//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Taming Nightmare Moon // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// Applejack already didn’t like dresses. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her appearance. If that were true, she wouldn’t own twenty copies of the same hat. It was just that dresses were clunky and uncomfortable and way too showy, and besides, as far as Applejack was concerned, she already looked good. There just wasn’t enough to gain from dresses to make them worth the hassle. Even still, she had never been so apprehensive to go into one of Rarity’s shops. She stood there, grimacing as she looked up at the sign of the Canterlot Boutique. Beside her, Vim had a small, professional smile on her face. “Please tell me we’re here to see Sassy Saddles,” Applejack said through gritted teeth. Vim chuckled. “Oh, no no no. I mean, nothing against Miss Saddles, she does excellent work, but there’s only one pony who I trust to design outfits for the Princesses.” Applejack groaned. “Great.” “Oh, don’t worry, Applejack. She’s perfectly capable of making a more… Subdued design.” Vim walked up and opened the door, waving for Applejack to follow her. Applejack fought to move her legs and walked into the store. It was filled with ponies scanning the rows of dresses, and none of them paid her any mind, which she was grateful for. At least she didn’t have to deal with a gaggle of curious ponies. At least, not yet. “Hi, welcome to the Canterlot Boutique!” A voice came from nearby. They turned to see Sassy Saddles trotting over to them. “Oh! Hello, Vim. I was wondering why Rarity had come in today.” “Yeah, I’ve got some top priority work for her,” Vim said. “Although, with her here, I expected you to have the day off.” “Oh, you know how she gets,” Sassy Saddles said. “She’s hardly said a word to anypony today, just locked up in her workshop.” “Well, hopefully she hasn’t already burnt herself out,” Vim said. “Is it alright if we just go right in?” “Yes, of course. Oh, and hello, Applejack! It’s strange to see you here, and on some kind of royal errand no less! You’re really branching out.” “Yeah…” Applejack sighed. “You have no idea.” Vim lead Applejack through the store and into a back room. There, they found Rarity hunched over a drawing table and muttering under her breath. “No, that’s not right,” Rarity grumbled, and she balled up a piece of paper and threw it into an overflowing wastebasket. Vim cleared her throat. “Um, Miss Rarity? I hope I’m not interrupting.” “Oh! No, not at all dear, I was just—Applejack?” Rarity looked like she was liable to fall over at the shock of seeing Applejack here with Vim. Applejack laughed awkwardly. “Uhh, howdy?” Rarity shook her head quickly to blow off the shock and steadied herself. “Yes, um, ‘howdy,’” she repeated. “I apologize, I just—” She turned to Vim. “Well, when you said you were bringing a pony to be measured, I had assumed it would be one of the Princesses! I already have Applejack’s measurements, and I’m not even sure they’ll be useful. I can’t really see you convincing her to wear a dress, even for Luna.” “Oh, it’s not for Luna,” Vim said. “It’s for her!” She smiled politely. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” “She needs a coronation dress. Applejack here is in line to be Equestria’s next Princess!” Rarity’s mouth fell open as she turned her gaze to Applejack in a painstakingly slow movement.” “Now, I know how this looks,” Applejack started nervously, “but I promise I ain’t tryin to one-up you or nothing. Please, just, don’t be mad, I don’t—” She was cut off by Rarity leaping out of her seat and grabbing Applejack’s shoulders. Applejack flinched, trying to lean her head away, but Rarity kept their faces inches apart. Then, Rarity started to smile. “Oh, Applejack, this is so exciting! You simply must tell me everything that happened. I mean, a second Princess from our little group? Can you imagine? Oh, I’m so happy I could just—” Running out of words, Rarity wrapped her legs around Applejack and pulled her into a tight hug. “Uh… Thanks?” Applejack was completely stunned. Nearby, Vim was covering her mouth with a hoof, trying to stifle laughter. “I kinda figured you were gonna be ticked off at me.” Rarity pulled away, still smiling wide. “Oh, I’m furious,” she said. She still had a giddy tone in her voice. “I’m just too thrilled for it to matter! Don’t you worry though, my little royal.” She raised up a hoof and playfully pressed down on Applejack’s nose. “I’ll just funnel all that wrathful energy straight into your fabulous dress.” Applejack winced. “Great…” Vim spoke up. “Now remember, Rarity, she should preferably be happy during the coronation.” Rarity pouted. “Well, surely she can act. Wouldn’t you prefer for me to really flex my creative muscles and show Equestria just how grand the Princesses can be?” “I would prefer for her to actually wear the dress you make.” Rarity sighed. “Fine. I’ll restrain myself. A bit.” “Do I get a say in this?” Applejack asked. Rarity scoffed. “Please, Applejack, you’re a Princess. Act like it and just accept it when I’m forcing you to do something you don’t like.” Applejack sighed. Vim laughed again. “Rarity, are you going to need anything else from us? I hadn’t realized you already have Applejack’s measurements.” “Mmm… Not at the moment, no,” Rarity said. “I have to make some preliminary sketches first. I’ll swing by the castle in a few hours and let you see them, alright?” “That sounds perfect,” Vim said. “Are you ready to head out, Applejack?” “Please,” Applejack said. So, they left, but they didn’t get far. As soon as they stepped through the door and back into the main room of the boutique, every pony in the store turned to look at Applejack. Applejack frowned. “Hey Vim, how soundproof is that room?” “My guess would be ‘not at all,’” Vim replied. Applejack nodded. “I figured.” Sassy Saddles decided then to walk up to the two of them, and the rest of the store seemed to take that as permission to do the same. Suddenly, Applejack was surrounded by a crowd of ponies bombarding her with questions. “Are you really becoming a Princess?” “Is this because you know Twilight?” “Are you all going to become Princesses?” The questions just kept coming, one after the next, not giving her enough time to even process what had been said before the next pony was talking.  After a couple minutes of that, Applejack couldn’t take it anymore. “Simmer down!” she told them. Her voice was just barely below shouting, and more than loud enough for all the ponies to hear her and shut their mouths at once. Applejack sighed. “Thank you. Now, please, one at a time.” All the ponies spoke up again, wanting to be the first to ask a question. Applejack slapped her forehead. Vim stood in front of Applejack and raised a hoof up to call for quiet, and the crowd slowly gave it to her. “Thank you,” she said. “Now, you first.” She pointed to a random stallion in the middle of the crowd. Everypony looked at him, and he gulped. “Oh, me? Well, uh, see, I just wanted to know if, um…” “Spit it out,” Applejack said. The stallion jumped. “Right! Um, are you going to be given a place to look after? Like how Cadance runs the Crystal Kingdom, and Twilight helps Ponyville?” “Probably not?” Applejack shrugged. “I ain’t plannin on bein any kind of ruler.” Another pony spoke up. “Then, what are you going to do?” Vim stood aside at this point, now that the crowd seemed settled down. “Farm, I guess,” Applejack said. “Like I already do.” A few ponies in the crowd whispered to each other. A pony near the front asked “Are you going to, like, help run all the farms around Equestria?” “Can’t say I really considered it,” Applejack said. “I don’t really wanna be responsible for more than just my orchard, though.” “So you’re just going to do exactly what you did as a non-Princess?” “Pretty much.” Applejack shrugged.  More whispers ran through the crowd. A mare pushed through to the front of the crowd. “Why are you becoming a Princess, then?” “Luna wants me to,” Applejack said. “That’s pretty much it.” “Is Luna going to just hand out power to anypony she wants, then?” The mare continued. Vim was watching Applejack curiously. “Well, I don’t think that’s—” “She’s just barely started even doing anything, why should she be able to do that?” “Now hang on, she’s—” “Why’s she even ruling if she’s gonna care more about making her friends special than about if they can actually help Equestria?” “Enough!” Applejack shouted, then winced and lowered her voice. “Look, if y’all don’t like the way I’m plannin to do things that’s fine, but that was my decision. Luna ain’t got nothin to do with it. You got a problem, you point at me, not her.” There was a pause as the crowd worked through what she had said. Then the mare who had pushed her way to the front spoke up again. “Alright, fine. Why are you becoming a Princess if you don’t plan to do anything for us?” “I mean, it’s just a title,” Applejack replied. Another pony spoke up. “How can you say that? Don’t you know how important the Princesses are to Equestria?” “Most of y’all ain’t even touched by the stuff they do,” Applejack said. “That’s not the point. Even if we never even see them face to face, we know they’re there. We know we can count on them if we really need to. Maybe you haven’t ever had to worry about where Equestria’s going, but we do, and the Princesses are the ponies who are supposed to be keeping us going forward!” “That’ll still be true even if I become a Princess.” “Yeah,” another pony said, “but if we have one Princess who does nothing, that means we could get more. What happens when the current Princesses retire and all that’s left is ponies like you who just want a fancy title?” “Hey, I care about Equestria just as much as any of the Princesses,” Applejack argued. “They just don’t need my help right now! That don’t mean I wouldn’t step up if I had to.” “What, we’re just supposed to trust you? You could just be lying!” “I don’t lie,” Applejack said. “You can’t just say that. I don’t know you, I’ve never seen any proof that you don’t lie.” “I’m the literal embodiment of the Element of Honesty!” “I don’t even know what that means.” Applejack growled quietly, then fought to keep her frustration down. “What can I do to make you trust me?” “Doing anything would be a good start.” Applejack sighed. “Okay, look…” She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “I can’t make any promises right now, okay? I at least gotta cool down first, but I hear ya. You don’t want a Princess who ain’t gonna do nothin. I’ll mull it over, alright?” The crowd murmured for a bit. Ponies looked at each other, then at Applejack, then back at each other. Eventually, most of them decided that was enough for them and wandered off, but a few stayed behind. One of them was the mare who had lead part of the discussion. “I know something you can do,” she said. “What’s that?” Applejack asked wearily.  “Just talk to more ponies. Maybe outside Canterlot. You should see what the rest of Equestria actually thinks about the Princesses before you become one.” Applejack thought for a moment. “Yeah,” she eventually said, “I reckon I can do that. Thanks for tellin me what you think.” “Yeah,” the mare said, and then she walked away. The rest of the crowd slowly filed away after her, until eventually only Vim and Applejack were left standing there. Vim walked up beside Applejack. “That was unexpected,” she said. Applejack looked at her. “What, you didn’t plan that part?” Vim laughed. “Come on, I’m not that good at planning things.” “Eh, don’t sell yourself short,” Applejack told her. “So what do you think?” “About all that?” Applejack shrugged. “I think I really do need to cool down before I can work through it. They gave me somethin to think on, though.” Vim smiled. “Glad to hear it. We’ve finished our chores quite early, would you like to go find Princess Luna?” “Yeah, sure,” Applejack said. “Any clue where she got off to?” Vim looked over at a clock on the wall. “Hmm, let’s see… Ah, yes, right now she’s doing a tour of Canterlot’s ‘back alley’ shops.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason why?” “Well, you’re not going to become a Princess just by wanting it really badly,” Vim told her.