Applejack opened her eyes to darkness. She had no idea where she was, but she could tell that it was small. She was lying on her back, and it felt like she was crammed into a box of some kind. Every which way she shifted, a part of her hit something, creating a small, wooden thump.

When she struck something up in front of her, she felt something move. Not by much, but it seemed like enough that Applejack thought maybe she could use it to get out of whatever it was.

Shifting, she pressed her back flat against the bottom and spread her front legs out against the sides, bracing herself. She lifted her hind legs up, pulling them close to her stomach as she tried to press her hooves against the top. It made it difficult to breathe with her abs pressed so tightly. Applejack took as deep a breath as she could manage, tensed her body and pushed her legs up with all her strength.

There was a deep groan from the wood as it was pressed against, slowing bowing out. As Applejack pushed harder, she heard the first few sounds of something cracking.

Keeping one leg tense to hold the top up as best she could, she pulled her other leg back. She then gave it a good, hard kick. It was nowhere near as powerful as Applejack would have liked, but it was difficult to get enough momentum with such limited space. Still, all her experience apple-bucking had left her with enough strength to get something to happen. The loud crack echoed through her ears as she slammed her hoof against the wood.

Applejack gave a second kick, then a third, and a fourth. With each blow, she could feel the wood give way more, pressing further and further out.

With one last kick, something gave way. The entire lid popped open, flying wide before coming back down. It smacked against her still extended leg, bouncing a moment before settling there.

After pushing the top open, Applejack moved to sit up. She took a slow, deep breath, stretching her front to work out the cramping sensation in her abdomen. After jumping out of the container, she reached up to adjust the hat that somehow was still on her head.

This ain't my hat, she realized as soon as she touched the brim. It felt wrong. Applejack yanked the hat off her head and took a look at it.

It was a top hat. Black, made of something shiny and soft (Rarity to would know what), with a white band on it. As she looked at it, something inside caught her attention. Curious, Applejack reached in to find out what it was.

It was then that she noticed that her foreleg was covered in a black sleeve. She pulled her hoof from the hat, pulling out a stuffed white rabbit with it.

"What the hay?" Applejack cried out, looking at the rabbit, then that hat, and finally down at herself.

For some reason, Applejack was dressed in a tuxedo, complete with dress shirt, bow tie and handkerchief. She then looked at the container she had just escaped from, a large trunk with the name Appledini written across the front. Her hat sat inside at the bottom, as well as a wand, several packs of cards, and some large metal rings. Applejack did not remember feeling anything like those pressing against her. She would have sworn that she had been the only thing in the trunk when she woke up.

After grabbing her hat, she checked to make sure nothing was in it before setting it aside. She tossed the top hat into the trunk and started to take off the tuxedo. As she tried to pull one of her legs from the jacket sleeves, doves flew out, smacking her in the face as they escaped. Next came the bow tie. It was one of the most annoying things Applejack had to deal with. Not only had she never worn one before -- which meant she neither had to tie nor untie one -- but nothing about it seemed to have been designed with hooves in mind. It was such a relief to have the thing undone... only to have it suddenly transform into a bouquet of flowers. Finally came the shirt, and thank Celestia she was able to take it off without anything happening.

With the last of the tuxedo off, she tossed it into the trunk and slammed the lid down. As soon as she did, there was an audible "poof" and a blinding puff of smoke. Once Applejack had stopped coughing and the smoke had cleared, she found that the trunk had disappeared, leaving a small pile of confetti in its place.

"Good thing I pulled this out then," Applejack said as she picked up her hat and placed it on her head. Feeling better now that she was out of that silly outfit and had her hat on again, she looked around. There were no benches or individual seats. Large bags, trunks, and other containers covered the floor, leaving a clear path from one end of the car to the other. Racks were attached to the sides, filled with smaller bags held in place by straps. At each end was a door, and Applejack seemed to be about equal distance from both of them. Picking one of the doors, she began to walk toward it.

It was locked, or blocked. Whatever the case, she could not open it. Instead of trying to force it, Applejack turned around and started for the other.

A satchel sat in the middle of the path. It reminded Applejack of one of those doctor bags she had seen before. Except, for some strange reason, it had an image of three red apples on the side of it. As Applejack stepped closer, the satchel popped open. A golden glow emanated from inside.

Applejack moved closer, looking inside. The glow came from what looked like an apple, but was golden. Not gold colored like some of the apples she had seen before, but actually golden.

"Hello, Applejack," a voice said, making Applejack jump.

"Who said that?" Applejack called out, looking around.

"Down here," the voice said, drawing her attention back to the bag.

"The... apple?" Applejack asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow as she stared at it.

"I'm not just any apple," it responded. "I am The Golden Apple of Knowledge. I know all thing past, present, and future. Pick me up and I'll answer one question. But beware what you ask. For the answer you get may not be what you want to hear."

Applejack stared at the gold apple, skeptical. It seemed extremely odd that she would just happen to find a magic piece of fruit at random. It also seemed extremely unlikely that it would just offer to tell her whatever she wanted. It must have been some sort of trick, right?

Still... the temptation, the possibility, the chance to have the answer. It all seemed too much to resist. She at least had to give it a chance.

Reaching down, she picked up the apple and lifted it up to eye level.

"What's going to come of this mission we're on?" she asked.

On the other side of the apple, Discord's eyes narrowed as a smirk spread across his face.

"Look deep into the my golden surface," he said in the voice of the apple, "and see the answer for yourself."

Applejack leaned forward and stared at the skin of the apple. Colors began to shift and swirl in front of her eyes. Unknown by her, Applejack's eyes began to shift and swirl as well.

In front of her an image formed. It showed five of them at the train station in Ponyville: Rainbow Dash was not there for some reason. As she watched, four of them -- Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and herself -- each walked off in slightly different directions.

"Fine!" the image of Shining Armor -- now alone -- shouted. "Go ahead and leave! I was fine before I met you, and I'll be fine with out you now!" Tears began to run from his eyes. "Some friends you turned out to be! I don't need you!" His voice started to crack. "I don't... I don't..." He sagged, looking down at the ground. "I... don't..."

The image vanished.

"No!" Applejack cried out. "That can't be the future. It just can't be. You're wrong. You're lying."

"Why Applejack," the Discord apple said, "I'm as honest as you are." On the other side, his smirk turned into a full grin. "Of course, if the truth will cause you nothing but heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."

At the last word, the color began to fade from Applejack's hoof where it touched the apple. It continued up along her leg, spreading out along her body until her once golden orange coat was far less colorful. She continued to stand there as the golden apple fell into the bag, both vanishing.

The door behind her opened with a squeak.

"Applejack?"

Applejack turned enough to see the door. A smiling Shining Armor pushed it open further, running toward the mare.

"I am so glad to see you," he called out. "Are you okay?"

Applejack's nose scrunched up as she looked away.

"Fine," she answered. "I'm just fine and dandy."

Shining Armor stared at Applejack a moment. Something about her did not seem quite right, but he could not quite place his hoof on it.

"Okay," he finally said. "So is anypony else in here? I thought I heard you talking."

"You must've been hearing things," Applejack answered, staring toward the wall. "Ain't been nothing here but me the whole time. Ain't said a word."

Shining Armor continued to stare at Applejack, who refused to look at him. It was like she was actively trying to avoid eye contact with him for some reason.

"...If you say so," he finally replied. "Come on." He started to walk forward. "The sooner we find the others and get to the engine, the sooner we can put an end to all this. I just hope they're all okay."

Applejack had started to follow, but stopped and turned back to look at where the bag had been. Once again, the image of them all walking away from each other, of leaving Shining Armor standing there, played in front of her.

"You got nothing to worry about, sugar cube," she said. "I'm sure we'll get out of all this and be just fine."