What The Night Remembers

by TCSNxs

10. The Truth Of The Night

Luna swallowed hard. One of the Lunar Regent's hidden strengths was her attention to detail. However, in the company of the farmer, she found herself missing some things that normally wouldn't have slipped past her. The hat, placed dead center on her mantle, was one such thing. She meant to move it elsewhere, but between the emotional roller coaster and infectious flippancy, from basking in the farmer's presence to the mishap with the moon, from the meetings to the sheer randomness of the recent days, she missed that little detail.

It wasn't that Luna wanted to keep it from Applejack. After all, it rightly belonged to the Apple family. But she wasn't quite ready for the story at the moment Applejack had pointed it out. Luna quickly looked around for some means of distraction, but found nothing. She turned back to find the farmer's emerald eyes kept piercing her as only they could. The Lunar Regent felt a mixture of emotions bubble forth and she wasn't exactly sure how to process them. Her normally expressive face became a blank slate.

"Ya alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. She didn't miss the hat during the few times she'd been in the Lunar Regent's abode. The farmer wouldn't have pressed the issue, figuring all things come in due time, "Ah didn't mean to..."

"No, tis quite alright," Luna interrupted. The alicorn had decided at length to get it over with. She owed Applejack that much. Both of them. The Lunar Regent moved towards the doors leading out from her room.

"Where ya going?"

"To get some lubricant," the Lunar Regent remarked as she opened the doors. She found Silverhawk and Storm Wind, her ever faithful guards that just came on duty, at attention on either side of the doorway.

"Your Highness?" Silverhawk said as he turned his head to meet the gaze of the Lunar Regent.

"Would you be so kind as to summon Fetch," Luna said, referring to the butler, "I have need of some...items from the cellars."

"Of course, Your Highness," Silverhawk said as he and Storm Wind bowed. Luna moved back inside and closed the door behind her.

Of the five bottles of Spring Wine that Fetch had procured, two were emptied by the duo as they started on the third. The farmer had long ago donned her namesake's hat while Luna, for her part, finally wore Applejack's trademark Stetson. As they reclined on a couch near the fireplace, Luna was laid back as her rear hooves were kicked up over the farmer's seated form

Applejack sat enraptured by the stories she was hearing. It was like the grand adventures Granny Smith used to tell her. Luna went so far as to produce a few illusions to aid in the telling. The assault on the castle, her ancestor's audacious challenge to the centaur, all of it played through the imagination of the farmer. Through it all, even the moon gave her a few images, though Applejack found she had to let down her mental blocks more than usual so it could feed those images to her. One particular image of a rabbit, decked out with an overly large cowpony hat, giving somepony an obscene gesture only added to the farmer's mirth.

For her part, Luna proved an apt storyteller. She had decided to tell the farmer all if it from her memory. Everything from the first time she met the original Applejack to when the farmer from Dream Valley led the diversionary assault up the mountain top and stood brazenly against the centaur. Over her long span of years, Luna's memory could forget some small details as anypony's could. She never once, in the millennia of her existence, forgot the smallest detail about the current Applejack's namesake.

"So she really told Celestia to lay off the cakes?" Applejack said, sipping a bit more of the fine Spring Wine. The perpetual smile left her cheeks hurting, but the spirits helped dull the ache.

"Oh yes," Luna remarked, struggling to keep the laughter from her voice as she peaked out from under the wide brim of the Stetson, "If nothing else, she would speak her mind whenever it pleased her. She, in fact, said how Celestia's dress made it look like two zebras were having a pillow fight. At which point I told Tia that it looked more like two griffons brawling over a watermelon. In due seriousness, the dress had so many folds and so much fabric that we could have draped the entire castle two times over."

Applejack doubled over in laughter, trying futilely to find her breath. Luna found the experience was not as awkward as she believed it would be. Whether it was the farmer's open, if direct, nature or the wine was debatable, but it felt good to get the memories out in the open with another pony. Her head felt a giddiness that made her a bit light headed. Or was it the wine? The Lunar Regent wasn't sure. The wine was magically preserved and aged carefully for more of a kick than the usual fair. However, between her goddess-like countenance and Applejack's rugged constitution, what made them swoon would lay other ponies low.

"Sounds like mah family alright," the farmer said after finally getting her breath, "When Mac walked down Main Street in Granny's girdle, he wasn't ashamed of it."

"The apples never fall far from the tree," Luna said as she raised her glass in a mock toast.

"Ah hay, he practically relished it. Ah wonder about that stallion sometimes," Applejack remarked, giving an exaggerated shake of her head.

"Oh ho!" Luna grinned, finding a new avenue for discourse, "Does the Element of Honesty care if a pony is a...fillyfooler or coltcuddler?"

"Now where'd ya pick those up?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at the Lunar Regent.

"It helps to keep up on the modern vernacular, even if it's a bit crude," Luna said, "Besides, I read them in a Police Academy comic."

"Ah huh," Applejack smirked as she spoke, "But to answer ya, it don't bother me. A pony loves who they love, and that can't be helped."

"A fine sentiment," Luna said, a soft smile on her face, "You do your namesake credit."

"Do Ah now?" the farmer said, rolling her head towards the Lunar Regent.

"Indeed you do!" Luna replied, moving her rear legs from the farmer's lap and moved to a seated position. The normally graceful alicorn's moves seemed somewhat forced, as if she were trying to make her muscles cooperate, "I think she would have been proud."

Applejack took the compliment in stride. Between the wine or the company, the farmer was more relaxed than she remembered, more unguarded. Not the farmer wasn't at ease in Luna's presence, but spirits they had shared made it easier to hear of long dead relatives from an eternally living aspect of nature that she chided on a regular basis. The farmer stared forward, realizing her life would likely never cease its humor.

Luna watched the farmer chew over something, the emerald eyes staring at nothing. Whether through a lack of inhibition or the freedom of expression she enjoyed in Applejack's company, something clicked inside Luna's head. On impulse, she leaned towards the distracted farmer's head as slowly as her tipsy state would allow. Her auroral mane brushed against the farmer's cheek, breaking Applejack's daze as she turned towards the offending strand of hair. The farmer found Luna's lips barely an inch from her's, the smell of wine heavy on the Lunar Regent's breath.

"Has anyone told you, fair Applejack," Luna said slowly, "Yours is a haunch that won't quit?"

"Yup," the farmer smiled slightly, keeping her emerald orbs level with the Lunar Regent's, "And Ah won't quit kicking yours if ya don't get outta mah face."

"Suppose I were to impose my will upon you," Luna replied, "Do you believe you could stop me?"

"Ah'll get the feathers," the farmer warned.

"Fair Applejack, I had no idea you were so kinky!"

"Do it and find out," the farmer finished, turning to take a sip of wine. The moon made it clear that it were time to begin its journey via an image of a dancing alarm clock, "Come on, it's time."

As much as Luna wanted to continue teasing the farmer, she wouldn't shirk her duties. The two rose, extricating themselves from the couch and moving towards the balcony. Unfortunately, the journey proved to be anything but a straight forward process as the two weaved through the large room. Some drapes, put there at the behest of the farmer to shut to chill air out of the room, separated the balcony from the rest of the room.

For her part, Applejack managed to navigate the voluminous fabric easily enough. Luna, who thought it would be a good idea to stretch her wings prior to exiting the room, managed to get herself tangled in the heavy fabric. The farmer turned sloppily to the Lunar Regent. Somehow part of Luna's mane got twisted up with the top portion of the drapes while one eye peaked out from a space within the layers of the drape. The entirety of her figure was otherwise covered by the lengthy fabric.

"Shut up," Luna said before the farmer could even speak.

"Should Ah take a picture?" Applejack said anyway, "Ah wonder how much the National Equestrian would pay for 'em?"

"Applejack, help me!" Luna said with a whine.

With a chuckle, the farmer managed her way to the trapped Lunar Regent and, after a few minutes, managed to extract her without resorting to scissors. Luna raised her head and gave a mocking "harrumph" as she reached the edge of the balcony. She looked over the late evening winter scene enveloping Canterlot before assuming an overly regal pose. Holding it for a moment, Luna laughed for no reason afterward.

Luna's horn sparked to life a moment later as she worked to encourage the moon on its way. The farmer felt the moon's happiness clearly as it began on its way. The Lunar Regent finished with an exaggerated bow to some imaginary audience.

"Ah think the rabbit in your head is dancing a jig," the farmer said as she moved back towards the abode.

"It does that sometimes," Luna smirked as she took a few wobbly steps towards her abode. The curtains gave her little trouble. She gave them as deadly a glare as her current state would allow. Applejack was sure the curtains, nor her, took the threat seriously.

Just as the well-spirited duo passed by the warm fireplace, the Luna paused as her face lit as if from an epiphany. The Lunar Regent seemed to be processing something while the farmer paused a few paces beyond her. Applejack looked back to the Lunar Regent with a studious eye.

"Is this the part where Ah got back to dreamland?" Applejack asked.

"Hardly," Luna answered, a smile spreading on her face again, "Though I can facilitate that if you wish."

"Ah've had enough rabbits," the farmer replied. The image of a weeping bunny seemingly mocked her mentally, though the farmer ignored it.

"You tire of my company?" Luna said with pursed lips forming a frown, as if oblivious to her earlier comment.

"Not that. Just....never mind. What's on your brain?"

"Music!" Luna chirped immediately, a broad smile returned her face, "Drinks!"

"What about 'em?" the farmer, admittedly feeling it herself, asked.

"We need more!" Luna replied. She broke into a near gallop heading towards a selection of records on one of the shelves. Applejack, for all her practicality, didn't fault the alicorn's logic at the moment. Until Luna crashed into the shelf, apparently misjudging the minimum distanced to gain a complete stop.

What the two bottles did to both of them, the fourth bottle had just as proportional an effect. Applejack worked hard to get the dozing Lunar Regent into bed. She was winding down herself, but promised herself to make sure Luna was in easy reach should any such emergencies arise. That said, the fact that alicorn outweighed her by nearly double didn't help matters much.

While giving a few utterances regarding a diet, the farmer finally got the Lunar Regent into the bed and nonchalantly shoved her to the far side. After working a few covers over the snoring alicorn, she removed her hat and the relic that Luna had given her. Should she remember anyway. The farmer wobbled a bit before finally getting comfortable into bed. Sleep, she hoped, would find her shortly.

Luna didn't wait long before rolling onto the nearly unconscious farmer. With part of her auroral mane, foreleg, and neck burying the Element of Honesty nearly to asphyxiation, Applejack somehow maneuvered onto her back and flung the Lunar Regent's bulk off of her. Luna's slumbering form rolled over back to the edge, and nearly off of it. Somehow, the Lunar Regent, even in the midst of her wine induced slumber, held enough grace to keep her position.

Applejack waited a few more minutes for either the thud of alicorn hitting her or for the thump from an alicorn hitting the floor. When neither seemed forthcoming, the farmer finally succumbed to the hazy slumber wine engenders.

When she made the realization she was dreaming, Applejack found herself flying. Though she couldn't remember what she had been doing before it occurred to her, the farmer had become aware of that lucidity without much of a shock. The farmer relished in that freedom as she was zooming through the warm night air. Above her, the sky was dotted with so many stars, she nearly lost herself just staring. The ground below her rolled with waves with lush green hills dotted by an occasional copse of trees. A river occasionally intersected the base of the hills, cutting a meandering blue line across a sea of night tinted green.

The farmer lost track of time of how long she were flying before a twinkling light drew her attention to a distant hilltop. It was then that Applejack felt the telltale pull once more. She willed herself forward as quickly as she could go, closing the distance to the twinkling light. Eventually, she managed to draw close enough to realize it were a fire. Logs were stacked two abreast a fair height from the ground. Applejack thought she could make out something atop the logs, but the flames had obscured her version too much to be definitive about what it was.

Applejack slowed her flight once she could make out additional details. A multitude of ponies gathered around the roaring blaze as if in reverence and solace. Some looked down, others towards some in attendance, while still others simply stared towards the fire. Nearly all had the same solemn, blank look of introspection. One thing was clear to the farmer: they were paying their respects to something or somepony. Two figures stood nearest to the fire and were taller than the rest of the gathered mass. One was cream colored while the other was a dark sapphire and both were decked in the formal trappings of royalty. The farmer didn't need to see their cuties marks to know who they were.

The quiet gathering began to break while the fire raged on. Celestia put a hoof to her sister's shoulder. The Lunar Regent simply stared into the fire as if trying to make peace. One hoof clutched a worn cowpony hat as the minutes into an hour. The two eternal sisters were utterly alone. Eventually, Luna's gaze drifted towards to the ground. That's when the tears came. Celestia brought her shattered sister in closer, wrapping a hoof and a wing about her form as if protecting her from the world. Luna leaned into it and sat down, as if trying to find some meaning to it. It seemed to Applejack that even alicorns, ever living aspects of nature, could sometimes be broken.

Though the farmer was unsure of how long had passed, the fire eventually subsided, leaving her in an inky blackness. As she realized what happened, she reflexively brought her barriers up, recalling the previous experience she had. However, no assault seemed forthcoming. It wasn't a minute after she focused back on her environment that she heard a voice behind her.

"It must be odd, watching the pyre of your namesake," Luna remarked behind the farmer. Applejack wasn't surprised, "I wonder what Voltmare would say about it? I'm sure it's a fascinating philosophical topic."

"What happened?" the farmer asked as a silver glow tinted the area.

"Old age," Luna remarked.

"Fittin'."

"Indeed. I wanted to put on a grand state funeral for all of Equestria to pay homage, but she wouldn't leave her home," Luna said to the entranced farmer, "As a matter of fact, she said she'd 'buck my bucking head off' if I moved her in those final days. Dream Valley was everything to her."

"Ah would have thought she wanted a party," the farmer looked over her shoulder to Luna as she spoke, "At least that's what Ah want. No tears and such, just smilin' and laughter."

"She made that request actually. In the end, we were overruled by the denizens of Dream Valley," Luna stated with a shrug, "Power of the ponies and all that, and who are Celestia or I to deny them the right to be...morose?"

Luna dropped the glow of her horn as another light sprung to life off in the distance. One more lit, then another before one more after that. In succession, the lights sprung until they revealed a stone hallway. The farmer believed she could make out a pony slowly approaching her. Its head never left the ground, though she recognized the pony in question as it drew closer.

"Luna?" Applejack called, but the somber alicorn didn't acknowledge her.

The melancholy pony seemed to acknowledge nothing as it moved passed her. The feelings of regret were nearly palpable as the sapphire alicorn kept walking. Applejack took a step to follow the silent Lunar Regent, but a yank on her tale snapped her attention away. She turned back to see Luna's horn amidst the silver glow.

"I wouldn't bother, Fair Applejack," Luna remarked, "Tis a long hallway and one that I do not think you want to travel. Besides, it is merely a metaphor for time and distance and all those subjects ponies can't make a living with after graduation."

"Uh huh," the farmer replied, glad she didn't pursue a degree in Philosophy, "Where's it lead then?"

"I believe you know, my friend," Luna said quietly as she looked down. The scenery shifted to a dark and scorched forest. A stone building, equally scorched and with many holes about the walls and ceiling, surrounded them.

“Please, Luna! Listen to me. You can’t do this. Your privations will kill us all unless you lower the moon!” Applejack heard once more. She drew the appropriate conclusions.

"Why?" Applejack asked, finally feeling she were owed an explanation.

"When your namesake passed on, fair Applejack," Luna began after collecting her thoughts, "I found myself unable to accept it. It left such a whole in my heart that the daemon we've come to call The Nightmare took root. As time passed, it manifested like a cancer before consuming me whole in my...in my arrogance and grief. All because I was a coward."

"Coward?" Applejack said, nearly scoffing despite herself, "You? How so."

"I have seen many ponies pass on that I have considered friends," Luna continued, apparently needing to come clean, "When you live for thousands of years, you learn that friends come and go and you honor them as such. But she...she was special. I've never known a pony like her up until now, but she never knew how special?"

"Why?"

Luna's eyes closed as she apparently took a deep breath, "Because I never told her I loved her."

Applejack parked herself as the scene of Luna's banishment played on. She wanted those signs of falsehood to go off, but her mind was still. The farmer looked to the Lunar Regent, unsure exactly what to do. A few minutes passed as Luna sat in contemplation.

"What you are experiencing is my own thoughts and fears, my friend," Luna said as she stared at the farmer, "What you see here is merely expressions of things I do not and can not tell others at casual parties."

The farmer rose and moved towards the Lunar Regent, finally understanding. She put a hoof to the Lunar Regent's cheek, finding it wet. Another tear loosed itself as the farmer shifted to her hoof to the Lunar Regent's chin, pushing Luna's face even with the farmer's. Applejack's emerald eyes held Luna's gaze without released.

"Sugarcube, whatever regrets ya feel," the farmer said softly, "Whatever crimes ya think ya did, you gotta move past them. If not for your sake, then for mine and her's. Ya know how that story ends and nopony deserves that."

Luna wanted to break away from that gaze, so awful and so beautiful. The farmer didn't judge her outside of the jest and arrows they slung at each other. The gaze was the same, past and present. It filled her with excitement and fear, devotion and compassion. The farmer's words were so simple, but so profound. They were the truth, Luna understood that, but it wasn't an easy thing for her to accept. Not without hearing it from her. Such is the nature of loyalty bred of devotion.

"Fair Applejack, our time in this way grows short as the connection grows weaker," Luna said quietly, "And there is one other thing you must know."

"What's that?" the farmer said equally soft, thinking she was helping a friend sort through her secrets.

As the world around them grew bright from the release of the Elements of Harmony, Luna pressed forward the last few inches, putting her lips to farmer's. The two held that pose as the shot from the Rainbow of Light consumed the dark form overhead. Applejack's eyes grew wide in surprise as the world flooded with light. But neither did she pull away as the dream faded.