Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.

A/N: I've had a Storybrooke destruction idea bouncing around for a long time, and thanks to the failsafe in the final episodes, I'm finally able to bring it to fruition. This is AU from the finale. Thanks for coming along for the ride; I hope you enjoy!

For Melissa. Who also had to beta this story, but is still the birthday girl. I could not ask for a better beta, friend, or twin soul!

Her breath came in gasps but she couldn't stop running. Instead, she closed her eyes and pushed through the pain. She tried not to think about what was happening behind her, but in her mind's eye she could still see the forest taking over the town: the vines crawling up the walls, the leaves bursting out of nowhere…

"Mary Margaret!"

Her eyes flew open. They were at the town line. David had stopped in front of it, and she could see the indecision written all over his face. Beside him, Henry waited nervously, dancing on the spot. She knew what they had to do, that it was the right thing to do, but still, she hesitated. What if it didn't work?

"Hurry!" Henry shouted.

"What are we waiting for?" Leroy grumbled impatiently. "Are we doing this or not?"

She caught David's eye. He nodded, and she saw him clench the bottle more tightly in his hand.

"Let's go," he announced.

Henry offered her his hand, and she tried to smile reassuringly at him, although her stomach was in knots.

What if she lost all of her memories from the Enchanted Forest? What if Emma didn't make it out in time?

But she couldn't think about that now. David had already stepped over the line, and now, there was no going back.

"It'll be okay," Henry said quietly. "It's going to work."

The other side of the line didn't feel very different. She hurried forward, trying to keep up with David. He turned around and pushed the bottle into her hand. She uncorked it, still moving forward. She only had a few seconds. Everyone needed to drink what Mother Superior had made, although at the moment she couldn't remember why…

And then the memories came flooding back. Kneeling before the huntsman waiting for his fatal blow; Regina saving her from a runaway horse; Emma coming early, and trying to get her to the wardrobe –

She quickly passed the bottle on to Leroy and kept running, dragging Henry along with her. They had to get away, as far away as possible. The failsafe could go off at any moment now, and all she could do was hope that Emma made it out in time. And that everyone could restore their memories before it was too late…

Suddenly there was a deafening blow. She flew through the air, propelled forward by the blast, Henry's screams echoing in her ears. She tried to hang onto his hand, but it slipped from her fingers and she snatched at only air. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact.

It came too soon, harsh and unforgiving, as her body slammed into the ground. She felt the pain at the back of her head, and then there was darkness.

The baby was coming. She cried out as another contraction came over her, crushing David's hand in hers. She closed her eyes and pushed, pushed as hard as she could, so this would all be over…

"Mary Margaret!" someone was calling, but she couldn't understand why. She knew no one by that name.

"Mary Margaret!" This time she registered that it was a boy, and that his tone had become more panicked. She tried to tune him out and instead concentrated on pushing. She had to get the baby out in time.

She heard footsteps running toward her, and then someone began shaking her shoulder. "Wake up, wake up!"

With one last push, the baby was free. She breathed a sigh of relief as Emma started crying. She had never heard a more beautiful sound.

"Mary Margaret!"

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. She was lying on a hard surface, staring up at the sky. Emma had stopped crying. Slowly, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and glanced around. Everything looked completely unfamiliar. She had never seen this forest before.

"Mary Margaret?" She turned and saw a boy was kneeling beside her, his eyes wide with worry. His expression unnerved her. Why was he looking at her like that when she had never seen him before?

"Where is she?" she demanded. "Where's my baby?"

The boy frowned. "I don't – what are you talking about? You don't have a baby."

"Yes, I do," she insisted. "She was just here. I heard her crying." The boy's frown only deepened. She turned away from him. "Emma! Emma!"

"Emma's not here," he told her, and his tone was unmistakably sad. "She – I don't know where she is. She didn't make it out in time."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, bewildered. "I just gave birth to her. She did make it out in time, but we have to get her to the wardrobe before the curse hits. Please, you have to help me find her!"

The boy chewed his lip and then reached out to her again. "Mary Margaret-"

"Stop calling me that!" she exclaimed, pulling away from him. "I don't know who you're talking about, but it's not me. I need to find my daughter, now. So either help me, or leave me alone!"

She saw the boy's eyes light up with sudden understanding. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, she heard another voice behind her.

"Snow!"

"Charming!" Snow breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw him hurrying toward her. "Have you seen Emma? Do you know where she is? What's going on?"

"Emma?" He shook his head. "No, I haven't seen her. I thought she was with you." David extended his hand and helped her to her feet, but he was frowning. His expression worried her. Something was clearly wrong, something he wasn't telling her.

"What is it?" she pressed. "What's wrong?"

"It's the curse," he said quietly. "I think this is the curse."

Snow's eyes widened. "This is the curse? But how – how is that possible?"

"I don't know," David replied. "But I think – well, here. I'll show you." She allowed him to lead her away from the boy. He was still watching them carefully, although his face had grown noticeably paler. Snow tried not to imagine the worst, but Charming's silence was more unnerving than anything he could have said. What could be so horrible that he wouldn't even tell her what it was?

"It's this."

Snow's mouth dropped open. They were standing by a road she had never seen before, and the road was strewn with bodies. When she stepped closer, she noticed with a sinking feeling that she recognized everyone – Red, Granny, Grumpy. For one heart-stopping moment, she feared they were all dead, but then she saw them stirring. But even though they looked the same, there was something different about them. They were wearing strange clothes she had never seen before. And she'd never seen Red with actual red in her hair. Instinctively, her hand jumped to her own hair, and she was horrified to find it was short.

Snow turned back to David, her face stricken. "We have to get back!" she exclaimed. "Emma's just a baby; she needs us. She's all alone in the castle. How do we get back? We have to get back!"

"You can't go back!" The boy was back again, his eyes wide and insistent. "There is no way to go back, and you shouldn't go. This isn't the curse," he pressed on, when he noticed he had gotten their attention. "Emma already broke that curse. This is something else. Please-" His expression faltered when he realized they had no idea what he was talking about. "I know you're scared, but you have to believe me. I don't know where Emma is right now, but she's not a baby. She's here somewhere. And we have to find her."

Snow felt David reach for his sword, although he pulled out a different weapon she didn't recognize instead. Either way, it caused the boy to take a step back in alarm. "Who are you?" David demanded.

"It's me!" The boy sounded close to tears now. "Henry!"

"It's a trick," David said. "It must be Regina in disguise. She's trying to keep us from going back, from our daughter. Snow, go," he said, giving her a gentle push. "Go find Emma. I'll deal with this one."

Snow tore herself away from the boy's pleading expression and started running down the road. She had to get to Red; Red would know how to find Emma with her wolf senses. Even if Emma was still in the Enchanted Forest, maybe Red would be able to find the portal they had gone through. Maybe it would still be open.

Snow glanced around wildly, but Red was nowhere to be found. She frantically searched the road and surrounding trees for signs of magic, but found none. She ran up to the trees and tried to see if any of them had the same properties as the magical one, the one that Geppetto had fashioned into a wardrobe, but all the trees seemed so ordinary. And she couldn't see how she and everyone else could have entered this world, unless they had suddenly dropped from the sky.

She was about to turn back when a high-pitched wailing stopped her. Snow had never heard such a horrible sound. She clamped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, waiting for it to pass. But the sound only got louder.

What in the world was this place?

A/N: I'll update again soon! In the meantime, you know what to do. *points down* Please and thank you!