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// Prologue: Dawn 
// Story: From Ashes to Apples 
// by Eisen 
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The sunrise was beautiful today


I watched everything unfold that morning, in fact, I was out working the apple orchards long before daybreak. I'd been getting up earlier for the past week or so, given that there was an Apple Family reunion being held in Manehattan of all places, and Granny, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom were all there. Normally I wouldn't dare miss a reunion, but, being so close to the end of the season, someopony had to work the farm, and that somepony was me.


I was just returning to the farmhouse with a fresh cart of Apples strapped to my back, and was nearly to the door, when the daylight seemed to dim. I turned around to find what went wrong, and... well, I saw it coming. To me, it looked like a black sandstorm, a dark, thick billowing, cloudy mass, blotting out the distant horizon. 

Quick as a whip, I ran the apples into the barn and shut the door, looking out at the approaching dark storm. At that point, I could hear it; a rushing roar like a continuous, rolling thunder. I'd compare it to a twister, though FAR larger, as if someone had thrown a hurricane onto the ground and sent it straight at us. I saw a few trees being ripped up in the distance, and I knew I had to get under cover. Fast

I dashed over to the cellar, slamming the doors shut behind me, as I ran as far from the entrance as I could. By the time I had a lantern lit, The deafening roar was uncomfortably close. I saw the cellar doors begin to rattle, and I tucked myself behind some of the spare food shelves we had. Then, in an instant, the roar multiplied twofold, as the doors were ripped off of their hinges. I wouldn't be alive if we hadn't dug the cellar into solid rock, because even there, the very walls shook around me. 

There I stood, for what seemed like days, though it was likely mere hours, until finally, the roaring died down, and the shaking stopped. My ears were ringing, and my hooves were shaking, as I stood up carefully, looking over to where the doors had been. There, falling gently through the air, was what appeared to be ash, and the very atmosphere around the door seemed...grey. I cautiously walked over, and hesitantly sniffed the air... resulting in a MASSIVE coughing fit.

I reeled back the moment the charred air hit my lungs, retreating towards the rear of the cellar, nearly choking on what I had just inhaled. But, Wait... If the very air is poisoned, then...

My mind raced in panic as I ran towards the Fertilizer pile. Come on, it has to be here somewhere...aha! I thought to myself, triumphantly holding up The mask Big Mac wore to filter out all the harsh fumes from fertilizer mixing. Slipping it on and taking a few slow breaths, and quickly donning a few boots, I ran out of the cellar, to get a look around, and maybe help someone! 


...I fell to my knees as I looked out at the path of the storm. The Barn was little more than a few pillars of wood still standing, the house, destroyed. And there, in the center of town... not even Twilight's castle remained fully standing. It lay as a crystal stump, among a city of obliterated homes, and businesses... In all directions, everything was covered in a layer of ash, like snow, which even now fell from the sky. As the ashes touched my skin, they burned like drops of acid, forcing me back underground until they stopped falling.

In an instant... all of Ponyville was wiped out... and only I was left to survive.

My name is Applejack, and this is my story.