For what seemed like days the stallion travelled through the blistering heat. The desert was made even worse by the fact that the days never turned into nights and instead the weather was a constant scorching torridity. His tongue was dry and cracked and it felt like his blood had turned to paste, refusing to flow through his veins and leaving him with barely enough strength to walk. Yet he staggered on, filled with the sense of a higher purpose which compelled him to seek the end of this seemingly endless desert.
Still, after all the distance he travelled, the stallion saw no change in the horizon before him. The infinite expanse of broken clay, yellowed from drying in the oven that was the air, was all that lay in his path. At one point he saw his farm, with his granny and two younger sisters waiting for him up ahead but the mirage faded as he dragged himself nearer. That was why when he saw a strip of green before him he felt no need to get there quickly. It came as a complete surprise to him that the oasis didn’t vanish into dust when he got close. Instead of shriveling and dying the grass sprang up from under his hoof after each step. The river of water did not evaporate into nothingness as he collapsed to the ground to take a drink. Still convinced he was hallucinating, the stallion decided it would be best to enjoy the vivid dream while it lasted so he forfeited his disbelief and plunged his head into the water. His thirst even outweighed his fear that the water would cause the same horrible pain as the last time, and to his relief it did no such thing. Instead he rejoiced in the cool freshness of the drink. He had never imagined that water could taste as sweet and as pure as this water did. He drank his fill and laid back contentedly to allow his body to process the refreshment.
Soon he did not feel nearly as exhausted and even somewhat energetic. The temperature was still terribly hot so he decided to go for a swim. As he waded into the river the coolness was at the same time both shocking and immensely relieving. He no longer cared if this was a dream or not. He only wanted to enjoy his relaxation. In his good mood he decided to explore the other side of the river to see what other delights he might find. This was easily done for the river was only thirty feet wide with no current to speak of. As he crossed, taking large gulps of water while he swam, his cares began to fade one by one from his mind. He forgot about his failed pie delivery, and the fall from the cliff. His journey across this bizarre landscape faded from his memory. He soon forgot his family, where he came from, and even who he was. The very last thing to go was his determination to keep walking until he reached his unknown destination. The only thoughts left in his mind were how much he enjoyed this water and how eagerly he desired the red fruits that hung from the trees he’d just spotted at the edge of the river.
He clambered ashore and galloped towards the nearest tree like an excited colt to an ice cream truck. Something about the red fruits hanging from it seemed familiar and comforting to him and he very much wanted to have some. Somehow his instincts took over and he kicked the trunk of the tree causing a large pile of fruits to fall down to the ground around him. He excitedly shoved an entire fruit into his mouth and chomped down on it with a satisfying crunch. He found absolute bliss in the flavor and texture of this delightful food and he saw no reason why he would ever want to eat anything else, do anything else, or go anywhere else.
For an eternity he wandered the shore of that beautiful river. It went on forever, as did the apple trees. He employed his time swimming and eating and sleeping with his hooves dangling in the cool water. He did not know age or worry and he spent countless lifetimes whiling away the hours on that eternal riverbank.
At some point while he was enjoying another helping of red fruit he noticed a small object floating on the surface of the river. This drew his attention for there was never anything on the river. With a sort of curiosity that was entirely knew to him he waded out to the object, scooped it up and brought it back to shore where he examined it while munching on some red fruit.
It appeared to be a piece of paper, though he wasn’t entirely sure how he could recognize a thing called paper which he’d never seen before. The paper was covered in marks and squiggles and a set of markings at the bottom stood out from the rest. As he looked at them words started to appear in his head like the symbols were speaking to him.
“Don’t forget to hold on to this,” the symbols said. For the first time in his existence something felt like it was moving inside his head, almost like something had gotten stuck in there a long long time ago and was tring to get out. “Once you get all the way there, you’ll still need it to find your way home. Take care, AJ.”
In a flash of horrifying realization the memories flooded the stallion’s mind. He remembered everything that ever happened to him, watching through it again like a movie in his brain. He remembered his parents raising him on the apple farm with granny’s help. He remembered how proud he was when pa gave him one of his old work collars to wear and he swore he’d never take it off. He remembered his two wonderful sisters and the all too short time that all six members of the family had together. He remembered watching his parents helplessly as the ceiling caved in on them, leaving him to take care of his sisters. He remembered the pie delivery gone horribly wrong and the terrifying fall from the cliff. Then his memories flashed forward to the present, rewinding through the eternity he spent eating apples and swimming away the time. He remembered suffering through the scorching desert. He remembered the white pony carrying him across the river. He remembered narrowly escaping the six eyes in the forbidding forest. He remembered swimming across the first river he thought would never end. He remembered the strange pegasus giving him a coin and pointing him in the right direction.
That was where the timelines didn’t meet up. In one he was falling from a cliff and in the other he was standing up completely unharmed. Try as he might, he could not remember the pegasus catching him and carrying him to safety. Instead a new vision appeared. He saw himself, or at least what he guessed to be himself, lying in a jumble at the bottom of a cliff, surrounded by fragments of a pie delivery cart and its destroyed contents. He saw his corpse, mangled and motionless, splattered on the ground.