The train wasn’t particularly menacing. Quiet the opposite in fact as it is very hard to be menacing while being brightly colored, very well lit and full of smiling ponies. None the less as Applebloom stood there, in the station, looking at the brightly colored, well lit train train full of smiling ponies, only one thought came to mind.

Menacing.

She stood on the platform, watching as it pulled to a stop. It was one of the newer stations, installed by order of Celestia a few years ago. It still had that new train station smell, which is much like new horseshoe smell only with a great deal more coal. It must at this point be said that there was nothing wholly remarkable about the train station, or for that matter its rather cheerily painted trains. But at exactly one in the afternoon something wholly remarkable was set to occur.

The current time is exactly seven minutes past noon.

Applebloom turned to Applejack, still finding it odd that they were almost the same height now. She was exactly as tall as her sister if you counted in the large red bow. But, since red bows do not count under any known system of measurement she would have to wait a while longer. Still, the way things were going she would probably be taller when it was all said and done.

During the time it had taken her to become this tall she had begun to notice that growing up is an altogether unpleasant thing that should be avoided at all costs, and being a narrator I can attest to this fact. Alas ponies do have the same luxuries as narrators, so Applebloom had no choice but to face the fact that she was no longer a filly, though she could not rightly be called a mare. She was in that odd place everypony, even you, ends up at at one point or another, inbetween places, and therefore nowhere at all.

“Have you got your lunch?” asked Applejack, biting her bottom lip.

“Yes.”

“Have you got your apples seeds?”

“Yes.”

“Have you got your water?”

“Yes.” Applebloom nodded a final time. Her sister patted her on the side, her face tense in that happy kind of way only older ponies seemed to be able to manage.

Applebloom knew she was worried and she’d probably stay worried for quite a while, but it was time. All fillies went through it, with colts tossed in for good measure. For some it was a small change, one day they walked down the street and, with little or no warning, it happened. They cross from one side to the other, or come to realize they’d arrived at their destination quite a long time ago, and only just realized it. They are the lucky ones, for the rest of the ponies in-between it takes a bit more. They remain nowhere, unsure of where they’re going. This can be a scary thing, everypony wants to be somewhere. Wherever ‘there’ is.

Applebloom looked at her flank, still as blank as the day she was born, and hoped that ‘there’ would be on the other side of the tracks stretching into the horizon.

The ticket in her saddlebag suddenly felt very heavy. The weight of the words ‘One Way’ threatening to send her tumbling to the ground. But, she was an Apple, and Apple’s were a strong hearty breed. She was honest, she was brave, she was smart and looking back at her sister she knew she was also loved. Back at home she had a brother and a grandmother waiting, they would see her off, and welcome her home, no matter what happened.

Applebloom would certainly need to remember this, but doubly so in about sixty-five minutes.

The current time is ten minutes past noon.

This whole thing had been Scootaloo’s idea. Applebloom mused, her impulsive pegasus friend had told her, if she couldn’t find ‘somewhere’ here, then ‘somewhere’ must rightly be somewhere else. It only made sense.

This was of course, very solid logic, or at least in the mind of Scootaloo, to whom logic was a tenuous friend at best. Still, she’d tried everything else. Sweetie Belle hadn’t thought it was a very good idea, but Sweetie Belle had recently found her way to the other side, a microphone adorning her flank. She was currently the prime act at the local theater several times a week. Applebloom did not want to be jealous of her friend, but had to admit she did feel a slight twinge of anger at not receiving hers. She knew it was wrong to feel that way, but feelings are seldom obedient things, always doing the opposite of what we may want them to. Like a particularly haughty cat who only wants you to pet it when you’re busy doing something else.

So, driven a bit by pride, a bit by jealousy and perhaps more than she wanted to admit by fear. She’d purchased the ticket, packed her bags, and told her family she was heading out to find that ‘somewhere’. She would return when she found it. But until then she would be away.

Applejack had done the same in her youth, so they couldn’t rightly object. Not to say this stopped them from doing so. But, being an Apple, in addition to all the other things the title carried, she was stubborn. It was her aging Grandmother who’d relented first, after that her siblings had little choice but to agree and help her pack. So, with the ticket in her bag, and a slight dread in her stomach, she’d set off.

Applejack, like many ponies was not very good at goodbyes, which is an irony considering the name. Applebloom, knowing this, kindly initiated with a hug. Her sister’s hooves were strong as always and felt terribly safe. For a moment she considered abandoning the whole thing and heading back home for a bit of cider and perhaps a cookie. But Apples don’t do anything halfway. If they did, they wouldn’t be Apples, and as sure as her tail was red she was an Apple.

“Good luck, little sister.” said Applejack softly.

Applebloom managed a small smile. “Thanks, I’ll see you soon.”

Applejack managed a small one in return.“You’d better.”

“All aboard!” called the porter, a rather wiry unicorn in a blue hat.

“That’s my cue.” she said, turning towards the train. “Tell Big Mac and Granny Smith I’ll send a letter when I get there.”

“I sure will.” said Applejack. “..Goodbye Applebloom.”

Applebloom was stuck for a moment. The words seemed so final. She instantly decided that the term ‘Goodbye’ was terribly named.

“Goodbye Applejack.”

---

---

So, Applebloom gave her ticket to the porter, who punched a little hole in it, and ushered her onto the train. She could just see over the heads of the ponies milling about the car as they packed up their luggage, directed foals and generally doing busy things. They payed her little attention as she found her room, in a car at the back of the caboose, a small window let in the sun, iluminating a small bed and an even smaller nightstand. She couldn’t help but think the bed looked terribly uncomfortable, compared to her much larger, much softer one back home. Suddenly, though the train had not yet left the station, it suddenly felt terribly far away.

The current time is half past noon.

Applebloom sat her saddlebag on the floor next to the bed. It should now be noted that this saddlebag contained several things, but most importantly her lunch, which consisted of a hay sandwich apples slices and some water, along with what was always carried by Apples, the bag of apple seeds. Applejack was quite right to make sure Applebloom did not forget these items in particular, and you would do well to keep them in mind.

The train’s whistle blared shrilly through the air signaling their departure from the station. She felt the floor shudder a bit as the conductor coaxed the engine to life. Applebloom looked out her window as they pulled forwards, and saw ponyville slowly getting smaller in the distance. There was no turning back now.

At this point I must interrupt again to comment my earlier statement. About one thousand one hundred and two words ago I stated that there was nothing remarkable about the station which Applebloom just left, nor the trains it houses, while this is technically true there something remarkable about the tracks. This remarkable thing is that they lead through the Everfree forest, which is a wholly remarkable place.

The time is a quarter to one in the afternoon.

Applebloom layed her head down as ponyville finally vanished into the horizon. She was right, the bed was terribly uncomfortable, but it would have to do. She thought about where she was heading, and realized she couldn’t even remember the town’s name. It was on the ticket stub in her bag, she hadn’t taken much time to look at it. When she’d gotten home to pack it away she’d put it away in the deepest pocket under the water, the apples seeds, and the sandwich, hidden like a secret.

She hadn’t even bothered to give it a look when she’d given it to the porter. Either because she hadn’t thought about it, or because she didn’t want to. If she studied it for too long it might change her mind. She didn’t want that.

Did she?

Applebloom felt terribly unsure. But it was far too late now, far, far too late. She needed to find somewhere to be. She was sick of being somewhere inbetween.

The time is exactly one in the afternoon.

---

Appleblooms cabin suddenly grew dark as the train passed beneath the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest. Small flecks of light spilled from in between the leaves, painting the cabin in spots. Applebloom was distracted from her thought for a moment by how pretty it looked. They raced by, changing constantly as the train moved.

Dispite herself she smiled.

Suddenly Applebloom felt herself being drawn forwards, she stumbled a bit. The train was slowing. She found this odd with good reason, as the station wasn’t do for another few hours. She heard the clicking of plates from the dining car as they shifted around and the heavy thuds of luggage falling from the overhead racks.

Something was wrong.

Applebloom looked around her cabin, wondering what she ought to do.

A mare might wait in their car until the someone came to alert them that to what was amiss, or the train started up again. But Applebloom was not a mare, not quite yet in anycase. She still had that bit of filly curiosity that led her to peek her head out of th door, and stare into the abandoned car which lay waiting outside.

She gasped. There was nopony anywhere to be seen. Where only minutes ago there had been bustling activity, no there was nothing but silence. Luggage lay in various states of disaray on the floors and chairs, covered in the spots of light from the tree line. The whole car looked like it was trying to dress up as a cheetah for nightmare night. Which is quite a bit more scary than it sounds when one is facing it alone in the middle of a train which had been fully occupied only moments ago.

They must have gone to their rooms, she thought. Yes, that’s got to be it, there’s simply no other explanation.

She nodded to herself, this made quite a lot more sense than what a small panicky voice in the back of her head was saying. Being not quite a filly, she decided to hush this voice, and listen to the sensible option.

She grabbed her saddlebag and walked through the passenger car until she came to a door, she raised a hoof and knocked twice.

“Hello?” she asked, her voice echoing oddly throughout the train. “Is anypony in there? It seems there’s somethin’ wrong.”

She waited, but there was no answer. The silence seemed incredibly loud.

She knocked again. “Hello?”

Still no answer.

She tried the door, to find that it was open, sliding it back she found that the inside was just as empty as out.

“Okay...” she said to herself, as worried ponies are prone to do. “Must just be an unbooked cabin’ yeah..that’s it.”

She walked, then trotted, the galloped around the train, knocking on various doors, only to find the rooms as empty as the first.

Applebloom was starting to very much doubt that that was ‘it’.

The conductor, she thought. He had to still be here...otherwise who would have stopped the train?

She galloped, quite a bit faster than is classically polite, to the conductors booth. It was behind a large green door, which looked quite a bit less cheerily painted in the light from the forest. Applebloom was quite thoroughly sick of knocking, and ripped the door open as quickly as she could.

Thick moss and foliage spilled out into the car, she fell back onto her rump, pushed back by the sheer amount. Flowers sprouted everywhere in ever color, making the train look downright drab by comparison. Applebloom let out a yelp, scooting back quickly.

The inside of of the booth was dark, she couldn’t see past the door, a deep voice, like the sound of pennies dropping on a hollow floor echoed outwards.

“Yes?” it asked politely.

Applebloom opened and closed her mouth a few times.

“Well? What are you bothering me about?”

“I-I....what....how...where are we?”

“Somewhere.” said the voice simply. “That’s where you wanted to go isn’t it? This is your stop.”

“N-no! This isn’t my stop! I’m going...” she realized she had forgotten. “Um...one moment.” she remembered the ticket stubs. Applebloom bucked her saddlebag off, and fished through it until she found the small piece of paper. “Here” she grabbed it in her mouth. “This is where I’m going.”

She resisted the urge to pull back as a large vine reached forward and curled around the ticket. It held it up to the darkness for a moment.

“Yep, there it is.” The vine hovered in front of her nose. “Somewhere.”

Sure enough, now embossed in bright gold letters, were the words ‘Somewhere’ printed in fancy type.

“B-but that wasn’t on there when I bought it!”

Applebloom got the strangest impression the collection of vines was shrugging. “Not my problem.”

“Well I reckon it is your problem....whatever you are! Where is everypony anyway? There were other passengers besides’ me. They certaintly weren’t headin’ for ‘Somewhere’!”

“Well of course not.” said the darkness. “This is your stop. They’ve all got their own stops. Now, please disembark, and be sure to give us a good review, and avoid the unsure.”

Applebloom was confused. “B-but what happened to them!? Where am I supposed to go!? And what the heck are you!?”

“I’m your conductor,” the darkness said simply. “Have a safe journey.”

The door shut with a decisive click.

“Wait!” Applebloom tried to open the door again, only to find it stuck fast. “You come back here right now! I’m not gettin’ off here I tell you! This isn’t my stop!”

There was no answer.

“Fine!” Applebloom yelled. “I’ll just sit here till you start the train up again. See how you like that!” Applebloom sat down stubbornly.

There was the sound of rattling leaves, or perhaps a sigh from behind the door. Suddenly the floorboard lifted upwards at almost exactly seventy degrees. Applebloom went tumbling end over end as the side of the train opened like it was made of liquid. She was roughly deposited on the mossy ground of the forest.

“Hey!” she yelled.

She was drowned out by the sound of the engines starting again. The train began to move forwards.

Applebloom was on her hooves and chasing it before she even realized.

“Wait! This ain’t my stop! You let me back on right now! You hear!?”

The train did not hear. It sped up, and though she chased it valiantly it soon outpaced her, and she was left staring at the cabose as it pulled off in the darkness of the Forrest.

Soon she was left staring down the tracks. All alone.

“Remember beware the unsure!” echoed back after a few minutes.

---

Applebloom stood there for several minutes staring in disbelief. She was now all by herself, in the middle of the Everfree forest. She’d been inside before, but never farther than her friend Zecora’s house, and always on the designated path. Now the small hut the old zebra lived in, and any kind of path seemed terribly far away.

Then an idea occured to her.

“I’ll just follow the tracks!” she said aloud. “They’ve got to lead out of here at some point.”

So, feeling very proud of herself, she situated her hooves right down the middle of the metal railing, and started walking.

Sadly, things are rarely ever this simple.

After walking for what seemed like an hour, Applebloom’s hooves were aching fiercely, but still she soldiered on continuing forwards to what she was sure to be a break in the forrest.

Until she came upon a green saddlebag.

“Huh?...” she looked at it closely, there was an apple on the side, and the letters ‘AB’ stitched into the side. It was hers. She’d dropped it when the train dumped her out.

She was going in circles.

Her brain railed against this. How was that possible? The tracks had come from ponyville, they couldn’t go in a circle or she would have ended up back there, or at least run into the train again. But she hadn’t.

The mare side of her brain told her that it must be some kind of mistake, perhaps her bag got caught on the side of the train and dragged along to this point before it had fallen off. This was by all rights a sound theory. She nodded, that much be it.

“It’s about time you got back.” said a voice.

Applebloom’s head whipped around to find a small pig with a missing ear sitting a few feet away. It crinkled its snout at her.

She looked around a bit more.

“Yeah, it was me. It’s about time you got back sweetheart.”

Applebloom’s mind registered two things. The mare side registered that a pig was talking to her, while the filly side very much wanted to buck it for calling her ‘Sweetheart’.

The filly side won out.

“Sweetheart?” Applebloom advanced on the small thing. “Who are you calling sweetheat?”

“That’d be you.” The pig crinkled its nose again. “Sweetheart. It took you long enough.” Its voice sounded a bit like someone had put Big Macintosh in a helium balloon.

Applebloom glared down at the pig. “If you don’t want to find yourself bucked halfway across the forest I’d loose the nickname.”

It squeled a bit. “Fine ‘AB’. No need to be so violent.”

“AB?”

“That’s what it says on your back ain’t it?”

“That’s Applebloom,” she said. Now that her anger was ebbing the mare side of her brain took over. “How are you talking anyway? And what do you mean ‘It’s about time you got back?”

The pig raised a stubby cloven hoof. “One, I could ask you the same question. Just ‘cause we’re quiet doesn’t mean we pigs can’t talk. Two, the track goes in a circle, if you keep that up you’ll just go around till you drop.”

The filly side of Applebloom’s brain gave a little halfhearted cheer for being correct, and briefly noted it was lucky the pig only had two things to list. Its hoof only had two points.

“Well,” said Applebloom in a huff. “How do you suggest I get out of here? And where is ‘here’ anyway?”

“Here?” repeated the pig. “One,” it held up its hoof again. “This is Somewhere. Two, you’d have to ask the Unsure.”

Applebloom opened her mouth to ask another question, but the pig headed her off.

“Let me guess, more questions? Let me save you some breath sweethea-”

At Applebloom’s glare the word died in his throat.

“I mean...AB.” He held up his hoof a third time. “One, Somewhere is everywhere, everywhere is Somewhere, Somewhere ain’t Nowhere. Two the Unsure knows everything. It’ll know how to get you out of here.”

Applebloom considered this. The filly side of her brain accepted it readily, it was just like the fairy stories she’d read as a foal, but the mare side of her brain balked. None of this made sense, she should just keep following the tracks.

Once again the filly side won out.

“Fine, I don’t rightly understand all this, but if this ‘Unsure’ knows how to get me out of here, I sure as heck mean to ask him about it.”

“It,” the pig corrected.

“It?”

The pig nodded. “It ain’t sure if it’s a boy or a girl, so it’s an ‘it’ til further notice.”

“Fine.” said Applebloom. “Whatever ‘it’ is. I’ve got a couple of word for it.” she looked down at the small pink pig. “Take me.”

The pig made a snorting sound, which may have been a laugh. “And why would I do that sweethea-....I mean AB?”

Applebloom floundered for a moment. “Uh...”

Exactly. “I gave you the info, that’s my good deed for the day. You’re on your own.” The Pig turned to leave.

“Wait!” Applebloom held out a hoof. “I don’t know which way to go!”

The pig squealed irritably. “Not my problem. Good luck AB.”

Applebloom’s mind raced, the last thing she needed to do was get lost in the forest again. The filly side of her brain told her to chase the pig down and make it tell her, but the mare side of her brain politely suggested she try something else.

Applebloom decided to listen to what the mare side had to say.

It suggested that she give the pig something in return for helping her. ‘You get more pigs with slop than with vinegar’ it supplied.

This made sense to Applebloom, she decided to listen to the mare side.

It gloated over its win while the filly side sulked in the corner.

Applebloom yelled one more time. “Hey pig! What if I had something to trade?”

The pig stopped, cocking his good ear in her direction. “I’m listening.”

She reached into her saddlebag, pulling out the sandwich, setting it on the ground. “How’s this?”

The pig eyed the sandwich warily. “This ain’t no trick?”

Applebloom shook her head. “I swear on the Apple Family it ain’t. And you can take that to the bank.”

The pig eyed her for a moment. The dived into the sandwich like a ravenous lion.

It was gone in a matter of seconds, the pig smacked happily, rolling back and forth on the breadcrumbs that had fallen during the massacre.

“Alright, AB, you got yourself a deal.”

Applebloom smiled. “Great! There’s some apple slices in it for you at the end as well.”

“There’s more!?” asked the Pig, sounding, for the first time since Applebloom had met him happy, or for that matter anything that wasn’t surly.

“Yep.” She nodded. “Now,have you got a name?”

“Sty,” the pig said simply. “The name’s Sty.” he turned and walked towards the forest. “Now, we’d best get a move on.”

Applebloom followed close behind. “Agreed.”

Sty was faster than he looked, she had to keep up a trot in order not to loose him. “Good,” he said. “Because if you’re here when the sun goes down, you might not be gettin’ out.”

---

Applebloom wanted to ask what he meant by this, but he simply sped up. Her hooves still hurt from walking along the train tracks for so long. But her years of helping in the fields of her family’s orchard had made her strong. She kept up dispite their complaints.

The mare side of her mind was still on the fence about following a talking pig deep into a dangerous forest, but it was starting to come around. The filly side bounced along happily, enjoying the adventure.

Sty said nothing more as they headed fowards to meet the Unsure. The conductors warning rose up in her mind, the filly side ignoring it out of stubborn anger at being dumped out of a train. The mare side told her she ought to be careful.

Eventually Sty came to a stop. He suddenly looked very afraid.

“What is it?” asked Applebloom.

“It’s not good, that’s what it is.” he pushed his snout against her leg. “Quick! Quick! Under that bush.”

Applebloom allowed him to push her under a small cluster of bushes, she crouched down next to him and waited.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“My nose tells me somethin’s goin’ down. Don’t move, AB.”

“Alright,” Applebloom said.

So they waited. While they do this, I will take this time to tell you that the Everfree forest is a place of many oddities unknown to modern magic, science or any mixture therein. Everything you can imagine, and perhaps a bit more may or may not exist there. And while something may or may not exist, it certainly may be able to harm a small pig and a not quite mare. The main reason that a small pig had been able to survive in this place for long enough to develop a surly disposition was that he was very skilled at hiding. Applebloom did not know much about Sty beyond what she’d encountered in the total of thirty some odd minutes she had known him. So, now that there was a moment of rest, she decided to ask him.

“Sty?” she whispered.

“What is it?”

“Well....I wanted to ask, what’s a pig doing in the Everfree forest?”

Sty snorted. “Is now really the time to ask this, AB?”

“Well, we’ve been sitting here for a few minutes now and nothing’s happen, I might as well learn a bit about my tour guide.”

Sty sighed. “Fine, but whisper softer.”

“Okay.” Applebloom whispered at a slightly lower volume.

“Well, it’s like this. The world isn’t a very fair place sweetheart.”

Applebloom decided to let this one slide.

“I started out as a piglet, same as anyone, small pink, rolling in the mud. You know? Anyhow, I was the runt of the litter. To small to be of much use to anyone. Pigs are supposed to find truffles for ponies, that’s the deal. But, if I was too small and weak to keep up with the other pigs, what good was I? Well apparently the farmer had the same idea.”

Applebloom opened her mouth, but Sty held up a hoof for silence.

“Save it, I was useless and I know that. Still am useless, and don’t try to tell me no different.” He snorted. “Anywho, one day the farmer comes in with his daily slop, and what’s he do? Does he put it in the trough? Nope, he waves a bit in front of me. Leads me away from my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and into the forest.”

Applebloom put a hoof to her mouth. “That’s awful!”

“Shhhh!” Sty stared at her. “I know it, but that’s life. He tossed the slop into he trees and no more Sty. Or at least that’s what he thought. I lived you see? I didn’t just get eaten or zapped, or changed into some monster. I’m here, and I looked out for myself. I may be useless to everyone else, but at least I can manage that. I was all alone in the forest, so, why stay quiet? I ain’t doin’ nothin’ no one tells me to do. I do what I want when I want. I look out for me.”

Applebloom was silent for a moment.

“Then...why did you tell me about the train tracks?” she asked finally.

Sty looked at her, his small piggy eyes examining her.

“You’re just a filly. I ain’t heartless alright?”

Applebloom smilled a bit, tossing a hoof around his side. “And you’re not useless either.”

The small pig struggled. “Let go’a me!”

Then from both Applebloom and Sty’s perspective the world exploded.

---

Fire was everywhere, the heat hit the pair of them fiercely, singeing the tip of Applebloom’s mane and tail, and causing Sty to squeal out in pain.

“Elemental!” he yelled.

Applebloom grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. The bush Sty had chosen offered no protection as what seemed to be a pony made of fire came kicking and bucking wildly. It let out a horribly sound, like a neigh and scream mixed into one. Everything within five feet of it burst into flames.

Applebloom jumped clear as the bush and all surrounding greenery went up in flames.

“Run!” yelled Sty “Just run!”

The filly and mare sides of Applebloom’s brain agreed with this advice.

Applebloom galloped hard, the heat at her back getting more intense as the elemental grew closer. It let out another hideous scream, which drowned out Applebloom’s own.

She dashed through the forrest, over branches and crackling leaves trying desperately to outrun the creature.

Alas, not quite fillies, who aren’t quite mares are prone to trip.

A branch caught her hoof, and sent her sprawling onto the ground. Her rear hoof twisted oddly as she fell. Pain shot up her leg, causing her to cry out. Sty went flying into the air landing several feet away.

He yelled something but Applebloom couldn’t hear it as the thing screamed again. It was approaching her fast, the forest ablaze around it. She tired to get up, but her rear leg buckled under her weight. She fell to the ground, looking back as the creature closed the gap. She closed her eyes.

“Applebloom!” yelled Sty, but he was too far away to be of any help.

She waited several minutes for the end to come, the sound of the blaze crackling and roaring in her ears, the screams of the thing ringing through the trees. but the end didn’t come.

She found this odd.

Applebloom opened her eyes to find the creature had stopped. It thrashed and beat its hooves against the ground, but it didn’t advance. It screamed again, falling to the ground, its limbs flailing about.

Sty was suddenly at her side. “Come on! We gotta get out of here. Its hurt. This is our chance!” The small pig positioned itself under her hurt leg. She was still just small enough for him to offer some support. But she stopped.

“Are you crazy!? Come on!”

Applebloom looked at the creature. Its head turned towards her, flames licking over its surface. It screamed again.

A scream of pain.

“No...” she said finally.

“What!?” Sty tried to move her forwards on his own, but got nowhere. “We can’t stay here. It’ll kill you! That’s what fire does, that’s what fire elemental’s do. They burn, they destroy, and they do not care about fillies or talking pigs. Now get a move on!!”

“No...” said Applebloom.

She shook the pig away, and limped towards the thing. Its thrashing seemed to ebb as she got closer.

“AB! AB come back!”

Applebloom ignored him. The walking was hard, painful work, as she got closer the heat got more and more intense, her mane may or may not have been on fire, but she didn’t care.

The mare side of her brain screamed at her to take Sty’s advice. The filly side pushed her to keep going.

She was a few feet away from it when her back leg buckled again. She fell forwards, exhausted. The ground was so hot....and she was so tired. But she needed to keep going.

Suddenly she found something supporting her. She looked down to see Sty at her side, pushing against her flank, trying to get her up. Despite the heat she smiled.

“You really aren’t heartless...” she said breathlessly.

Sty didn’t bother with a reply. He pushed her to her hooves. And with a new surge of energy, she made it the rest of the way.

She almost couldn’t keep her eyes open, the air burned on her skin and in her throat, but she had to do something.

The thing screamed again.

The filly side of her brain hadn’t bothered to think this far, but the mare side figured if it’d gotten this far, it might as well help.

Applebloom reached into her saddlebag, and grabbed the bottle of water. Not bothering with the cap, she threw it at the creature.

The plastic melted instantly as the thing screamed a final time.

There was a whooshing sound a gust of cold air, then Applebloom collapsed.

---

There was something poking the side of Applebloom’s head. The filly side of her brain begged for five more minutes. The mare side told her to wake up.

She listened to the filly side up until around the fiftieth poke.

Her eyes opened. They were fuzzy, and incredibly dry. The inside of her mouth felt like a desert, and there was a fierce pain coming from one of her legs. She was laying in a wide circle of ash.

Something brown was laying beside her.

When her eyes focused, she scooted back in shock, gasping.

The thing was terribly burned. It looked as though it were made of wood. Interwoven branches made up its body and face, while thick trunks made up the legs. It reminded her of the timberwolves from her grandmother’s stories, only in more of a pony shape.

It struggled weakly on the ground. Its eyes two dark gaps in the wood. It scooted a bit closer to her. She pulled back farther, until she hit a tree.

The thing cocked its head to the side.

Applebloom just stared back in horror.

It nodded, seeming to understand her fear. There was a great rattling sound from inside of it. The creature’s branches seemed to tighten as it drew what little strength it had. Its wooden mouth opened, and a single drop of water dripped slowly out, and into the ash.

The thing slumped, apparently spent.

A small green sprout burst from the soil beneath its head.

The thing didn’t move.

Applebloom stood very still for a moment. Then dragged herself forwards a little to look at the thing, or what was left of it. The small sprout grew steadily, by the time she got close enough for a good look it was a good hoof high.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

She reached into her saddlebag, quite surprised it still held anything at all after the fire, and pulled out the package of apples seeds.

She layed it flat on the ground, held it down with a hoof, and ripped it open with her teeth. Straining immensely, she poured its contents over the creature.

And nothing happened.

She waited for several minutes, but the thing was silent.

Suddenly she remembered Sty. She looked around the remains of the forest, trying to find the small pig, looking over the charred branches and still smoldering leaves.

Her eyes finally landed on him.

He was more red than pink. The burns on his body had already begun to peel, and he wasn’t moving.

She tried to call out to him, but her voice was gone, taken by the heat of the fire. Still she rasped, hoping he would hear.

If he did, he still didn’t move.

She slumped to the ground, defeated.

She’d just closed her eyes when the ground began to rumble.

Applebloom’s head shot up just in time to see the wisps of vines sprouting from the creatures eyes. All at once green was surrounded it. Vines tightened around its legs, making them strong and healthy, thick, strong wood replaced the burned husk that had been left by the fire. The thing grew, and grew until it was well over Applebloom’s head, towering to the top of the trees. Its back was full of apple trees.

It looked won at Applebloom, cocking its head to the side. It seemed to be frowning.

It nudged her with its giant head, being surprisingly gentle.

Applebloom looked up in shock.

The thing assessed her when she didn’t get up. Its vines tensing for a moment.

A single apple fell from the ground right in front of her.

The thing sat on its haunches expectantly.

Applebloom looked from it to the apple.

It nodded.

The mare side of her brain was at a complete loss, but her filly side decided to take a bite.

Juice filled her mouth, sweet and pure, quenching her thirst. Her burns stopped hurting, the skin and fur returning, fresh and silky. Her body filled with energy as she chewed, growing stronger. After a while she was able to get to her hooves. She shook her back leg experimentally.

The thing nodded a few times in quick succession. Applebloom took this as a smile.

“Um...thank you...” she said.

It bowed deeply.

Applebloom looked around until she saw Sty again. The creature looked in the same direction, and pointed to the rest of the apple.

Applebloom nodded. “I understand. I’m glad I could help.”

The thing nodded a final time, then bounded off into the forest, its wooden hooves shaking the earth in its wake.

Applebloom walked gingerly over to Sty, and placed an ear on his chest. He was still breathing, but it was shallow. She crushed some of the apple under hoof, and gently scooped it into his mouth.

The forest was silent for several minutes, mostly because not even woodland creatures like to talk during the suspenseful bits.

Slowly Sty’s hide turned from red to a healthy shade of pink. When Applebloom looked at his face she noticed he suddenly had two ears.

He coughed a few times.

“Yep,” Applebloom said with a grin. “Definitely not heartless.”

Sty coughed a few more times. “Says you.”

---

They layed around the forest for a while as the Apple finished its work healing them. Sty had taken up riding on Applebloom’s back in the mean time while she paced.

“So...what you’re telling me that wasn’t a fire elemental, but an earth one?”

Sty snorted the affirmative.

“And it gave me this apple for saving its life?”

“Yep, that’s about the long and short’of it.” Sty hopped down to examine what was left. He wobbled a bit, apparently he’d gotten used to balancing with one ear. “It’ll grant any wish within the forrest’s power.”

“Can it take me away from here?”

Sty shook his head. “Nope, the forest is designed to keep things in, not let them out. But, it can do one thing.”

Applebloom eyed the apple appraising. “What’s that?”

“Take you to the Unsure, who can get you out. Saves us a bit of time.”

Applebloom nodded. “Alright, but tell me a few things.”

“Shoot.”

“One, what happens at sundown? Two, what is ‘The Unsure’ and three will you come with me?”

Sty was quiet for a second. He sighed, and held up a hoof.

“One, at sundown if you’re not out you get slightly deeper into the forest. What that means is you become a step closer to becoming a creature, like that earth elemental. Or worse, whatever set it on fire. Two, ‘The Unsure’ is a being like...” he paused. “Who is that lady who runs this country?”

“Celestia.” Applebloom said.

“Like Celestia, there’s a couple thing like her. It’s one of them, you know, order and chaos and all that stuff. Except unlike chaos ‘The Unsure’ isn’t aligned to any party, it’s unsure, in the middle, the grey area, good and evil, you get me?”

Applebloom nodded. “I think so.

“And thee...” Sty looked at his cloven hoof, seeming just realizing he only hat two points to list things on. He decided to stand on his hind legs and lift his other hoof. “Three, I can’t I’m several steps too far in.”

“Oh...” said Applebloom. “Isn’t there anything I can do?”

“Sorry sweethe-” he stopped himself.

“It’s really fine.” said Applebloom attempting a small smile.

Sty returned it in his piggy way. “Sorry sweetheart, nothing to be done.” he hopped back up into her back. “Now come on, we need to see the unsure, the sun’ll be down in less than an an hour. Bite the apple and think really hard about seeing the unsure.”

“Bu-”

“Now!”

Applebloom did as he instructed, the Apple’s amazingly sweet taste filling her mouth. She closed her eyes, and thought about seeing the unsure.

---

When she opened them she was in a clearing. Sty peeked around her head at a large throne, on which sat something that at one moment looked like a pony, then the next a zebra, then a mantacore, then a two legged pink something Applebloom couldn’t identify.

“What do you want?” asked it, this time as an alligator. Suddenly it was a flamingo. “Now wait....do I care?” Then a rhinoceros “I think I do...but then I might not.”

Applebloom stepped up to it, trying not to look directly in its eyes, which never seemed to change.

“Are you the unsure?” she asked.

“I’m not sure.” it answered.

“Yes! Yes that’s him!” said Sty. “Now come on, we haven’t got much time. Ask him!”

“Um...” she began.

“Shut up.” said an ant. “No, please do keep talking” said an elephant.

“I...would like to get out of this forest.”

“That’s funny.” said a hyena. “That’s sad.” said a basset hound. “That’s impossible!” said a bipedal pink thing. “Sure!” said a pony.

“Which one is it?” asked Applebloom, looking at Sty worriedly.

He gave the piggy equivalent of a shrug.

“Can you or can you not let me out of the forest?” she asked again, trying to sound more bold than she felt.

“I think I can,” said a baboon. “But maybe not,” said a giraffe.

“It’s a yes or no question!” Applebloom yelled.

Sty gasped.

The Unsure froze mid-change, in the middle it was something Applebloom couldn’t begin to describe, so I’m certainly not going to try. But just know it was deeply terrifying.

“Yes or no?” it said. “Yes or no?” There was something that might have been a laugh. “Things are hardly ever that easy my dear.” it snapped it’s front appendage.

Applebloom suddenly found herself alone in a dark place. There wasn’t a floor, or a ceiling, or an up or a down. Just space in ever direction.

“How can you tell me to choose when you yourself cannot answer that question?” The Unsure’s voice echoed through the void.

“What do you mean!?” Yelled Applebloom. She looked around wildy for Sty, but could find no trace.

“He means us.” said a small filly in a bright read bow.

“Quite.” said a tall mare in a pale blue bow.

“I’m Applebloom.” they both said at once.

That maybe-laugh of the Unsure rung out through space again. “Inbetween places are we? Nowhere trying to get somewhere? You seem so....unsure!”

The filly Applebloom looked up at her with imploring eyes. “He want’s you to choose. Pick me!”

“No!” the mare Applebloom looked at her sternly. “Pick me!”

“Remember how I told you to check the train?” asked the filly.

“Well that’s all well and good, but without me Sty would never have helped. You.” The mare turned her nose up.

“You wouldn’t have saved that elemental!”

“You would have burned to death trying!”

Applebloom put her hooves over her ears, trying to block them out. But it did no good.

“Stop!!” she yelled.

Both Appleblooms were silent, looking at her expectantly.

“I....” Applebloom looked between them. “I.....I choose....”

“Tick-tock Applebloom.” called the Unsure. “Time’s running out....or maybe it’s not? I’m really not sure...”

Applebloom sat on her haunches as she drifted through space, trying to roll into a ball and get away. She didn’t want to grow up totally....but she didn’t want to stay a filly. She wanted to find her cutie mark, but she didn’t want to loose her sense of adventure...

Suddenly Appleboom’s head rose up.

“I know.”

“You do?” asked the Appleblooms.

“Not really.” Applebloom said mildy. “I’m not sure I don’t know which to choose. That is my answer.”

The void was silent for a moment.

“That’s it isn’t it?” asked the Unsure.

“I think that is.” said the Unsure.

“By jove she’s got it!” said the Unsure.

“Congradulations! And just in the nick of time!”

The two other Appleblooms vanished.

“That means you get to go home!”

The Unsure appeared in front of her, as several things at once. “A bit of uncertainty is the spice of life isn’t it?”

Applebloom stared at him.

“Well, is it? Tell me, I really don’t know.”

Applebloom just continued to stare at him.

“Fine not funny. Or maybe it was and you just have no sense of humor? Or maybe I’m just wacky?”

The Unsure did a little dance.

Applebloom didn’t waver.

“Fine. I’ll send you home.”

“Wait!” Applebloom said suddenly. “Sty too.”

The little pig suddenly appeared in the void, frozen.

“I’m afraid he’s too far in my dear. Can’t come out.”

“That’s a lie.” said Applebloom.

“And are you ‘sure’ about that?”

Applebloom nodded. “Yes. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so sure.”

The unsure laughed. “Fine, fair enough. That magic apple might have dome more than just give him his ear back, and made him smell less like bacon.”

“Exactly. So send him back with me.”

“Fine.” the Unsure relented. “But he won’t talk to you. Not out of this forest.”

“I don’t care.”

“As you wish.”

The Unsure clapped his hands, hooves, claws, tentacles and feet.

---

---

Applebloom woke up. The bed was still as uncomfortable as she remembered. The train had just pulled into the station, its whistle blaring in her ears. She got up and shook herself off. Her saddlebag was still there. She put it on, and hopped out of her cabin.

Pushing through the crowd of ponies trying to get out of the train. On her way down the train stairs, she noticed a small vine growing on the banister near the conductor's booth. She smiled, and continued walking. She walked until she was out of the station, away from the crowds, and on a small dirt road leading to nowhere in particular. As she walked she heard a squealing noise.

Taking a detour into a small ditch she found a pig stuck lying on its back, its legs waving pitifully in the air. She pulled it out, and placed it on her back.

One of its ears was missing.

So, Applebloom and the pig headed into the town. Neither of them knew its name, and at current Applebloom was somewhere in between being a filly and mare, and therefore nowhere at all. But she was fine with that. She’d been Somewhere, and found that perhaps Nowhere isn’t that bad a place to be.

And she knew, for now, that it’s okay to be a little unsure.