An Apple By Another Name

Chapters

Leaves
Stem
Skin
Flesh
Core
Seeds

Leaves

Time passes slowly when you’re the last pony in Equestria.

I mean, it always passes slowly at Sweet Apple Acres. Our laid-back, relaxed, “no worries” way of life is kind of a source of pride for the Apple family. But ever since everypony I’ve ever known up and vanished, time seems to have slowed to a crawl. Sometimes I don’t reckon time’s even passing at all.

But I know it is. As the months pass, I watch the apples grow big and red until Apple-bucking season, when I harvest them just like every year. Without Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom around to help take care of the crops, I’ve been doing it all myself. It’s a lot of work for one pony, but it’s not like I have much else to do with none of my friends around anymore.

It was around the time that the Running of the Leaves would have been held, had there been any ponies around to run, when I decided to go into town again. Occasionally I would go into Ponyville, to keep it looking nice. In my spare time I would sometimes pull the weeds that crept into the streets or fix up some of the buildings that had fallen into disrepair. I suppose I also just liked visiting the familiar buildings and imagining the bustling, busy town Ponyville had once been.

On this day I walked alone through the empty streets, the sound of my hooves on stone echoing around the abandoned storefronts. It was a beautiful day. If there had been any ponies in Ponyville, they all would have been outdoors buying and selling wares and enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and the occasional cool breeze. This would have been a perfect day to take Apple Bloom into town to sell apples. But she was gone, along with everypony else.

I wiped away a tear.

I wasn’t in the mood to pull weeds today. Instead, I left the outskirts of Ponyville and headed out into the countryside. I didn’t feel like returning to Sweet Apple Acres just yet. I picked up speed and trotted past the fields surrounding the farm until eventually I found myself entering the White Tail Woods.

I could remember running through these woods, side-by-side with Rainbow Dash as the autumn leaves fell around us. The Running of the Leaves felt like only yesterday, but it must have been months, maybe years, since then.

I sped up to a gallop, blinking away tears. I could almost imagine that Rainbow Dash was just feet away, her hooves beating in time with mine. I galloped faster and faster, as if by running fast enough, I could bring back my friends.

My hoofbeats got louder and louder the faster I ran, until the sound of the pounding filled my mind and all I could think about was the rhythm of my hooves. The vibrations must have spread to the nearby trees, because as I passed them, leaves began to rain down around me. Soon I was surrounding by the orange, red, and gold of leaves flickering like flames in the dappled sunlight that streamed through the trees.

I couldn’t stop.

If I slowed down, I would have to think about how beautiful the world was. I couldn’t bear to think that wherever my family and friends disappeared to, they were not experiencing this beauty. I didn’t want to make the realization that I was the only pony left to appreciate the world I lived in. I wasn’t ready.

I returned to Sweet Apple Acres only when I couldn’t muster up the energy to run any more. I made it about halfway across a field before I collapsed from exhaustion into the warm earth, gasping for breath and shaking with sobs.

I don’t know how long I lay on the soft ground, wondering why I should even try to get up, but the sky was streaked with the orange and magenta of sunset by the time I dragged myself to my hooves and headed back toward the farmhouse.

Before going inside, I turned to look at the fields and for a brief moment I thought I glimpsed—

But it couldn’t have been. It was at the far edge of the field, and the light was bad at this time of day, and I blinked once and it was gone. To be honest, I wasn’t in the sharpest state of mind to begin with. I had to have imagined it, because if I believed that I could have seen something so impossible, I would have to accept that I was losing my mind. I knew it would probably happen eventually, what with being alone for so long, but I just wasn’t ready to come to terms with the possibility that I can’t trust my own brain.

So there’s no way that in the fading evening light I could have actually glimpsed a familiar flash of color, or the silhouette that could only belong to another pony.

Stem

I flew over a gray landscape of towering, rocky peaks. Thousands of feet below me, the bases of these jagged mountains disappeared into the darkness. I had never seen a more barren, lifeless landscape. There was no sign of any plants or creatures for miles in any direction. I knew for certain that I never wanted to return to this place.

After what felt like hours of flying, I passed over one last ridge, and color spread out before me like somepony had spilled a paint can of every color of the rainbow. I now soared over a beautiful valley, full of rolling hills and deep green forests. On the horizon I could make out distant snowcapped mountains.

I descended from the clouds until the fields and meadows I was now passing over were no more than twenty or thirty feet below me. Waves rippled through the long grass as a cool breeze blew by. I skimmed over a glittering lake and felt the spray as I rose up above a waterfall that cascaded down from a huge mountain. On the side of the mountain was a palace that sparkled in the sun.

I curved around and headed down into the valley, where I could see the buildings and streets of a village. And among these buildings were ponies. Dozens and dozens of tiny ponies selling apples and flowers, ponies setting freshly baked pies on windowsills to cool, ponies sitting in cafes drinking tea and eating pastries. There were foals playing in the streets, ponies washing windows, pulling carts, sweeping front porches, opening their curtains to let in the sun. In the distance there were ponies working in fields, bucking apples, going for hikes in the countryside…

I had never seen anything more beautiful.

A few days later (or weeks, I couldn’t be sure) I woke with the sun and lay in bed, trying to hold on to a pleasant dream I had had but feeling it slip away as I returned to consciousness. I got out of bed and went downstairs with the ever-dwindling hope that the past few months (years?) had been nothing but a nightmare and I would find Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom in the kitchen, eating breakfast and getting ready for the day’s work. But there was no sound of eggs sizzling on the frying pan, or that of Apple Bloom’s always-audible yawns and complaints about rising so early in the morning. I heard nothing but silence as I entered the empty kitchen and poured myself a bowl of apple-cinnamon cereal for breakfast.

A few minutes later I glanced out the window and almost choked on a mouthful of cereal. Way out at the edge of the field, I saw the unmistakable, brightly colored form of Rainbow Dash. She was crouched low to the ground as if hoping to keep from being seen, and she was looking through the window straight at me. Our eyes met, and for a long moment, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. When Rainbow had remained where she was for long enough that I was pretty sure she wouldn’t vanish before my eyes, I turned and burst out the front door of the farmhouse, grabbing my lasso on the way out.

“Rainbow Dash!” I shouted, not knowing what else to say. I was surprised by the sound of my own voice after not using it for so long.

She rose to her hooves, seemed to experience a moment of indecision, and then turned and ran. Without wasting a second, I bolted after her.

“Rainbow Dash!” I called again, my voice cracking from desperation. “Come back here! What’s goin’ on? What happened to all the ponies? Where’re my friends and family?”

I couldn’t remember ever being so desperate to chase anypony down. I was gaining on Rainbow Dash and was about to tackle her when she starting flapping her wings and lifted off of the ground.

“Oh no you don’t!” I snarled and unraveled my lasso. I swung it around a few times over my head and then launched it in Rainbow’s direction. All of my experience herding sheep paid off. The lasso tightened around Rainbow Dash’s neck and after straining against the rope for a while, she eventually descended to the ground and landed in front of me.

“This is humiliating,” she grumbled.

“You’re not gonna take off again if I let ya go?” I asked.

“I’ll stay here,” she promised. I loosened the rope and coiled it up again.

“I want to know everything,” I demanded. “Where are the rest o’ the ponies? Why are ya tryin’ to hide from me? Tell me what’s goin’ on! Tell me my friends and family are okay!”

Rainbow Dash was expressionless.

“They’re not,” she sighed finally. “There are no more ponies.”

“Don’t lie to me!” I growled, already angry from having to chase down one of my best friends, but getting angrier at her lack of emotion. “I’m a pony! You’re a pony! If you’re here, then there must be others!”

“There are no others,” Rainbow said, still infuriatingly devoid of emotion. “There were no survivors after the pony massacre ended a week ago.”

“Stop tellin’ lies!” I snapped. Something felt very wrong. “I’ve been alone for months! There couldn’t’ve been a ‘massacre’ a week ago! Everypony disappeared long before that! And whadd’ya mean ‘there were no survivors’? We’re both still here! Why won’t you tell the truth? What happened to the element of loyalty?!”

“Element of what?” Rainbow Dash replied

Then I noticed what I had missed before. If Rainbow Dash had wanted to escape from somepony, she wouldn’t have run. She would’ve immediately taken to the skies. And she’s such a skilled flier, she would’ve eluded me too. Then again, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have abandoned any of her friends to begin with. And if she had been talking about the death of every pony we’d ever known, she would’ve at least shown some emotion, for Celestia’s sake!

“You ain’t the real Rainbow Dash,” I whispered, suddenly calm. “You’re not even really here. It’s finally happened. I’ve gone crazy. My mind is conjurin’ up imitations of my friends, and it ain’t even doin’ a good job!”

“I am real,” the fake Rainbow Dash said. “But—“

“That sounds like somethin’ a hallucination would say,” I interrupted, my eyes narrowed.

“Let me explain,” the projection of my subconscious continued. “I’m not a hallucination, but you’re right that I’m not the real…what did you say her name was?”

“Rainbow Dash,” I mumbled. “Then what are ya? And why’re ya here? Why’d ya steal my friend’s appearance?”

“I thought you would take it better if I looked like a pony,” the lying imposter said, “but I’ll show you my true form if you insist.”

There was a flash of green light, and I gasped when I saw what stood before me. It had a dark gray, pony-sized body with two pairs of translucent wings and legs that looked like Swiss cheese. It had two bright blue eyes without pupils, two large fangs, and an equally sharp horn on its head.

“You’re a changelin’,” I murmured.

The changeling nodded, and then said, “And so are you.”

Skin

Low branches whipped my face as I tore through the forest. The pain in my wounded leg was becoming unbearable, but I had to get out into the open. The forest, apparently, was not a safe place to hide.

The sound of the howls and pounding footsteps behind me were becoming more distant, but I didn’t dare get my hopes up. Even if I escaped the terrifying creatures that were chasing me, I could very well die from the injury in my leg if I didn’t find help soon.

I crashed through one last wall of bushes and found myself in a large moonlit field. At the end of the field I could see a large farmhouse, whose windows glowed with a warm light. If I could make it to the farmhouse, maybe I would be okay. No longer able to run, I began to crawl toward the light.

When I was several yards from the front door I felt the last of my energy dwindle away. Blackness was creeping in from the edges of my vision when a small animal trotted up and began sniffing me. It let out a bark, and then I heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching from inside the farmhouse. I heard the creak of a screen door opening and a pony’s voice say, “What’s wrong, Winona?”

After coming closer, the pony seemed to catch sight of me, and then yelled, “Granny! Come quick! There’s somethin’ outside and it looks like it’s hurt pretty bad!”

I stared at the changeling.

“No I’m not,” I said. “Now you’re the crazy one. I’m a pony. I’ve been a pony my whole life. I was born here at Sweet Apple Acres and I’ve lived and worked here with Granny and my siblings pretty much my entire life.” I glared at the changeling and received a blank gaze in return.

“Uh… D’ya think you could change back into Rainbow Dash?” I asked after a pause. “Yer startin’ to make me feel uncomfortable.”

“You always did have such a strange fascination with ponies,” the changeling said, after assuming Rainbow Dash’s form once again.

“Quit it!” I snapped. “I am a pony! I’ve always been a pony!”

“Do you really want to know what happened to your family?” the changeling asked. I nodded.

“You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you,” the changeling said.

“Git on with it already,” I insisted.

“We were both high-ranking officers in the Swarm,” the changeling began, “but when Queen Chrysalis announced her plans to invade Canterlot, I could tell you didn’t want to go along with it. For some reason none of us could understand, you never wanted to harm a pony.

“Eventually I suppose you had had enough. One day you just left the Hive. When Queen Chrysalis found out, she was furious. Deserting the swarm is a serious offense.

“We finally found you here on this farm. The pony family that lived here must have taken you in, treated your injuries, and cared for you while you healed. Since you seemed to have such a connection to ponies, Queen Chrysalis decided to give you a special punishment instead of just killing you. She actually offered to let you back into the Swarm if you would agree to kill the pony family that took care of you. But you refused, so she did it instead. Then she went on to destroy every last pony in Equestria.”

“Stop! Shut up!” I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “That ain’t true.” It was just too horrifying. Even after all this time, I had never seriously considered the possibility that everypony was dead. I preferred to think that they had all just gone somewhere else and left me behind.

After a minute I managed to gather myself. “Let’s say yer tellin’ the truth,” I said skeptically. “Why’m I still here? Why didn’t she jus’ kill me after that?”

“She wanted to at first,” the changeling said. “It took a lot of convincing to persuade her to let you live. But eventually she decided it would be more painful for you to live on without your precious ponies.”

“That still doesn’t make sense,” I said. “I grew up here on the farm. If all this is true, then why don’t I remember any of it?”

“You were a threat to the Swarm. Allowing you to live meant the Swarm would be in danger unless she did something about it. So she cast a spell and replaced your memories with those of the Apple pony, and created the false memories of the sudden disappearance of the ponies and your months of loneliness. She seemed to think that, coming from a Swarm, being the only one of your kind would be a sufficient punishment, even if you wouldn’t remember the deaths of the ponies.”

For a long time I was silent. With the enormity of this news came an overwhelming multitude of thoughts. I didn’t want to believe the changeling. The implications were too horrible to fathom, but I couldn’t help but admit that some things were starting to make sense. Certain recurring dreams that felt just a little too real now had an explanation. And of course, the changeling’s story explained why I was the only pony left.

Finally I said, “So all this happened—“

“Just a week ago,” the changeling finished for me.

“Why’d ya come back?” I asked after a pause.

“Queen Chrysalis wanted a changeling officer to check on you periodically, to make sure there was no chance of you becoming a threat to the Swarm. I volunteered.”

“And why’d ya argue to let me live?”

The changeling hesitated for a long moment. “I can’t hope to understand the concept of friendship that the ponies made such a big deal out of,” it said slowly, “but I know I didn’t want to see you die.”

The changeling looked uncomfortable. “I have to return to the Hive,” it said, and rose back up into the air. I watched it shrink as it flew away until it was too small to see. Within minutes I began to wonder if it had ever really been here at all, or if the entire encounter had only taken place in my mind.

Flesh

“How’d ya like yer first Apple family cobbler?” the orange pony asked. The other three looked up expectantly at me.

“Mmmm,” I mumbled, my mouth too full of the warm, juicy filling to form words. All four ponies exchanged knowing smiles.

“Whaddya say we get out some o’ those board games?” the orange pony asked, turning to the other three.

“It’s as good a game night as any,” the big red pony said.

“I’ll get Mane-opoly!” the little yellow-green filly squeaked and ran out of the room.

The elderly green pony got up and moved slowly into the living room while the orange mare and the red stallion went to the sink to wash dishes.

At the sound of barking outside, the red pony glanced up from washing dishes and looked out the window.

“Uh, Applejack,” he said slowly, “ya may wanna take a look at this…”

“What’s up, Big Macintosh?” Applejack asked.

“Appears our farmhouse is surrounded by about a hundred critters… They look kinda like our guest here,” Big Macintosh replied.

The bite of cobbler I was chewing no longer tasted as good as it had before. I suddenly felt sick.

The barking continued, and then suddenly ceased.

“Winona!” Applejack gasped in horror. It was clearly a struggle for her to resist the urge to run outside to the dog. Instead she turned to me. “What in the hay is goin’ on here?” she asked.

“They’re after me because I left the Swarm,” I whispered.

Without hesitating, Applejack said, “Then we’ll hide ya in the cellar. I’m sure they’ll leave when they realize yer not here.” She turned to the living room and called, “Granny Smith! We gotta open the cellar!”

“I’m afraid it’s too late!” Granny Smith’s voice called back. She reentered the kitchen, but now she seemed to be standing up straighter and was grinning with a very un-Granny-like grin. There was a flash of green light, and in Granny Smith’s place, the changeling I feared most towered above me.

“Your time is up,” Queen Chrysalis hissed at me.

“Where’s Granny?” Applejack demanded.

“Oh, that little old pony?” Queen Chrysalis cackled. “She’s in the cellar.”

Suddenly the kitchen windows shattered and dozens of changelings swarmed in. Applejack and Big Macintosh struggled, but the sheer numbers of the changelings were enough to overcome them.

The filly returned to the kitchen and screamed, dropping the box she was carrying at the sight of the changelings that now filled the room. “Would you like us to kill them, Queen?” the changeling that was restraining me asked.

“Not yet,” the Queen answered. “I have a different punishment in mind for the deserter…”

In a way, I had lost my mind.

Any memories I may have once had of being a changeling now only remained as scattered dreams and nightmares, which had admittedly become clearer since I heard the truth, but could still never replace a lifetime of memories.

I could’ve sworn I was an Apple to the core. I felt not only at home as a pony, but at home at Sweet Apple Acres. I could remember my fillyhood, learning the ropes of apple-bucking, moving to Manehattan and earning my cutie mark, and meeting the five best friends a pony could have. But if what the changeling said was true, then all of these memories, all of the values I had grown up with, all of the love for my family and friends belonged to somepony else. If Queen Chrysalis had replaced my memories with the life of another pony, then how much of my personality was truly mine? And if I had somepony else’s mind, then who was actually thinking these thoughts?

The barn door creaked as I pushed it open.

Outside, the sky was the brightest of blues and sunshine streamed down from above. I wished the weather would have the decency to be cloudy for once. I just couldn’t understand how the sun could keep shining and the birds could keep singing after my entire world had come to an end. But I guess it was the job of the pegasi to bring the clouds, and they were all dead. Everypony in Equestria was dead, and it was all my fault.

The inside of the barn was cool and full of shadows. I swept the scattered hay out of the way and bent down to pull on the handle in the floor. The trapdoor opened, sending motes of dust dancing through the beams of sunlight. I lowered myself down into the stone cellar, which was stacked with crates. I opened a crate full of cider that had been distilled during the previous winter, and began to pack my saddlebags with the cold bottles.

Then I left the barn and went for a walk through the meadows surrounding the farm. I stopped when I reached a small pond in the shade of a weeping willow and sat down in the soft grass. I opened a bottle of cider and drank half of it in one gulp. I didn’t want to think anymore. It was all too much for me to take.

I downed the rest of the bottle and tossed it aside. Maybe I would just leave it there. There was nopony left to care about littering.

I lay down on my stomach with my chin resting on my front legs and stared at my reflection in the pond.

I was proud of a lot of things, but I had never considered being a pony something to be particularly proud of. But I was proud to be a pony. Or at least I had been, back when I was a pony. I was proud to be unique. I was proud of my cutie mark, which showed my devotion to my family and my hardworking, down-to-earth nature. I was proud of the expressiveness of my apple-green eyes, how they could appear sassy, sultry, or sincere. I was proud of my smooth, unblemished legs and the little freckles that dotted my cheeks. I took pride in my long, flowing, straw-colored mane. Though most of the time, I tied it back for convenience and allowed it to get unruly in general, on special occasions I enjoyed doing it up, or giving in and letting Rarity have fun with it.

But all of this was just an illusion.

Was any part of me real? Was anything mine? I was living in a stolen body, with thoughts and memories that were not my own. I was exiled from my real race, which apparently felt so little like a home to me that I risked my life to escape it, while the ponies who had been family and friends to me were all dead.

There was nothing left for me.

I opened another bottle.

Core

The day everypony vanished, I awoke with a feeling of trepidation. I unsuccessfully tried to shake it off, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Upon entering the kitchen, I was met with an unusual silence. There was no sound of eggs cooking on the griddle, no early-morning Apple family chatter to start the day. Was the rest of my family still in bed?

I trotted back upstairs to check.

“Apple Bloom?” I said, peering into her bedroom. She wasn’t there. There wasn’t even a filly-shaped lump of sheets under the covers like she sometimes left when she sneaked out.

“Big Macintosh? Granny Smith?” I called, checking each of their rooms. Not an Apple to be found.

Maybe they had started the day without me.

I galloped downstairs and out into the early morning sunlight.

“Apple Bloom?” I called again. “Big Macintosh?” There was nopony in sight.

Had they gone into town? We hadn’t planned to take the apples into town today. And they wouldn’t have up and left without me.

What was going on?

I went into town, only to find the streets strangely empty, even for this early in the morning. Usually at this time there might be ponies sweeping the streets or ponies setting up shop early. But there was no sign of anypony anywhere.

“Is anypony here?” I shouted, my heart racing. Slowly I walked through the streets, scanning the windows and hoping to see movement inside.

I arrived at Sugarcube Corner. It should have been open by this time, but the sign on the door still indicated otherwise.

“Pinkie Pie!” I shouted, pounding on the door. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Open up! Where is everypony?”

There was no answer.

I spun around desperately. Where else could I go?

I galloped to Rainbow Dash’s cloud house and called up to her.

No answer.

I raced to the Carousel Boutique.

Nopony was home.

Twilight’s library.

Empty.

Fluttershy’s cottage.

No answer.

Heart pounding, I struggled to catch my breath. I tried the door. It was locked. Without considering any other options, I backed up a few paces and then galloped straight at Fluttershy’s front door, throwing my shoulder into the hard wood and then stumbling away as it refused to yield.

I backed up and then rammed the door again.

I don’t remember how many times I slammed into the door before it splintered and gave way, sending me sprawling on the carpet in Fluttershy’s living room. My bruised shoulder throbbed with pain.

Aside from the mice that skittered out of view as I entered the cottage, there was no sign of life. I crept through the rooms in Fluttershy’s house.

There was nopony to be found.

As far as I could tell, there were no ponies left in Ponyville.

...but this never actually happened…

This memory only ever existed in my mind…

I awoke with a pounding headache. I was sprawled on the grass, surrounded by at least a half-dozen empty bottles. I squinted and turned my head to try to shut out the late-afternoon sun that was shining down from yet another cloudless sky. I jumped when I saw Rainbow Dash, or more accurately, the changeling disguised as Rainbow Dash, sitting on the grass a few feet away, watching me.

“Back so soon?” I asked, attempting to recover gracefully from my surprise.

“I wanted to see how you were doing,” the changeling said.

“Oh I’m doin’ just peachy,” I drawled, wincing as my head throbbed with pain. “Why wouldn’ I be? Only jus’ found out everypony’s dead ‘cause o’ me and everythin’ my mind’s tellin’ me is a lie. How the hay are you?”

The changeling was silent.

I glared at it.

The changeling stared back at me.

“Want me to help you pick up these bottles?” it eventually asked.

“Um… okay,” I replied. In silence we gathered up the empty bottles and returned them to my saddlebags.

Before long the silence became too much for me.

“I can’t take it!” I burst out. “Who am I? What am I supposed to believe? I can’t trust my own mind, ‘cause it ain’t even mine! I can’t hardly remember bein’ a changelin’, and I sure as hay don’t feel like one, but apparen’ly I ain’t a pony neither. I can’t go on like this! What am I s’posed to do?”

The changeling looked at me for a long time before responding. “I’m no good at this,” it began. “I can’t tell you what you should do, but I can tell you this: Even when you were part of the Swarm, you were always more pony than changeling. It wasn’t until Queen Chrysalis replaced your memories with those of the orange pony that you really seemed like you had found your place. I think you may have had a pony’s mind all along.”

My cheeks felt wet and I realized that I was crying.

“I may have been wrong earlier,” the changeling continued after a pause, “It looks to me like one pony did survive after all.”

A flock of geese crossed the evening sky.

“I have to go back,” the changeling said. “I’ve been gone too long.”

“No!” I exclaimed before I could help myself. “Don’t leave me!” I suddenly felt embarrassed. “Please. I’ve been alone for so long. Just stay here for one night.”

The changeling hesitated.

“You can leave in the mornin’,” I pleaded.

“One night then,” the changeling conceded, and lay down in the grass under the willow tree. I curled up next to her and leaned my head on her shoulder, only just realizing how much I had missed the warmth of another pony. I nuzzled my face in her soft fur and drifted off to sleep.

Seeds

I awoke to find my front legs wrapped around the changeling-Rainbow Dash’s torso and my face buried in the soft fur of her chest. I could feel the beating of her heart and the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“Are you awake?” she asked.

“Mmm,” I mumbled without opening my eyes.

“We have to go,” she said.

I held her tighter and nuzzled my face deeper into her fur. I didn’t want to let go, ever.

“I mean it! We have to go!” she insisted. “I’ve been here too long. Queen Chrysalis will be looking for me by now. We have to run away.”

At this I raised my head and looked into her magenta eyes.

“Really?” I asked. “Yer gonna leave the Swarm?”

“I have to,” changeling-Dash said. “The Queen will think I betrayed her. I’m better off far away, where she can’t find me.”

My heart started beating faster. “Then let’s go.”

We left Sweet Apple Acres and the surrounding meadows and entered the White Tail Woods, saddlebags packed with apples for the trek.

“Let’s race,” I suggested after several minutes of trotting through the woods.

Changeling-Dash looked at me, and then we both took off running.

Once again, the pounding of our hooves sent the flame-colored leaves drifting down around us as we passed under the fiery canopy of the trees. I felt like I could have galloped forever, my hoofbeats keeping a steady rhythm with those next to me. I relished the feeling of the wind on my face and the beauty of the beams of sunlight that fell between the tree branches.

I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who looked at me and smiled.

And for the first time since my friends and family and everypony I’d ever known disappeared, I smiled too.

We stopped for lunch at Winsome Falls. In the bright sunlight, the falls sparkled with every color of the rainbow. We sat down in the grass, close enough to the falls to feel the mist rising from the cascading water.

“Here, have an apple,” Rainbow Dash said, tossing me one.

“Thanks,” I said, and bit into the crisp, juicy fruit. “So where d’ya think we’ll go?”

Rainbow Dash stared into the roiling foam at the base of the falls without answering.

“What’s wrong?” I asked with a mouthful of apple.

Rainbow Dash turned to look at me.

“I’m so sorry,” she said finally.

“For what?” I asked, still chewing.

“You know too much,” Dash said. “I don’t think you’re a threat to the Swarm, but the Queen doesn’t take any chances.”

“Wait…” I said slowly, after swallowing my bite of apple. “Why aren’t ya eatin’?” Then the realization hit me like a wave. I stared with horror at the apple in my hoof. The apple that Rainbow Dash had given me, that I had already bitten into. “You—you poisoned me?”

Dash just looked at me.

“Were you plannin’ this the whole time?” I asked, my heart beating rapidly.

“The Queen ordered me to, after finding out you knew the truth,” Dash said. “I almost couldn’t bring myself to do it. I thought this way would be kinder than bringing you to her.”

I couldn’t believe it. “You poisoned me?” I repeated blankly.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I can’t leave the Swarm. I’ll only be allowed to return if you’re dead.”

“But… but we’re friends…” I mumbled. I was starting to feel sleepy.

“I’m going to miss you, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said.

The roar of the falls grew louder and louder as my eyelids grew heavy. The last things I saw were Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes.

And they were filled with tears.

Low branches whipped my face as I tore through the forest. The pain in my wounded leg was becoming unbearable, but I had to get out into the open. The forest, apparently, was not a safe place to hide…

The sound of the howls and pounding footsteps behind me were becoming more distant, but I didn’t care anymore if the terrifying creatures caught up to me. I just hoped I could manage to get out of the forest before that happened.

I crashed through one last wall of bushes and breathed a sigh of relief. I had made it. I was in the large moonlit field that I hoped I would find. At the end of the field I could see a large farmhouse, whose windows glowed with a warm light. Inside there was a loving family of ponies, probably relaxing after a hearty dinner.

There was no need for me to get any closer. I could clearly imagine what was happening inside the farmhouse. The elderly pony was probably rocking back and forth in her rocking chair while her three grandchildren were most likely reclining in a circle on the carpet, enjoying a board game, or just each other's company. The dog was probably sitting next to them, panting happily and wagging her tail.

I was content to imagine all this from afar. By the time Queen Chrysalis would find me, I would be dead. There would be no reason to disturb the happy family of ponies inside the farmhouse. This time every pony would live. Earth ponies would continue raising and harvesting crops, pegasi would live on to control the weather, unicorns would continue to do their magic. This time ponies would live on to care for each other like they always have. This time there would continue to be marriages, foals would be born and there would be ponies to love them.

This time…