutely necessary. All the ammo for that gun your carrying is on you. No spare mags and I can’t make more. Also check what or who you're firing upon before pulling the trigger. Keep your index appendage of your Tethertech next to the trigger but not on it.”

“Relax, I can handle a gun.” The mare replied confidently.

“Okay, just don’t shoot me in the ass.” Storm replied, his tone revealing half belief in her statement. “Let’s wrap this up. Rule three, do everything I say - no matter how little sense it makes or what your morals are about it.”

She gave him a look that wasn’t pleasant upon hearing that one.

“Not what you’re thinking about, so relax.” He added after seeing her expression. “Where to shoot something or when to shoot it. That’s what I mean.”

Her face softened into more of the neutral expression that she had on most of the time in the little amount of it he had known her. The duo continued as they rounded the edge of Los Pegasus and began to follow the dirt road that led into a thick forest up ahead in the distance.

“So, uh - how long has it been like this?” She asked, trying to change the subject.

Storm had to think for a moment. Holy shit, he hadn’t even been keeping track of how long it had been since everything changed.

“Well, it’s currently September 25th, 2039.” Was all he could muster up for an answer after checking his HUD.

The stallion barely registered the sudden halt in the hoovesteps behind him, but still managed to turn around just in time to witness her reaction.

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “It’s been like twenty seven years!” She exclaimed, hoping he was mistaken or joking.

“So you can remember that on the dime, but not anything else about what's around you?” He asked.

Rainbow wasn’t listening to his sarcastic dig and instead answered with a question of her own. “I touched some sort of crossbow-looking thing in a cave and it sent me to sleep for almost thirty years and the world went to Tarterus?! How does that make any sense?!”

Yeah… and I’m the crazy one… Storm thought while listening to her ramble on.

“Hold up,” He finally interrupted. “You couldn’t have been sleeping for twenty seven years unless somepony was guarding you with their life all of that time.”

“Maybe I got lucky and those things didn’t find me?” She replied, trying to make some sense of this whole ordeal.

“Nah, there is no such thing as luck out here. If that was the case, you would have been dead in the first few months - tops.”

Then something clicked in Rainbow’s head. “Wait! If I was missing all of this time then we couldn’t have stopped those things when they attacked!”

“We?” He asked, clearly not following.

“The Elements of Harmony.”

Nothing. Just a blank expression as if that didn’t answer his question.

“Seriously? You’ve never heard of me or any of us at all?”

He shook his head, that indifferent unamused expression not leaving his face.

“Element of Loyalty and pulled off a Sonic Rainboom as a filly? None of that sounds familiar?” Rainbow asked with a ting of pride at the first part. “Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie - none of those names ring any bells? At all?!”

“Nope.”

I’m the one living under a rock… She thought at the impossibility of anypony in Equestria not at least hearing of the heroic efforts of herself and her friends. “Okay.. well, anyway - all of us need to be together for our powers to work. So if I was gone all of this time, then we couldn’t stop those things from destroying Equestria!”

“Celestia couldn’t stop it, so what makes you think six mares could?” Storm replied.

Rainbow hadn’t even thought about the princesses up until this point. Were they even still alive? “What happened to her?”

“Remember what I said about the radiation outside? Well, she tried to fire some hidden superweapon on the source of the Damned. The papers called it the Solar Flare Cannon - a huge piece of machinery that had apparently sat cloaked in the atmosphere for Celestia-knows-how-long until it was needed.”

“Tried?” Rainbow repeated, not entirely sure if he was bullshitting her or not.

“She did fire it. Twice to be exact. Once in the Undiscovered West - where she thought the source was - and again directly down on Canterlot-”

“What?! Her own city?! There’s no fucking way thats true!”

“I still have the papers about it somewhere around here if you don’t believe me.” He replied, clearly not caring if she did or not.

“Why would she do that? Wouldn’t that kill thousands?!”

“It did. Her included. I didn’t plan on sticking around to ask why and frankly I don’t care. It’s done now.”

“So you just sat in your comfy lighthouse all this time then?” She retorted, not amused with his lack of empathy for life.

“No, not the whole time…” The stallion replied, answering carefully as if he was trying to not give too much away.

“Is there more to that answer?”

“No.” His tone clearly screamed ‘drop it’ on all accounts before switching back to his usual indifferent one. “We should get going before too much time is wasted.”

Rainbow wanted to press further - not just on this, but on many things surrounding him. This guy was like a Daring Do book if most of the important plot was torn out, leaving her to infer any major points but keeping her interested enough to want to ask the author herself.

A few more minutes of walking later, and the two pegasi began to hear what sounded like one hundred waterfalls at once. Turning to their immediate lefts, they found themselves at a rapidly flowing river. The waves were violently clashing together and drowned out the sound of both pony’s breathing filters completely.

Rainbow tried to say something but the current just barely overpowered her voice, and the stallion in front of her didn’t notice. Instead he was looking upstream, then downstream for something. Tugging on his shoulder plate, Dash got his attention and repeated herself.

She was about to get frustrated when he seemingly ignored her and began fiddling with his suit’s chest piece console. Suddenly, a small transparent box appeared on her suit’s HUD.

Rainbow selected the appropriate button on her console as the text box disappeared and was replaced with a tiny signal bar at the top right.

“What was that?” She heard Storm’s voice ask through a slightly static-laced filter.

“Why is this river so violent now?” Rainbow repeated her question for a third time. “My friends and I came here once and it was nowhere near this bad.”

“The Solar Flare Cannon.” He answered. “That thing fucked up a whole lot more than the atmosphere. Just wait until we encounter a flare.”

Rainbow would have asked what exactly a ‘flare’ was, but she had a feeling she would know soon enough.

Storm didn’t continue as he kept scanning the ravaging river. After a couple of seconds, he pointed a hoof further up the river.

“There. That’s our ride.”

The mare followed his gesture down the bank to find a wooden rowboat that was wedged in between a cul de sac-like cut in the ground. The waves were repeatedly pushing the boat into the muddy bank and the oars would have been making creaking sounds if it weren’t for the waves overpowering the noise.

Both ponies approached the boat and looked it over. The wood had long since rotted and was turning a darker shade with a mixture of green coating the outsides. The oars matched the rest of the vessel in appearance but were completely intact. The rest of the boat wasn’t so lucky. Towards the top, multiple cuts and scratch marks were engraved alongside a few holes, but thankfully - nothing was wrong with the bottom of the boat.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Dash muttered into the comms, but Storm still heard her.

“It’s either this or walking straight through the Everfree - and trust me, you do not want to go through that place. Let’s look around for some parts to make it steadier.”

“Ugh! That will take forever.” Rainbow whined impatiently. “Can’t we just fly there? I’m like twice as small and light as you, so just carry me.”

“No, we can’t.” Storm grunted while pulling the boat onto the bank completely.

“Why not?”

“I can’t fly.”

Silence.

“You can’t fly?” Rainbow half asked, half repeated, still trying to wrap her brain around that statement. “How can you not fly? You’re a pegasus!”

“Never learned.” He replied, only half focused on her while examining the now landlocked boat.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you?”

Storm stopped messing with the boat at that question. “Let’s find the parts. There's a department store nearby. Come on.” With that, he got up and began backtracking.

Rainbow followed him in silence, and was thinking about what he said along the way. How could somepony not have learned to fly by now? His wings looked perfectly healthy, so it couldn’t have been some injury or disability. No, it didn’t have to do with his ability, but rather who should have taught him. She couldn’t imagine a single pegasus who didn’t crave the adrenaline rush from soaring through the sky as fast as their wings could carry them, to feel free and alive up there.

Five minutes later and the duo had made it to the front of Lock Box’s Department Store. The dried bricks made the stained glass of the front doors and windows stand out with ease, but that didn’t make it any easier to see inside.

“Hold on.” Storm said as he approached one window.

Suddenly, he turned his Sweeper around and smashed the butt of the weapon’s stock into the window, shattering the glass and breaking the silence surrounding the place. Quickly, he began to walk backwards with his eyes - and weapon - raised straight ahead.

The stallion stopped roughly at Rainbow’s side and kept staring into the store. What felt like hours to the mare must have only been a minute before he spoke up.

“It’s clear. Let’s go.” He said before approaching the door and opening it.

The interior of the store was relatively small, but had at least a dozen aisles. Rainbow looked around at the scattered products, destroyed carts, and even a few skeletons here and there.

“Okay, we need slabs for support. Wood works, but I’d prefer steel. Some of that strong Tar Tape too.” He listed.

“Got it. What about you?”

“I’ll hit the power tools and appliances sections. Got an idea.”

The two split up with Storm going right and Rainbow going left. The mare had guessed based upon the ceiling-hung sign that read ‘woodworking and home improvement’ while Storm had seemingly known exactly where his destination was.

The stallion made his way through the mostly picked clean power tool section until he arrived at a rack of scattered screw guns. Some were on the floor, other’s barely clinging to the rusted steel racks. Picking one up with his tether, he examined it in depth for any major signs of damage before clipping it onto his suit.

Storm then shifted through the electric batteries for said gun, but he found that all of them had been corroded and were unusable.

Suit power it is. He thought while throwing a discarded battery over his shoulder.

After picking a suitable screw gun, Storm made his way to the real destination of his subtrip - the appliances section. He started scanning through while walking down the aisle at a moderate pace. Toasters, Microwaves, Micro-oven, Mixers - there! Perfect.

Grabbing two of the largest and most powerful mixers - according to the labels - Storm tethered both appliances and set them down on the floor. Then he retrieved a screwdriver from the back of his suit and took the exterior plate off.

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” He mumbled while examining the insides and making a mental checklist of what he will need.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had already stored some metal plates and small wooden beams into her suit and now was in the process of searching for this ‘Tar Tape’ that her companion had mentioned.

She was now in the third aisle after not finding anything when another call came in.

“You alright over there?” He asked.

“Storm, we’re like half a building away. I’m fine.”

“Okay. Just making sure. Listen, I’ve found everything on my end. You done yet?”

“Almost. Just need to find this tape.”

“I’ll head over in a second.” He said before ending the call.

A few moments of searching later, and Rainbow had finally come across the specified tape. Pocketing two full rolls of it, she turned to leave and saw the blue suited stallion approaching.

“Found it?”

“Yep.” She replied triumphantly before noticing two mixers being tethered behind him. “Uh, what are those for? Do you plan on baking cookies while we row?”

“You’ll see.” He replied, turned away, and gestured for her to follow.

The two pegasi made their way back to the boat and emptied their respective inventories of the recently acquired tools at its side.

“Wait a second and I’ll have this up and running.” Storm directed while plugging some stray wires from his suit into the battery slot of the screw gun.

Sparks flew from the slot, but he didn’t seem to mind. A quick pull of the trigger and the tool spun to life. Satisfied with its performance, the stallion placed it aside momentarily as he grabbed two steel plates from Rainbow’s pile and placed them on the inside of the boat’s back.

Grabbing the screw gun with his hoof and tethering the steel in place, he drilled the plates into the back of the boat before giving them firm tugs. Storm then tethered one of the box-shaped mixers into place on the other side of the plating - outside of the boat. Using the screw gun once more, he bolted the mixer to the steel plate on the other side.

“You can’t be serious.” Rainbow commented into the call from behind. “Those things won’t get us going for five minutes! Why don’t we just row? It's probably faster.”

“No it's not.” He replied while bolting the second mixer. “I’ve made sure of it.”

“Rowing would still have allowed us to be on the water by now.” The mare grumbled.

“Patience means nothing to you does it?”

“When waiting to see my friends it doesn’t.” She replied, tapping a hoof impatiently on the ground.

Storm ignored the rest of her rant while patching up the wall leaks with the wood and remaining bolts. When it was done, discarded the now out of battery screw gun and turned to Rainbow.

“Alright. It’s ready.”

“Finally.” She replied.

“Just get in the damn boat.”

Rainbow did just that and impressively vaulted over the side even in a suit. Storm pushed the vessel back into the rampaging waters before getting in himself. His vault rocked the boat considerably and Dash had to grab on to the side momentarily.

Once he was in, Storm turned to his makeshift motors and activated them. The spinning steel of the mixers was almost enough to drown out the current, but their performance outshined their noise-making ability. The boat started to power forward at decent speeds as Storm sat down adjacent from Rainbow.

“If we get close to the shore, use the oars to redirect.” He commanded.

Rainbow hardly heard his advice and instead was too excited about the coming reunion with her friends. Maybe they could actually put the world back together now that they would be reunited. Soon this would all be some sort of forgotten nightmare and things would return to normal - or at least as normal as they could be…

Right?

Author's Notes:

First of all, what do you guys think of the artwork? Made it myself. It was a touch rushed but I'm still happy with the end result.

There has also been a somewhat huge change to the story. The end of the story's description states that Rainbow and Storm will be brought back to the Mane Six's non-destroyed world. That will remain the same and there is plenty more plot even after that event. I have decided to get more bang for my buck out of this future part so I will be dividing the story up into two parts. This current one is the future arc and part II will be when they return and have to figure out how to stop the future reality. Don't worry, there are plenty of juicy events, interesting and sadistic characters, and more than enough Damned varients to go around.