AGC

Golden Harvest sighed. Despite all of her effort, the crop had still been a disappointment.

Why did she even bother? She would never be as successful as the Apples. Nopony wanted carrots.

From her vantage point in the hill, she could see the seemingly endless, bountiful orchard the Apples tended. She could see, on the horizon, their proud barn and other facilities, well lit against the night sky.

On her land, there was a vast expanse of infertile brown, overseen by a single rickety shack next to a plain cabin-house.

She looked in the opposite direction: a handful of amber lights formed the outline of the small grassy hut where that strange, quiet mare lived. Beyond that, the Everfree forest stretched farther than she could see by twilight.

Maybe I’ll go for a walk tonight.

Fluttershy awoke with a yelp. Somepony was outside.

She crawled towards the door and peered through the looking glass.

A sad-looking orange mare was meandering through her garden.

She peeked her head through the door.

“Can... Can I help you?”

The intruder jumped upon hearing a voice.

“No... no, I’m just going for walk, thanks.”

Though it struck Fluttershy odd that somepony would be going for a stroll here, at this time of night, she didn’t push.

“All right then. Don’t go too far into the forest, though: there’re nasty things in there.”

“I’ll watch out.”

Inside of her, Fluttershy felt something die: she was letting a lone mare go, in the middle of the night, into the Everfree forest. As if it would be her fault if - when - something happened to this one. Not again.

“Harvest! Wait! Don’t—” she tried to protest, but the mare was long gone.

Y’know... she thought, walking down the dark path. This is actually pretty relaxing...

She savored the silence: only the sounds of her hoofsteps, the occasional distant bird’s cry, the wind in the leaves...

Why didn’t anypony else come here? So peaceful, so quiet, ganz rühig...

Something glimmered among the twilit brush. She wandered off of the path to investigate: a rectangle of shining white stone stood out against the dark earth of the escarpment in which it was embedded.

She dared herself closer: the door was marked with intricate geometric figures, and something was written in Old Equestrian.

Her thoughts immediately went to what sort of treasures may lie within: precious stones, ancient texts...

She reached out to touch the door: as her hoof made contact, the world dissolved to white around her.

“Wo... Wo bin... Where am I?” she said as she came to, accidentally lapsing into her native tongue.

She tried to open her eyes, but it was too bright. Had she fallen asleep in the woods?

As her eyes adjusted, she noticed the distinct lack of flora or fauna in her surroundings. Or anything, for that matter. The white stretched indefinitely, extending equally upwards and downwards. There was no visible ‘ground’, just a plane of white.

And then something appeared in the distance. She blinked to make sure she wasn’t seeing hallucinating, and it was then right before her: an immense, glittering serpent, barely visible against the white infinity.

Thou art distraught. The voice came from nowhere, but there was only one possible source among the nothingness.

“Ja...”

Aber warum? it asked, lapsing into her native Teuponian. Why hast thou thrown thyself away?

“I... what do I have to offer? I’m just a Nichts: I try to be a farmer, but I’ve never been successful, not with those blöße Apples next door...”

But thou canst be so much more: the wheels of life must remain well-oiled, lest dross stagnate and choke the mechanisms.