//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: The Gratitude of Night 
// by HeatWave 
//------------------------------//

	Though the sun beamed through the open windows and the busy sounds of the morning filled the house, it was the smell of freshly made apple pancakes wafting into the room that finally snapped Twilight out of her slumber.
Spike must have gotten up early for once, she thought to herself, groggily blinking her eyes open carefully so as to not hurt them with the morning light.  It didn’t take long for her to realize she wasn’t where she should have been.  In fact, she wasn’t in the library at all!  A brief moment of panic gave way to sudden recognition as she realized she was, in fact, in Applejack’s room.
Twilight tried to remember why that would be the case, and her thoughts drifted to the night before.  She remembered last night was one of her scheduled designated nights of appreciation… she remembered she had run into Applejack… she remembered lying in a field and talking to her…
There had been something else.  Something that she felt was very important, but her thoughts failed her.  With a shrug she came to the conclusion that she must have fallen asleep in the field and been brought home by Applejack.
She shook her head, chasing away the last vestiges of drowsiness and hopped out of bed, headed to the one place she knew she’d find someone: The kitchen.  Sure enough, Applejack was there, carefully maintaining a watchful eye over a fresh batch of recently poured pancakes on the stove.  Her face brightened at the sight of her friend. 
“Well look who’s up and about,” she said cheerfully.  “Mornin’ Twilight,” 
Twilight yawned in reply.  “I fell asleep, didn’t I?”
Applejack nodded enthusiastically, “That you did, sugarcube, but don’t fret none.  There’s always room for a friend at the Apple Family Barn.”
Twilight smiled wryly.  “Room enough that I had to steal your bed from you?”
Applejack waved her off without so much as a second thought.  “Plenty ‘o places for a pony to sleep ‘round here,” she said, matter-of-factly.  “I wouldn’t be much of a host if I just dumped ya on the couch.”  Applejack grabbed a nearby spatula in her teeth and began to flip some of the pancakes.
Twilight shrugged, “I wouldn’t have minded.  I was the one imposing on you after all.”
Applejack waved her off again, but couldn’t reply until she was done flipping.  “T’weren’t no imposition,” she assured her friend, “but since you’re here, I wouldn’t mind some help settin’ the table.  Big Macintosh’ll be back soon from the mornin’ chores and Granny’s probably wakin’ Apple Bloom for school right about now.”
Twilight smiled, “It would be my pleasure.”





Breakfast passed without incident, with only Apple Bloom contributing to any amount of lengthy conversation about her afterschool plans for the day with the Cutie Mark crusaders.  After which everyone went their separate ways.  Apple Bloom headed off to school while Big Macintosh returned to the orchards.  Granny disappeared to… wherever granny went this time of the morning.  Twilight decided to stay and help Applejack with the dishes, feeling it only right considering the hospitality she had received.  Applejack wasn’t about to complain, it just meant she could be done faster and get outside helping Big Macintosh with the orchard.  
“Thanks again for breakfast, Applejack.” Twilight was saying as she dried the last of the dishes.  “Those apple pancakes of yours are great!”
“If there’s one thing we know, it’s how to use our apples,” the orange pony said with a proud smile.  
“It is absolute truth,” Twilight agreed, putting away the last plate.  “And again, I appreciate letting me stay the night, but I should probably be getting back to the library now.  Spike is no doubt wondering where I am and I don’t want to worry him.”
Applejack nodded, “Not a problem missy, you’re welcome any time.”
Twilight made for the door, but before she could leave she was stopped by Applejack.
“Oh, and Twilight?”
“Yes?” Twilight turned to look over her shoulder before deciding it was easier just to face her friend entirely.
“I was thinkin’ last night…” Applejack started, an unsure look on her face, “‘bout what you said about Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon and all that.”  The orange pony paused and idly rubbed the back of her head with one hoof behind her ever present Stetson hat.  “And ah just thought, y’know, that maybe you’re doing somethin’ right.”
Twilight smiled.  “I appreciate the support,” she said.
“Well…” Applejack continued, but she seemed to have trouble forming the words, “…somethin’ tells me that more of us should be doin’ stuff like that, y’know?”
Twilight tilted her head inquisitively, “What do you mean?”
“I— I can’t right put my hoof on it… I think it was a dream or somethin’…” Applejack paused here, worried that she was sounding a bit silly, “…but while I was thinkin’ about it, I think I got an idea that I’d like to share with you and the girls.”
Twilight was more than a little curious now, “And what’s that Applejack?”
Applejack mulled over her words, chewing on her lower lip before deciding to take a different route to express her idea.  “Tell ya what,” she said to Twilight, “you spread the word amongst the girls.  Tell ‘em to meet out here at my place Friday, at sundown.”
“Stargazing?” Twilight asked, raising a single eyebrow in question.
“Not quite what I had in mind,” the other pony said.  “I’ll explain then, just help me make sure they’re all out here for it.”
Twilight nodded, “If I can get Rarity away from her work long enough.  I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’d be mighty appreciative.” Applejack told her.  “I’ll let ‘em know too if I get the chance, just so we’re all on the same page here.  Anyways I’d better get out there helpin’ Big Macintosh.”
“Alright, Applejack, I’ll see you then, ok?”
“You got it, Sugarcube.  Have a great day now, y’hear?”
Twilight chuckled, “You too, Applejack, you too.”





The rest of the week seemed to pass quickly, and Twilight sought every opportunity to remind her friends of their planned get-together.  Something in the back of her mind pressed upon her a sense of urgency, and she was more than pleasantly surprised to find them all receptive to the idea.  Despite the fact that Fluttershy liked to retire early, that Rarity usually worked late, that Rainbow Dash was more often than not exhausted by the end of the day and that Pinkie Pie was… well… Pinkie Pie, none of them gave her even the slightest hint of hesitation at the idea of a twilight rendezvous.
Finally the appointed evening arrived, and Twilight found herself returning to Sweet Apple Acres, silently brimming with curiosity at what Applejack had in mind.  As she approached the field she could see that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had already arrived.
“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said with her typical enthusiasm, bounding over to the newly arriving pony.  “Applejack’s not here yet so we just thought we’d wait out here until everyone arrived so we’ve just been talking, well I’ve been doing most of the talking, but Rainbow Dash and I were the only ones out here and so…”
Twilight walked past the droning Pinkie Pie over to her other friend, who was lazily sprawled out on the grass.  Upon seeing the purple unicorn approach the pegasus rolled onto her belly.
“Hiya, Twilight!” she said.
“Hey Rainbow.  How did aerial maneuvers go today?”
“Awesome, as usual,” the pegasus replied before motioning to Pinkie Pie.  “Is there any way to turn her off?”
“…are you girls even listening to m—Hey!”
Twilight chuckled, “That seemed to do the trick.”
Pinkie Pie shot a brief glare at Rainbow Dash, who just shrugged and rolled onto her back again.  “Oh, don’t give me that look, Pinkie.  You’re so high-strung all the time, you need to relax every once in a while.”
Typically, Pinkie’s glare was short lived.  “Ooh, relaxing!  I love relaxing!  I do it all the time!  You wanna know what I do when I wanna relax?”
“You throw a party?”
Pinkie rose up onto her hind legs, throwing her forelegs out wide, “I throw a par—!”  The sudden realization of what Twilight had said stole the thunder from her exclamation.  She dropped back to all fours in a huff, “Oh, you girls are no fun!”
Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash had a good laugh at this.  “Oh, Pinkie, we’re just teasing you,” Twilight said, knowing that it didn’t really need to be said.  “Anyway, it looks like Rarity and Fluttershy are here.”
“Hi girls!” Fluttershy said, leaping into the air and taking wing to close the remaining distance between them more quickly.
Rainbow Dash was the first to respond, “Hi, Fluttershy!  How are things at the meadow?”
“Oh, it’s always busy,” Fluttershy reassured them, “but it’s always fun!”  Though she was now more than comfortable enough around her friends, her usual timidity began to peek through as she spoke, “Angel Bunny wanted to stay up with me tonight, and I had a hard time getting him to sleep, that’s why I’m late, I’m sorry.”
Before any of them could reassure her that everything was fine, a gasp from behind her caught their attention.
“Oh, I can’t believe I agreed to come out all this way so late at night,” Rarity said, gingerly picking her way to the rest of the group.
“Says the pony who pulls more all-nighters than the rest of us combined,” Rainbow shot back.
“It’s only sundown, Rairty,” Twilight added, “it’s not that late.”
“Yes, but there’s just so much dirt,” Rarity said, pawing at the ground, “and dust,” she shook her tail, trying to dislodge any dust that may have decided to call it home, “and this tall grass sticks to my hair.” She brushed off her fore-hooves, trying to dislodge the small blades of grass that clung to them.  “If this stains, I will never forgive you.”
“Ah, don’t be such a fuss-budget, Rarity.” Applejack said, coming up from behind her.  “It does ya good to get nice and dirty every once in a while, and I figured you were past due anyway.”
Rarity’s response was a dignified “Hmph!” as she stuck her nose into the air, but Applejack ignored it, and turned to the others, who now saw that she was carrying two brightly colored handkerchiefs, which she dropped onto the ground.
“I appreciate y’all comin’ out here.  I know it’s not typical for some of y’all to be up and about after dark, but we haven’t seen much o’ each other lately, and it’s a full moon tonight, so I’s thinkin’ we could have some fun together.”
“Ooh, are we gonna roast marshmallows!” Pinkie said excitedly, producing a bag of marshmallows and some poles from seemingly nowhere.
Applejack just grinned and shook her head, “We don’t have a fire fer that, Pinkie.”
“Oh that’s ok!” Pinkie reassured her, pulling out a flaming branch the size of her foreleg, “I brought that too!”  The sudden appearance of an open flame caused all the others to involuntarily move several inches from the volatile pony.  
“Will you put that away!” Applejack hissed, a little stronger than she meant to.  “Y’all’re gonna burn mah farm down!”
“Oh, sorry!” Pinkie apologized, and the flame vanished, followed shortly by a collective sigh of relief.
Applejack took a moment to regain her composure and clear her throat.  “Anyway, what I actually had in mind fer tonight,” she continued, looking at the others with a mischievous grin, “Well, how d’y’all feel about a round of nightgames!”
“Night games?” Fluttershy asked confusedly, her head lowered as she took a step back.  “Oh, that sounds dangerous.”  The other ponies only looked at each other in confusion, with the sole exception of a bright blue pegasus.
“That sounds like a great idea!” Rainbow Dash said, excitedly.  “We used to play those all the time up in Cloudsdale! What are we gonna play, Aerial Commando?  No Dragons are Out Tonight!?”
Applejack nudged the two cloths she had brought out.  “I thought we’d start with a little Capture the Flag and move on from there.”
“Capture the flag?” Twilight asked, her insatiable curiosity getting the best of her, “What’s that?”
Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash with a shake of her head, “I reckon we’re gonna have a bit ‘o explanin’ to do.”





It took a while to get started (Rarity proving the biggest obstacle to convince) but soon six ponies were happily sneaking through the tall grass and trees in an attempt to be the first to bring the other team’s flag back to their own territory.  As the night wore on, they played other games, many of which were variations of games that Rainbow Dash was familiar with, which had to be modified slightly to accommodate the earth ponies.  In the end Applejack even dug out a carefully constructed fire pit, in which she let Pinkie light a fire so they could roast marshmallows.  They sat around the fire and talked.  They admired the moon and stars, and they enjoyed each other’s company.  Eventually they decided that making this a regular thing might not be such a bad idea.
Meanwhile, in a castle some distance from the frolicking ponies, a lone figure sat in silent vigil of the night.  Taking a moment from her many duties and finding a quiet corner so she might be undisturbed, she sat quietly, eyes closed, thoughts focused, a small smile played out on her lips.  She willed the moon to beam a bit brighter from its perch in the sky, providing just enough light so that nopony made a wrong step and hurt themselves.  And she watched.  And she listened.  And she laughed. She was a stranger to them, but they were not strangers to her. 
She wished she could be among them.  Alas, it was a fleeting wish, knowing that it could not be so.  She had things to do, duties to fulfill, responsibilities that demanded her attention.  Instead she savored the moment, breathing deep the emotions she felt even over such distance.  Slowly she got back to her feet, reinvigorated and ready to face her work.  She moved back to the courtyard with a small spring in her step, her smile never leaving her lips.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Thank you all, so very much.”