“The sun’s going down and now so am I,” yawned Applejack as she plopped herself into bed. “I hope everyone at Sweet Apple Acres is doing alright without me. Didn’t think I’d be away the whole day.” As she started to close her eyes, she could hear the familiar sound of Fire Wheel’s music and, like before, she could hear it coming from the roof of the house. As she closed her eyes, she listened to it. Taking another big yawn she began to doze off and dream.
“Applejack’s Apple Paradise,” Applejack beamed with pride as she looked at the acres upon acres of apple trees that seemed to stretch on and on forever. “There’s never been an apple farm as grand as the one I’ve built with my own blood, sweat and tears. Well, time to do some bucking.”
Heading on over to the nearest trees, she got into position and hit the trunk of the tree with her hind legs causing the apples in it to fall down, each being as big as Applejack herself. “Heh, I remember back when I first started up this farm and I thought these were big apples.”
Applejack laughed happily as she continued going from tree to tree bucking the apples out of it. The deeper she went into her orchard the larger the trees became and the bigger the apples that fell from them were. The bigger they got the more overjoyed Applejack became and continued even deeper still.
“This really was the right decision to go out on my own,” she told herself. “I get to make all my own decisions and run the farm the way I want to.” She came to another apple tree that was so large that compared to it she was no bigger than an ant. She bucked at it and despite her puny size an apple still fell down from it, it’s force upon landing shaking the ground. In size, the apple looked to be even bigger than the barn back at Sweet Apple Acres. “I can’t wait to let Big Mac get a gander at one of these. It’ll certainly leave him at a loss for words.”
Amused at the thought, Applejack failed to notice as the massive apple suddenly started to tumble towards her. By the time she realized this she only had the time to gasp before it came down on top of her.
“Ungh! Ugh!” she grunted trying to get out from under it. “Big Mac! Help! I’m stuck!” He didn’t come. “Granny Smith! Applebloom! I need you!” They didn’t come. “Twilight! Rainbow Dash! Anypony! Please! I need help!” Nopony came no matter how much Applejack pleaded and cried. “Why did I have to leave, Sweet Apple Acres? I left behind everypony I cared about. And for what? To grow the biggest and best apples in the history of Equestria? Well, it was kinda nice till just now. Now it’s more like a…”
“A nightmare,” finished an elegant and regal voice that Applejack quickly recognized.
“Princess Luna?” Applejack gasped looking around as best as she could manage from where she was stuck. “Is it really you?”
“Of course, it is,” she answered as she appeared before Applejack. “I am always here to aid anypony trapped within a nightmare.”
“Then I really am just dreaming all this?” replied Applejack actually sounding disappointed by that fact. “Uh, nevermind. Can you help me out of here?”
“That shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Luna assured her and used her magic to conjure up a giant vampire fruit back that promptly sunk its fangs into the massive apple and sucked it dry before spitting out the seeds and flew off. With the apple shriveled up, Applejack was able to escape from underneath it quite easily.
“Thanks for that,” she told Luna. “Though now I’ll probably be having nightmares about giant vampire fruit bats after this. But that’ll still be better than having nightmares about… this.”
“This place frightens you?” asked Luna. “I can sense some dread, but also plenty of passion. Is it not your ambition to be the best apple farmer and grow the biggest and best apples in Equestria?”
“I was being crushed by my ambition a moment ago,” Applejack reminded her. “But other than that, yeah, this is the kind of apple farm I’ve always dreamed of having. Well… it is still a dream. But the thing is…”
“It’s not Sweet Apple Acres,” Luna said. “This is the apple farm that you’d want to start yourself.”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “Even before Braeburn suggested I go out and start a farm of my own the thought had crossed my mind more than a few times. It’s something I’ve never told anypony before. And as much as I want it to be true, I also don’t want to just up and leave on my family like that no matter the reason and the same for my friends too.”
“Personal desire vs the bonds one shares with others,” spoke Luna. “I too have had this very same struggle long ago.”
“You mean when you became Nightmare Moon?” asked Applejack.
“Yes and though I allowed darkness to corrupt and change me it was due to my own initial desire that it all came to be in the first place and because of it for a thousand years we were apart, my sister and I.”
“I doubt something like that would happen to me,” stated Applejack. “But I certainly don’t want to turn my back on my family. So no matter how much I might dream of this place or want to make it a reality I won’t let it happen.”
“That is a second route to choose,” agreed Luna. “But you could end up wondering about the road not traveled and come to regret your decision to stay.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?” questioned Applejack. “The way you make it sound no matter which choice I make it will be wrong.”
“It is something that ultimately you will have to decide,” Luna told her. “But, remember, it is not a choice that will affect only you.”
“Not only me,” repeated Applejack thinking about it. “I think I understand now.” Smiling, Applejack hugged Luna happily.
Luna chuckled gently and hugged Applejack back. “I am glad I was able to help.”
“Now if you aren’t too busy helping other ponies in their dreams,” offered Applejack. “How’s about we head into the kitchen and I bake us up some of the best apple pie I’ve ever dreamt of.”
“Sounds delightful,” chuckled Luna as she followed Applejack back to her dream house.