def parse_field_path(api_repr):
    """Parse a **field path** from into a list of nested field names.

    See :func:`field_path` for more on **field paths**.

    Args:
        api_repr (str):
            The unique Firestore api representation which consists of
            either simple or UTF-8 field names. It cannot exceed
            1500 bytes, and cannot be empty. Simple field names match
            ``'^[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9]*$'``. All other field names are
            escaped by surrounding them with backticks.

    Returns:
        List[str, ...]: The list of field names in the field path.
    """
    # code dredged back up from
    # https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-python/pull/5109/files
    field_names = []
    for field_name in split_field_path(api_repr):
        # non-simple field name
        if field_name[0] == "`" and field_name[-1] == "`":
            field_name = field_name[1:-1]
            field_name = field_name.replace(_ESCAPED_BACKTICK, _BACKTICK)
            field_name = field_name.replace(_ESCAPED_BACKSLASH, _BACKSLASH)
        field_names.append(field_name)
    return field_names