Applejack and Rarity walk together down the road from Fluttershy's house. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo dart after each other between their hooves.
"Girls, girls. Girls!" Rarity calls out to the rebellious fillies.
"Now, y'all calm down! Apple Bloom, listen to your big sister. Don't make me tell Big Mac."
Apple Bloom pauses. The others collide with her. "Ow, Apple Bloom!" They cry in unison.
"That's better. Now, behave! See, Rarity, you just got to show em who's boss."
"Hmm, yes, I see." Rarity says more than a little dismissively. She perks up, "Hey, is that Fluttershy?" She points to the yellow pegasus trotting off into the Everfree Forest alone.
"What in tar-, it is! What's she doing alone so late at night?"
"It's so unlike her."
"Hold on, I'll see what's up. Rarity, take care of the girls." The fillies begin to play again as Applejack takes off towards the forest.
"Whahaha? Applejack! Don't you leave me with them alone! Applejack! Wait! Don't go!" But the pony ignores her pleas as she dashed into the forest.
Applejack weaves in and out of the brush of the forest. She wasn't the most subtle pony, but Fluttershy seemed to distracted to notice anything. She slowly makes her way deeper into the forest.
The path Fluttershy takes is surprisingly perilous. It winds along a narrow cliff face. Applejack can't help by look down into the depths. It fades into the haze. She focuses her gaze on the rock face and hugs the stone as she continues forward. How in the hay is this pony able to go on?
Applejack begins to wonder if she should turn back when the path levels out again. She stops in her tracks. There's an archway of wood in front of her. It was once a brilliant red, but age had worn the paint away. And, beyond that, there was a small village in ruins. Not a single building still stood. Foundations and collapsed beams were all that remained.
What is this place?
Making her way through the ruins was Fluttershy.
Forget subtly
"Fluttershy! Wait up! Fluttershy!"
But the pony slips out of sight.
Durn it
Applejack rushed through the archway into the town. Her gut is slammed by some unseen force. She gasps for air. After recovering, she stands. A thick fog has fallen.
Where did this come from?
She decides to ignore it and follow her friend. Out of the mist, a building rises. It's new. From inside, she can hear ponies chatting with one another. Applejack peaks into a window. There's a flame burning in the fireplace, but she sees no ponies. She touches the window. It's solid. The building is real. She withdraws her hoof.
All around rise the ghostly shapes of the village in its former glory. She runs from building to building only to find the same results everywhere she looks. There's something familiar about the village. It finally hits her. Ponyville. She's in Ponyville. The mist and the age had disoriented her, but it was definitely Ponyville as it was when she was a child.
This ain't natural. I need to find Fluttershy and get out of here.
Turning back to the mist, she chases after her friend. As she runs further into town, a light snow begins to fall. It sticks to everything. Applejack begins to feel her movements become sluggish. Time stretches out. Just out of sight, she sees Fluttershy running.
"Fluttershy!"
The pegasus stops. She turns to face Applejack. Out of breath and panting, Applejack walks towards her friend. She's outside Sweet Apple Acres. From the mist rise the skeletal shape of her orchard.
"Girl, where do you think you're going alone like that? You had me worried sick!"
Fluttershy opens her mouth to speak, but the words are lost to Applejack. She notices something strange with the way her friend speaks.
"What's that? Say again, Sugarcube?"
She continues to approach. The thick fog makes it hard to see. Very hard to see.
"Fluttershy? Darling?"
She strains to see into the fog.
"...Fluttershy?"
Applejack stops. A chill runs down her spin.
"What, what are you?"
The faceless one mimics the motion of speech, but no sound rises from it.
She runs from the thing standing in the mist.
Around her rise the shapes of other ponies. Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. All of her friends and her family. They start to reach out to her. They motion her to come to them. She dodges them all, and runs on. She reaches what she thinks is where she came in, but the archway is gone.
Where did I come in from?
How do I get out of here?
There's another path which leads to the graveyard. It's the only path she hadn't taken yet. With no other options, Applejack pushes forward into the mist.
She finds herself on the shore of a lake. The mist here is at its thickest. She can't see the other side of the shore. There are two ponies standing together in the water. Applejack stops and stares. Tears form in her eyes as she finds herself drawn to them.
Her hooves are in the water. The faceless ones rise silently from the water. They float on the mist towards her. Applejack ignores them all. She reaches to the ponies.
"Mom! Dad! It's me! Applejack!"
Her hoof passes through them. Another illusion of the mist. She feels hooves grab her.
"No! Let me go! Mom! Dad!"
She breaks free and runs deeper in the mist. She can see them. They're running from her down the path again. Her body feels heavy once more. Applejack realizes that it's holding her back. There's a sudden feeling of lightness as she runs to catch up with her parents.
In another place and time, where there's no mist, Apple Bloom sits over her sister on the shore of a lake. She shakes her sister. Rarity tells her to stop. Apple Bloom ignores her.
"Applejack! Applejack! Come back!"
She doesn't wake.
