Applewood struggled to keep his horn lit as he sprinted through the forest after Quick Trick, not wanting to lose her among the trees. The mare had let her hornlight go out, and so he was following the sounds of cracking branches coming from in front of him, or was it behind him? He wound his way through a small valley, trying desperately to catch up to the unicorn in front of him. She ws fast, though that wasn't why he was having trouble keeping up to her. She was exceptionally nimble, able to weave through the thickets of trees with ease, panicking despite herself and despite the fact that they had long since left the wolves behind. Applewood couldn't even hear the wolves anymore. He could hear panting coming from ahead of him, but was unsure as to where it was coming from.

A pale light shone from the trees to his left. Trick's hornlight, he was sure. Angling his body to pursue her, he plunged downhill, leaping over a patch of brambles, eager to catch the light in front of him. It bobbed and wove enticingly, heading deeper into the woods and leaving him behind. He pushed harder, trying to close the distance, but it remained elusive as ever. He stumbled over a low branch, and opened up a gash along his foreleg, but ignored the pain, continuing his pursuance of the enticing light. He saw it flicker again, a low red and then blue, before returning to the pale white he had seen earlier.

He slowed, unsure if he should be continuing. Something felt very off about this place, something he couldn't quite put his hoof on. The only hoofbeats he could hear were his own, and the forest around him seemed to press closer as if herding him towards something, pointing him towards someplace he would not like to go. The light flickered once more, and called his name.

Applewood...

That voice...what voice was that? Such sweetness and light were contained within that voice! And it knew him! That beautiful sound, it knew his name! He redoubled his efforts, weaving deeper into the darkened forest, forsaking his duty and his comrades, the thought of finding that sound once more the only thing on his mind. The cut on his leg opened wider, crimson liquid speckling the low leaves behind him and seeping into the ground. The plants drank it thirstily as he passed by. The light danced among the trees again, flickering in mesmerizing patterns, and flashing through all the colors of the rainbow and more besides, colors he had no name for, and if anypony else had saw them, they too would have been unable to describe it, save for one very appropriate word. Enchanting.

The unicorn ran without any concept of time, without any idea of how long he had run. He only knew that he needed to pursue the voice, and the light, wherever it led. He ran over streams and through bramble patches, past a clearing containing a single skeletal tree, and skirting a sandy, rock filled valley as he pursued the strange apparition. Any thought of Quick Trick was forgotten. Applewood had decided to pursue the light. Not that he had a choice.

At last, the light began to slow just a bit, tantalizing the stallion by remaining just far enough away that he couldn't make out any distinguishing features. A clearing waited just ahead, and he could have sworn he saw movement inside. The light slipped through the last of the trees, and he burst into the open mere moments later. What he saw was a vision of such beauty that he sank to his knees in awe.

A massive tree stood in the center of the clearing, its branches hanging low with some of the strangest fruit he had seen in his life, fruit that shimmered and glowed with a silvery light, occasionally gleaming in blue or red or gold. The air smelled of pine needles and warm fruit and flowers, and a thousand other things besides. The tree was not what he was gasping at, however. There, dancing around the tree, were ponies. Although, these ponies, all mares, were like none he had ever seen. They were slender, outlandishly so. Their features were possessed of such unearthly beauty that he felt himself beginning to weep at their fairness, and their ears were gracefully pointed. Each one wore a laurel of some different flower or herb, and sang in a language he could not understand, though the sound of their song filled his heart with both great joy and a terrible sorrow. Each wore a coat of pure white, and long manes that nearly reached their hooves, bound into cunning braids and knots, or left loose to sway as they danced, laughing and singing.

Applewood moved as if in a trance, slowly and sluggishly, towards the tree in the clearing's center, and the beautiful creatures dancing around it. Without noticing, his hooves carried him over a circle of woven vines in the ground. It was only once he was in the center of the circle, with no part of his body outside of it, that the mares around the tree, nine in all, noticed his presence. Knowing smiles curled their lips as they beckoned to the unicorn, who obeyed the unspoken command without hesitation. One mare, her features young and her body small, took him in her hooves, dragging him into the circle. Her eyes were as opals, shimmering with a thousand colors in the light of the moon. Her laurel was one of primroses, and she laid him down, binding it into his mane carefully. Another with a mane blacker than night stepped forward and did the same with her own laurel, a blossom of foxglove joining it. Applewood watched in wonder as these beautiful mares one by one did the same, and his mane filled with rosemary, ragwort, oak leaves, and others.

He was gently brought to his hooves once more, and the nine mares struck up their song once more, moving around the tree slowly at first, but gradually increasing their speed as Applewood felt himself moving with more grace and surety. The wind sighed in the boughs as he was spun and danced by the unearthly beauties, his body quivering with exhaustion, the pungent tang of sweat mingling with the wonderful scent of the clearing as he at last collapsed, utterly spent.

The mares huddled around him sympathetically, giggling at his predicament. The red-haired mare flitted over to the tree, and though he could not see how she had done it, she reappeared with one of the beautiful apples. Applewood looked at it distrustfully, not sure if he should eat it or not. The mare gave a silvery laugh. Raising it to her own lips, she took a small bite, chewing thoroughly and then swallowing. She opened her mouth, showing him that it was gone. She held up the apple again, raising it to his lips. He looked at it doubtfully one more time before quashing his doubts and taking a small mouthful of the fruit.

The first thing he noticed was that it was sour, nearly unbearably so. His face screwed up, and he prepared to spit it out, but a gentle hoof to his lips stopped him, and he noticed the flavor becoming much more pleasant. He tasted apples, of course, but also berries, and honey, and something spicy that may have been cinnamon or cloves. A wonderful warm feeling spread over him, and he felt a new energy coursing through his veins, and the edges of his vision took on a strange quality, glorious colors flickering around the very edges of his sight as he rose to his hooves once more, and the dance continued.

As they danced, Applewood noticed they were moving ever closer to the tree. For what purpose he did not know, but he found himself being drawn towards an old crook in the trunk of the tree, a strange warping of the wood that almost resembled a seat. The nine mares gently pushed him onto the seat, as they stopped in front of him and began to sing once more, their otherworldly voices causing him to shudder as chills ran up and down his back. The mare with the red mane stepped forward, and with one forceful motion, pushed him backwards, closing the distance between them and transfixing him with those beautiful eyes of hers. Applewood's breath came quick and short as she leaned in, her lips meeting his in a kiss as the unicorn felt his back press against the bark of the tree, and the song took on an altogether different, but no less beautiful tone.

Deeper and deeper went the kiss, the mare leaning into him as he went limp, pushed back against the tree. Her body was close, so very close to his own, and he could feel nothing but her and the kiss and the bark against his back, see nothing but her and the beautiful harvest moon behind her...his eyes closed as he felt rational thought slipping away, losing himself in sensation and the primal need of the kiss. This truly was heaven, the unicorn thought, as he sank deeper, leaning into the tree behind him. The bark of the tree parted around him lovingly, welcoming the stallion into its embrace as the mare followed him deeper inside. The bark closed around his midsection, and one by one his hooves disappeared under the wood. At last, only his face remained, eyes empty, expression blank. The mare stepped back, her duty done. The bark closed around his face at last, leaving only a bulge that shifted once, twice...and was still.

The mares stepped back as one, their sister joining their ranks as they bowed to the tree they loved so dearly. A warm wind blew through the clearing, and the mares turned their attention back to their dance, laughing and smiling under the light of a beautiful orange harvest moon.