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…