I awaken to a soft blow of sand on my face.
	I don’t know how long I’ve been out for.  I look around.  It’s dark.  The sky is littered with clouds obscuring nearly every view of the sky.  A random ray of sun penetrates through the clouds in some areas, but it’s not enough to light up the entire landscape.  I quietly laugh to myself.  I was told that all of the pegasi had been exterminated by the cloud with the exception of the two that I was targeting.  It showed.
	I lurched forward, sitting up, reorienting myself to the world, reattempting to focus on what it was I needed to do.  I had slept in cover- if I was found, I would surely be eliminated, and my mission would be a failure.  I undid my beige hood and sleeping bag, brushing off all of the excess sand that coated it.  I found it rather amusing that I had spent the night in what used to be one of the most lush forests known to this world- all that remained was a desert.  It was as though a bomb had gone off- though I knew that what had happened was much worse then anything I could ever come up with.
	Hastily, I unpack my backpack.  I throw the day’s clothes onto the ground, throw off my old ones, and repack those.  I redress and put on my gear.  I don’t carry much- I still have to be able to move quickly enough to react to anything, and I need to be able to move about in a timely manner.  All I carry are the tools I need to exterminate, and the tools I need to survive.  To survive, I wear a protective jacket and I carry three bottles of water.  I’m cautious- the three bottles of water are not only the only liquid and sustenance I have, but it may very well be the only water left in this desolate world.  The extermination tools are limited in supply as well, though I can do with what I have- ten smoke grenades.  I was not permitted to bring firearms- the goal was not to exterminate the targets in a painful manner, but rather in a quick way that would cause them the least amount of suffering.
	I finish packing my things and turn towards the west, beginning to walk down the trail I had been following for two days.  I’m looking for a town called Ponyville- supposedly it’s the last haven for a few surviving ponies.  As unfortunate as it may be, it’s my job to take them out.
	I don’t get far before I see it.  As best as I can describe it, I see a dust cloud coming towards me.  That’s what I had first mistaken it as, until it came closer.  In it contained the dying (dead?), decaying bodies of the ponies of this world.  Their once colorful, candy-like fur had been reduced to a dusty, gray shade; their soft touch had been replaced by the hard feel of rock.  I could no longer find emotion in their demented, lifeless eyes; they moved only with the cloud- that was their new duty.
	The cloud moved closer, and I continued walking towards it.  I had learned my mistake- you always, always wear a gas mask while walking into it.  The first time I didn’t, I thought I was fine.  Hours later, I was writhing on the floor, incapable of anything but screaming and vomit.  I blacked out that night, but what I woke up to the next morning was my blood in the sand, blackened from what I can only assume was whatever was in that cloud.
	I put my head down, ignored the grimaces that were eternally grafted on their faces, and stood still.  If I moved, I would become as damned as they were.
	The cloud passed, and the massive ball of dust disappeared into the distance.  I raised my head back up and continued on my journey.  I had to make it.  I had to.