The Green Angel

by LordOfCringe

Prologue -

Ash fell from the sky, and the world burned. Once, only this morning, this place was beautiful. Sweet Apple Acres has been in my family for generations. And for many decades my ancestors tended to the great apple trees that gave our family its name. Now it was in flames. The trees were like torches. The ground hissed with steam slithering out of the ground.

I take a breath and begin coughing from the thick smoke. It’s like breathing in sand. The smell is nauseating and rough and I immediately regret doing so.

I hold one of my arms close to my mouth in a vain attempt to keep out the smoke. My eyes sting, my throat is as dry as a desert. Even through my arm, I can smell the soot that surrounds me as I trudge through the ruined orchard towards my home. I am barely able to walk, the ground is too hot, the air too thick. But I keep going. I need to protect my family, my friends.

I stumble forward step by step. Using anything I can as a crutch. Trees, buckets, a cart, anything. It takes all my willpower to keep going. I take a look at the sky to try and get my bearings. The site of it shocks me despite everything that has already happened. Instead of the deep blue colour it normally is, all I see through the wisps of smoke is a fiery deep red overtop everything. The world truly is on fire. And I have no idea why.

I continue forward, moving to any tree not yet caught up in the blaze. Big Mac was out here with me doing the day's harvest. I need to find him. I searched the area he was supposed to be in by now but have no luck finding my brother. By now many trees have been damaged to the point that they have started to fall.

I hear a loud Crack to my left and see one collapsing on me. It’s blazing branches reach out towards me like glowing serpents coming in for the kill. I roll to the side and singe my arm as it brushes against one of the branches before it crashes to the ground.

I avoid a few more falling trees. The smoke keeps getting thicker and thicker. My coughs become more frequent. But through all of it, I have one thought on my mind. Where was Big Mac?

As if to answer my question I hear a faint cry in the distance. I scan the trees looking for the source of it. I slowly make my way through the smoke and flames. I navigate over a few fallen trees. I have to jump over cautiously as they are hot to the touch. Eventually, the cry becomes louder and I recognize Big Mac’s voice.

Relief floods through me before I notice him pinned beneath a fallen tree. I rush over to him. He notices my approach.

“Thank...God, Applejack.” He is able to force out. He wheezes and coughs from the smoke even more than me. I need to get the tree off him. Otherwise...I will get the tree off him.

“Don’t worry brother. I’ve got this.” I touch my geode neckless hanging around my neck. Its power surges through me and I feel my strength return and increase. I exhale deeply, spit on my hands, and grab ahold of the tree pinning Big Mac.

I am able to lift the thing easily with the assistance of my magic. I pick it up and in once swift motion I hurl the truck over a few feet. It instantly begins to catch fire. By now the smoke was so thick I could barely see anything at all. But I reach down to help up Big Mac anyway.

“Thanks, Applejack.” He says in between coughs. I merely nod in acknowledgement and lead him through the orchard. We have to avoid several more falling trees before finally exiting it. I turn one last time to look at the orchard. The place is utterly destroyed. A forest of black, burning dreams. The pride of my family is gone. With a sigh, I turn around again and guide my brother towards the farmhouse.

Thankfully, it seems to still be intact. Its red walls look cracked and part of the triangular roof has caught fire. Otherwise, it looks ok. I only hope Apple Bloom and Granny Smith are fine in there. Me and Big Mac keep moving as fast as we dare towards the farmhouse, my geode helping to support my big brother’s weight.

But right when we are close to the farmhouse’s porch, things get even worse. I feel the shockwave of a massive explosion whip me and Big Mac across the back, forcing both of us to the ground. Thankfully the ground is cooler here, so it doesn’t burn me. I stand up and turn around again to look at what just happened behind me.

The sky had changed colour again to a brilliant orange. It is as if the sky itself was on fire. If not for the circumstances I would think it was a beautiful sight, but then I saw something even worse. Far in the distance, high above streaking towards me were hundreds of black specs and an accompanying humming noise. I stand there paralyzed in exasperation wondering what they were.

A question that is soon answered when the first small bolder slams into the orchard, utterly destroying its corpse. I have to shield my face from the volley of splinters that fling at me in its wake. More and more, larger and larger projectiles continue to fall towards me. They hit the ground with a murderous thwack. None hit close to me thankfully, for now. Finally, I snap myself back to action, I have people to protect.

“Big Mac, to the house. I don’t know where to go but it can’t be here. We need to get our family to safety.”

“Yup.” Is the only answer I need from him. We both move forward again with determination. I see Apple Bloom at the doorway, she screams something about Granny falling, but right before I reach the porch, a medium-sized boulder slams into the farmhouse sending me and Big Mac flying backwards once again. The humming noise gets even louder, but I dismiss it for now.

I recover and stand back up, I sprint towards the now wrecked farmhouse ignoring the pain from my many burns and cuts. I reach the rubble of my home and begin desperately digging through it to find Apple Bloom. The hum has now become a roar, but I continue to ignore it. I continue digging, using my geode’s power to assist me.

Finally, I find Apple Bloom’s scarlet red hair sticking out of some bricks. I shovel away the last of them to free her unmoving body. An icy feeling of fear pulses through me as I quickly check her pulse. Thankfully my sister is alive, her heart yet beating strongly, but she is not conscious. The roar around me becomes deafening in my ears and I think I hear Big Mac shout something beside me.

I look over to him and I see him pointing at something in the air behind us, and I turn around to see a giant metal aircraft hovering above the field in between the orchard and the farmhouse. It has a silver exterior and two massive rocket engines jutting out from the sides, spewing out a purple looking energy from their bottom. The whole thing appears to be about the size of a large trolly car. I am truly shocked at the utterly unexpected sight.

It lands, the engines swivel downwards and turn off and doors on the side slide open to reveal a passenger bay. I hear a man from the craft shouting at us to get in. I pick up Apple Bloom and hand her over to Big Mac. I don’t know who these people from the sky are, but they appear to be here to help.

“Get in, I’m going to find Granny!” I yell at Big Mac. He looks concerned but does what he is told. I return to the rubble and again begin frantically digging. Tears begin streaming down my face as I continue to not find my grandmother. The men from the craft keep shouting at me to get in, and they rev their engines back up.

I am practically shovelling bricks and wood at this point trying to find granny, to no avail. Finally, I realize with a pang of utter sadness that I won’t find her. So I turn to get up and go. But then a huge shadow casts overhead and I look to see a massive mountain-sized boulder barreling towards me. The craft begins hovering and the men there keep yelling at me to get over to them. The mountain gets closer by the second.

I run at the craft as it continues to rise. One of the men lets out his hand for me to grab. I sprint over and jump with all of my might.

I miss.

And I crash to the ground. The craft can’t come back for another pass without being caught by the mountain, so it takes off. I look up at my impending doom. But strangely I don’t feel despair. I was able to save two of my family, and that would have to be enough. I close my eyes and embrace oblivion.