Chapter Twelve: Atheteo
Chapter Twelve: Atheteó
Applejack trotted across the dense cloud cover. In a small depression lay Night Glider, peacefully gazing up at the stars, idly tracing their constellations with a hoof. Glider sighed and snuggled deeper into her cloud, letting her hoof hang limp. Her chest rose and fell gently as the moon and stars continued to wheel overhead. A beatific smile broke across her face. She took a deep breath and held it. The moonlight brightened around her and the stars began to twinkle across the dome of the sky. The cloud beneath her solidified, darkened and crackled with energy. Applejack watched wide-eyed as Night Glider’s coat deepened from a glittering blue to a somber navy, her haunches turning deep black. Her mane spread out from her head and neck in a pale blue halo as she began to inhale again. Her lungs already full, she breathed in the magic of the cosmos. It expanded her and flowed forth from her forehead in a beam of gentle moonlight. Darkness rustled about her feathers and swirled around her lengthening limbs. Finally, the moonlight dimmed and the darkness was no more a thing alive. Night Glider, now the goddess of the night, opened her eyes, seeming surprised that she was now upright.
The new goddess shook her head and spread her wings to fly. She leapt gracefully off of her cloud… and promptly fell through the floor.
Applejack galloped after her. Apparently the thought was what counted, because Applejack instantly found herself alongside the panicking goddess. It took her a few minutes to right herself, but Night Glider finally managed to settle herself into a steady drift. Her expression upon seeing her expanded wings was horrified. Her face soon shifted to anguish as she looked down at her now-plain coat. “My-my stars! My constellations!” Applejack frowned. Her stars were missing, just not the ones she was complaining about. AJ reached out a hoof to gather in a lock of flat, blue mane only to have her hoof swatted away. Night Glider frowned at the earth pony. “I’d thank thee if thou wouldst keep thy hooves to thyself. This is a memory, but it is also a dream. If thou breakest my concentration I cannot keep the events accurate.
“Oh, uh, sorry Luna.”
“Night Glider. I am in-character.”
“… Right.”
Luna/Glider sighed dramatically. “Fine, I suppose I can give thee commentary as well.”
Applejack smirked at the goddess, “Well, mind tellin’ me why y’all’s mane is still blue?”
“It is because I had not yet come into the fullness of my powers. It would be some time before I was truly connected with the moon.”
“So, y’all’re sayin’ that mah mane’s gonna get all…”
“Wavy? Yes. Now hush. This next bit is hard for me.” Suddenly they were gliding over a massive cloud city. “Old Pegasopolis, long before the unification.” said Luna, refusing to elaborate further. Its districts spread out towards the horizon, and even in the middle of the night, torch-bearing pegasus legionaries could be seen flitting about on their rounds. Night Glider eyed their patrols for some time before swinging into a dangerously fast dive, straight at the roof of a house. She plowed halfway through before stopping, and managed to wiggle the rest of the way in before anypony spotted her. Carefully patching the cloud behind her, she sat for a minute, eyes sad, wide and expressive. Finally, taking a shuddering breath, she called out, “Mother!”
There was a startled squeak from below and a little ‘whumpf’ of displaced cloud before a concerned voice called out, “Nightie? Is that you? Why are you in the attic?”
Night Glider bit her lip pensively before answering. “Don’t come up. Something has happened to me.”
Her mother’s voice took on a sharp edge, “What have you done? What do you mean something has ‘happened?’ You weren’t fooling about with somepony were you?”
Miserable, Night Glider replied, “No mother, I-I have become hideous, monstrously large in limb and body.”
Her mother’s voice hardened, “I’m coming up there.” A pale blue mare poked her head up a nearby stairwell glancing about in the darkness for her daughter. “Nightie?”
Night Glider sobbed out her answer, barely louder than a whisper. “I’m right here mom.”
Finally, Luna’s mother’s eyes adjusted to the dark attic. They lit upon the hulking blue mass crouched in the corner of the room and widened in fear. “Demon. What did you do to my daughter?” she whispered.
“I am your daughter. It’s me, Night Glider.”
The little mare shrieked, pointing her hoof. “You ate my daughter and stole her voice! Fell Wendigo, would you consume me also?”
“No, I am your daughter, you must believe me mother!”
“No! You are a thing of witchcraft, warped into a mockery of the sun-nag. Leave me! I abjure you by the spirits of my mothers!”
Applejack’s heart broke, just as Luna’s must have that night. She watched as Night Glider pleaded and begged with her fleeing mother. The dark alicorn then slumped into a heap, sobbing gently. Night made no move to escape when the legionaries burst into the house, binding her in chains and dragging her to the fortress. She lay there all night, weeping gently.
In the morning another group of legionaries dragged her in front of a massively built stallion. They saluted and then backed away as the stallion came over to examine the alicorn. He leaned in close and lifted her chin with a hoof. “So, demon, what is your name?”
“Night Glider.”
The stallion drew back a hoof and slapped her roughly. “Don’t think you can lie so pitifully to me and get away with it demon. I am the master of the sky, conqueror of the griffon lands, bane of dragons. The unicorns and earthlings alike tremble at the mention of my name. Ten legions of pegasi await my slightest whim. Now, pitiful demon, tell me your name.”
“Night Glider.”
He slapped her again, this time with the edge of his hoof, drawing a thin line of blood from her cheek. “You have one more chance before I destroy you. Night Glider is the mare you killed and consumed. I will not allow a freak like you to live in pegasus air. What are you. What is your name. What mad unicorn bound you to torment us. Tell me now.”
“I AM NIGHT GLIDER!” The alicorn shrieked and rose in her shackles. She lunged at the pegasus commander. The chains stopped her only briefly before snapping like tinsel. She slapped at the commander with a massive wing, sending him hurtling through the walls of the fortress. The legionaries immediately reacted, hurling spear after spear at the maddened mare. She shrieked in agony and fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Within minutes, unconsciousness mercifully took her.
***
As the scene faded to black, Applejack sat there, slack-jawed and teary-eyed. Luna, once again a starry pegasus, trotted out of the blackness. “Art thou alright, Applejack?”
“Oh, sugarcube… Whut they did to ya... Yer own mother…” Applejack grabbed up Luna into a tight embrace. “They ain’t gonna do that agin. Ah swear. Nopony will ever treat anypony like that agin. Ever. Ah promise ya.” Luna sat stiffly, unsure what to do about the physical contact, even if it wasn’t strictly her physical form.
“Applejack.”
AJ sniffed and glanced aside at Luna. “Yeah?”
“I’m fine. It was thousands of years ago. I have long since made my peace with what happened.”
“But Ah made y’all relive it. That’s gotta be tha worst. Ah don’t care how old ya are.”
Luna carefully extracted herself from the awkward hug, putting a hoof out to keep AJ at arm’s length. “I won’t say it wasn’t difficult, but I chose to tell this story. I can deal with the pain.”
“A’right. Well… What happened next? Whut did they do to ya?”
“Well, I don’t think I need to show thee, I was mercifully unconscious for all of it anyways. Basically, they mangled and broke my body in every way they could manage, then dropped me over the unicorn palace with a note stapled to my head that read ‘nice try.’ They assumed I was dead. I spent the next year or so in the godsleep while my body recovered. To say that my dreams during that time were disturbing would be akin to calling the sky simply big. When I woke up was a different matter. Here, let me give thee another perspective, close thy eyes. Thou mayest see through mine.”
***
Applejack opened her eyes slowly. Her entire body felt stiff and wrong. She tried shifting her legs to roll over, but they refused to move. A tiny whimper escaped her lips. Almost immediately a heavy clomping alerted her of somepony approaching. A calm, feminine, but haughty voice called out to her. “Don’t try to get up. Thou art far too weak yet to rise. Be grateful We knew when thou wert about to wake. Here, let us help thee.” Applejack frowned inwardly at the condescending use of ‘thou.’ How dare this stranger speak down to her!
A tingling of magic enclosed her hind legs and started pumping them slowly back and forth in a paddling motion, restoring their blood flow and feeling. Applejack grunted in pain, but bore it stoically like a good pegasus. After a few minutes the unknown pony switched to her forelegs and began massaging the life back into them. The voice hummed softly as she worked. Finally, she asked Applejack, “Canst thou move them thyself? Try.” Carefully, gingerly, AJ pedaled her legs in the air, the tingle of numbness less, but still there. “Good, now look at us. We need to be sure of the state of thy mind.”
Applejack turned to face her benefactor. Her first instinct was to spit, but good judgment stopped her. It was a unicorn, a massive unicorn with an outsized horn and a condescending attitude to match. Applejack coughed to clear her throat, and then coughed again in earnest. Quickly she felt a cup held against her lips and drank greedily of the small beer it contained. Trying again, she croaked out, “Wh-h-h-ho are you?” before devolving into another coughing fit.
“Well, there are many names We are called by. Does Sun-Nag sound familiar?” Applejack immediately began coughing again in shock. “No no. Calm thyself. We are not the witch those dogs paint us to be. Thou… you may call us Celestia. We are currently in the court of Queen Argent Spira of the Unicorns. They remanded you to my care, not knowing the ways nor resilience of the ancient ones.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow at that. “Ancient ones? How long was I asleep?”
Celestia chuckled slightly at that, “No, my little pony, you were not out that long. You have the form of a genie, an avatar, a demi-god, whatever you like to call it.”
The implications of that statement percolated through Applejack’s rusty brain, slowly turning the gears until she finally called out in surprise. “That would mean that I…” She felt her forehead. Sure enough, her hoof bumped painfully against a long, spiraling horn. AJ’s eyes widened as large as they could go. Throwing back her head, she wailed, “I am a freak! A hideous, pagan, unicorn god…”
Celestia stomped her hoof loudly on the stone floor. “ENOUGH. I have had enough of that sort of talk from ignorant little ponies, I won’t have it from one of my own kind. Now, look at me. Look. At. Me. You are a perfectly normal pony, but one with godly power. The world owes you deference, but you will have to take it from them. Earn it. I know of what they did to you in Pegasopolis. Prove them wrong about you and make them sing your praises and exploits from the tops of the clouds. Make them love you. Yes?”
Applejack cowered back a bit at the outburst, but found herself nodding along with the sheer compulsion and imperative that Celestia’s voice held. Finally, she answered, “Yes… Yes! I will win their love.”
***
AJ shook herself as the illusion faded. “Ah don’t think Ah like that…”
“It displeases thee? I have always been fascinated by the act of looking through the eyes of another. No matter, I need not tell the rest of the story that way.”
“So ya weren’t actually sisters?”
“No, we were not. Over time we became inseparable and swore an oath of sisterhood to one another. I would extend that oath to thee.”
“Luna. Y’all keep goin’ back ‘n’ forth on yer whole thee and thou thing. In tha dream y’all were insulted that Celestia was callin’ ya that, and now y’all are usin’ those words ta offer me sisterhood… Whut am Ah supposed ta take from that?”
“Oh, thee is familiar. It is only proper to use it with friends or family. To speak thus with a stranger or an acquaintance is to indicate that you do not respect them as an equal.”
“So, yer sayin’ Ah have no way of knowin’ if yer insultin’ me or callin’ me yer kin.”
“Thou art correct!” Luna giggled at that.
Applejack rolled her eyes at Luna’s attempt at humor. Finally she waved her hoof dismissively at the princess. “Anyways, let’s get on with tha story. Whut happened next?”
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Luna had a much harder time of things than Applejack.
And it's not over. 
Queen Argent Spira (G2's Princess Silver Swirl):
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/106/4/f/meeting_the_princess_by_silver_swirl-d4wbzey.jpg
Also, stupid foreign character handling on this website. Not letting me have the letter "ó"...
As always, your comments are the wind beneath my wings. Robot, steam-powered wings.
1634390 Oh, hey, it's Rarity.
This is starting to make my brain hurt....
1634479 The similarities are striking.
1634485 The switching perspectives? Or the whole story?
Yeah, this is going to go well.
1634390 Just curious, are you using that design as another example of the old tradition of cutie marks being expanded into a larger tattoo?
1634499 The story is getting a little confusing and the perspective switching is kinda weird.
I'm not hating on this, it's been very good so far, but I do feel like this is getting stretched out sort of...
PINKIE PIE RANDOM TIME: DID YOU SEE SKYFALL? I DID. MY MIND WAS BLOWN IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY.
Who's the alicorn in the picture? 1634390 Yay for awkwardly adding the reply thing afterward!
1634390 Lady Rarity! 8D *Bows deeply*
Anywho... Wonder if/how Ajack is going to change colors, if she's going to change, etc... Guess there's nothing to do but to keep going!
Ouch, poor Luna.
Arugh man, these kinds of injustice make me so angry, I want to stab each and every one of them in the head 100 times in 100 different places.....
Do you have a guide or something with the whole "thee" and "thou" business? I'm confused about those.
1634526 I did. Twas a good Bond movie and the ending made me sad.
1634503 Actually, it was a whole line of My Little Ponies from the previous generations. My tattoo explanation is simply connecting the dots.
1634526 Concern noted. Thanks for the input.
And, no, I have yet to see it. 
1634529 I never even noticed the alicorn in the picture before you mentioned it...
1634612 Actually, brain tissue isn't sensitive to pain. I suggest the belly if you want it to hurt.
1634709 Ok, thou/thee/thy/thine is the second person familiar/singular pronoun. 'Thou' is used as the subject of a sentence: Thou art. Thee is the object: It was thee. 'Thy' is the possessive form that corresponds to 'your': I see thy face. 'Thine' ~= 'yours': This cup is thine.
I'm using it in it's ancient sense, not the silly modern formal sense. The 'thou' form was only used to refer to social inferiors and family/close friends. To use thou with anyone you didn't share some sort of deep relationship with was insulting and belittling. Basically it was treating them like children. The reason that a lot of religious texts and prayers use thou was originally intended to indicate the intimate, filial relationship that one should have with Deity. Does that clear things up?
1634390
Some consider her a treacherous one.
Ask Princess Silver Swirl
1634799 Really? I noticed it right away...
1632633
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-hgkiHE_GoeebOUvq7Ep6WH_-_Tmb_P5J0SYEC8x4auSaYqoe
Ever been checking the feature box, then noticed a fic you Really enjoy is up there and you think Sweet, new chapter. And it turns out theres like 5, and you weren;t notified because you'd Somehow forgotten to favourite it? Yeah. That is a thing that happened to me with this fic. I am glad I refound it
1479877 That's messed up, man. I wrote a trollfic where Twilight Sparkle Becomes an Alicorn while sleeping and is actually not surprised for once and it's a total comedy. Or, well, a mindfuck, I guess, but still.
*Reads this chapter*
*Looks at story tags*
Nope no sad or dark tags, still just comedy and adventure.
Another good chapter man. Although I hope you get back to more Alicorn shenanigans soon. I'm tracking enough fics full of drama and sadness and I like to keep a couple of good comedies around to lighten my mood.
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbrc39573M1rv4o17.gif
Another great chapter keep up the great work.
Luna's harsh treatment in Pegasopolis makes sense. I guess there was alot of xenophobia-induced ignorance in those times, so the pegasi freaking out when seeing a large and strong pony with wings AND A HORN was a little understandable, though not justifiable.
Dayum, her own mother.
Poor Luna. No wonder Applejack hugged her; who wouldn't after seeing that?
"The Sun-nag", for some reason, I find that amusing.
I like how this story is going. Seeing AJ and Luna make up a bit and share some information is nice. It would be nice also if Luna could look a bit into AJ's recent memories and see that she's just been trying to be left alone and it's the crazy ponies driving everything nuts.
Ah well, whatever. MOAR!
1613736 Watch your language. You crossed the line of decency with your last comment. I deleted it.
To others: It was simply a comment on the actions of one of the characters, not anything defaming of me personally.
1634819 Do they?
1634845 I thought it was a pegasus.
1634991 Not everybody deals with shock by exploding or panicking. I was shot with a nailgun once. I didn't even react till hours later. Not to say I was manly about it, I simply had a delayed breakdown.
1635040 Sometimes I feel like some of you guys come to my story for the comments first and the plot second...
Eh,either way I'm at least providing a venue for entertainment. 
1635299 I totally know that feel.
Glad you found it again! 
1635491 Yeah, Luna's background is much harsher than AJ's, but worry not. I don't intend on making it a tear-jerker. Besides, if I tried to check all the tags, Wander D would lynch me.
1635775 Thanks! I'm glad you like it.
1635842 Yeeeah... Sorry 'bout that. 
1635821 No... NO! I am now responsible for the perpetual immolation of Captain America! How have I come to this!?
I kid. Will do!
1636288 Some ancient cultures were really paranoid about physical defects or deviances. There was a legendary Irish Ard Rí (High-king) who had big ears, so he wore a helmet everywhere to hide it. Eventually he was unmasked in public and chased off of the throne.
Amusingly, the legend I read about it made special note that his ears were, "Like a donkey's." 
1636461 Yep, sad times. In the words of Luna herself, "They have never liked us and they never shall..."
Sun-Nag? Just wait.
1636715
"They have never liked us and they never shall..."
....!
If there were ever a way to crash through the barriers of a hyperdimensional multiverse in order to give Luna a hug THAT STATEMENT WOULD INITIATE A CAUSALITY FAILURE AS BRONIES FROM ALL TIME AND SPACE WOULD RUSH TO GIVE LUNA A HUG.
Because we love her! She is Best Princess! The Metal Princess of the Night! \m/
1636715 I am also Glad I refound it. Also, That thing with the king sounds like One of the Children's stories I used to read as a Kid. Look up the king has Donkey's Ears. Might have some basis in that Story
They were primitive times, and given Celestia's use of the term 'genie', I suspect that in pre-Discord times, alicorns were seen by many as demons (genie = d'jinn or demon). Additionally, the addition of a unicorn horn in those dark times was basically a red rag to a bull as far as the reaction of the pegasi was concerned.
So... I'm presuming that Celestia was a unicorn, we've seen that Luna was a pegasus and Applejack was an earth pony. There is now an alicorn from all the three tribes. I'm just wondering how many prophecies have been fulfilled and how many (likely of the "Doom! Beware!" variety) have just been activated.
1637613 I'm a gon' go out on a limb and say "All of Them"//dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Twilight_crazy_invert.png
L-Luna will make amends with her mother later on in the story, right? At least at one point before her mother dies. R-right? Come on, assure me on this. This is going to eat away in my head all day.
I really liked the thee/thou/you stuff. Thanks for doing it, entertaining and educational.
Felt the emotional weight in this one. Well done.
.
.
.
.
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IN OTHER NEWS!!!:
Applejack's near future will include divine sisterhood, new wavy mane(white, wavy desert sand perhaps?) and, probably most important, a new name?
..........Oh! There's also the least important fact that it may also include Merry May(A.K.A. "Princess" Applejack's devoted, personal hoofmaiden{self-stated}[A.K.A. her #1 fan]) and other like-minded equestrians.
1636715 I come for the entertainment first, otherwise what the hell am I doing on this site?
1637127
rosarian.org/uploaded/Support_RA/Wish_Granted/Wish_Granted1.jpg
1637301That music... Soo boss...
terrariaonline.com/attachments/51086-20-20animated-20artist_valcron-20filly-20vinyl_scratch-gif.29551/
1637327 That does sound like the right story. The semi-historical king's name was Labhraidh Loingseach. A lot of the stories I saw online of him seemed sanitized. Where I first read the legend, in an old collection of the folk-history of Ireland, he was ostracized because a high-king had to be perfect in mind and body.
1637613 I actually considered using the 'd'jinn' spelling, but then I was all, 'nah I'm not Arabic.'
1637851 As to prophetic doom:
cache.ohinternet.com/images/d/d3/The_Great_Prophecy_of_Caturday.jpg
1638715
peopleint.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/everything-will-be-okay-in-the-end-if-its-not-okay-its-not-the-end-john-lennon.jpg
1639084 No problem. After all, knowing is half the battle. The other half is violence.
1639882 Thanks! I was a little afraid of being hamfisted with this chapter.
1639986 Of course. I'm just wondering what the source is.
I'm kinda image-happy today...
1640764
You're welcome!
>>"I was a little afraid of being hamfisted with this chapter."<< Why? Because of the gore and hate used on "Best Pony Luna"?I already mentioned that the differences between Applejack and Luna could lead to interesting character and story development. That is what you chose and it fits the story nicely.
Then again I could be diplomatic about it and state the fact that there may be people who are reading that sort of scenario for the first time and/or anytime and simply find themselves unable to cope with it as you, me, and others like us can..... Watch out for flying objects!
1636715
That may be, but the fact is the only reason the comments are often so fantastic is entirely due to you bringing us all together with a mutual love of your work. so either way it comes back to you. :P I confess I read the chapter first since otherwise the comments are too spoilery or make no sense
1638715
I'm sure she will! *huggles*
1635299
You and me both, you and me both! Precisely the same thing.
Though I remember actually faving it... What the hay?
You deserve every single upvote and favourite that you get out of this. You're a fantastic writer and I haven't enjoyed reading this much for ages and ages. Ten stars to you!
Luna's dream powers are now canon.
Even as Nightmare Moon, Luna's always struck me as rather... dramatic. I can't decide if she and Rarity would get along famously or drive each other nuts. Perhaps they'd cycle constantly through both reactions, while Celestia sighs and shakes her head.
So is that actually how thee and thou work? The difference in rank in reference to the speaker?
1996584
This may be a bit late, but to answer thine question. Yes. It is similar to the French Tu and Vous. With Thee being Tu and You being Vous.
1634499
Ancestor perhaps?
1855910
That's probably very accurate. Twilight would probably imitate her mentor and they'd both wonder why the were born into this crazy world.
I loved the chapter with Pinkie teaching Applejack the different ways of being an earth pony; it was by far the funniest chapter. You're pretty good at combining humor with drama, too. AJ is lucky she has a family that loves her unconditionally.
The chase seemed to drag on too long, but maybe you're going somewhere with AJ seeing more of the world. Perhaps that will help her to realize that she needs to take on more responsibilities now. I did like Luna's backstory. I don't know if I'm ready to incorporate it into my headcanon or anything like that, but it still seems plausible.
I do have a nitpick about the unicorn/alicorn auras. I'm almost positive that the aura colors are the same as the main color of their Cutie Marks. Twilight's aura is magenta like her star, Rarity's is light blue, Celestia's is yellow, etc. So in this fanfic, AJ's aura should be either green or blue (green would seem to suit her better).
1855910
They'd drive each other nuts ceaselessly, but end up getting along famously. Those two aren't mutually exclusive. It might look like a feather fallin' might set 'em off - and it might well be true - but if you thought you could drive a wedge between them for very long, think again. There are people out there that constantly bicker and fight, and you'd never know a pair who'd go to hell and back for each other more fiercely. Opposites attract I suppose, but at the same time a case of Not So Different After All is invoked straight - it sounds silly, but it kinda works like that.
Another way to look at it would be that they'd be at odds with each other precisely for being so similar, but at the end of the day that similarity would be the bond that just won't break. I mean, if you knew someone intimately through knowing yourself, you'd see right through them - and yet, letting go of the one person who might actually get you would be more painful than anything in the history of ever.
This is graaaaand~~
You're missing an end-quote on that paragraph, by the way.