//------------------------------// // The Celestial Rejuvenation // Story: Softening the Stone // by TheMyth //------------------------------// Applejack sighed with relief as she pulled the last wheelbarrow full of apples into the barn. It had been a long day, spent hard at work apple-bucking. With the quickly approaching Autumn months arriving, she had to work harder to try and get all the apples harvested. Not to mention that soon enough it would be cider season, and Nightmare Night shortly after that as well. It was a lot of work keeping the farm going. Still, Applejack wasn’t one to complain. In all honesty, she loved every minute of it. There was nothing that she enjoyed more than a hard days work. During the winter months, when there was very little to be done, she spent most of her time wishing for Spring to arrive so that she could once again go out and get her hooves dirty. Behind her, the door swung open once again, letting in the setting sunlight behind her. She turned, just as her older brother, Big Macintosh, came through, pulling his own load of Apples into the barn as well. “Is that the last of them?” Applejack asked as he entered. Stepping back, he unbuckled the wagon from the yoke around his neck, setting it gently on the ground. “Eeyup.” “Woowee,” Applejack exclaimed looking at the overflowing baskets. “Applebuck season is almost over and done with. Can you believe it?” “Nnnope,” he responded simply. Applejack laughed. Big Mac always was a stallion of few words. He always figured that if there was something that needed to be said, there was no point in wasting valuable time beating around the bush. “Well shoot. I think that’s more than good enough for today,” she said triumphantly, clapping her hooves together to remove the dirt. “I think it’s about time we head on in for dinner. I can almost smell those Apple Fritters Granny Smith is cooking up right now.” Her brother’s mouth started visibly watering from the very mention of the word fritters. Applejack chuckled at her brother, closing her eyes and placing a hoof to her mouth. “Come on. Let’s go get some—” “Applejack!” With her ears twitching, Applejack looked behind to see a little yellow filly running towards her and Big Macintosh. The filly had a pink bow attached to her lavish red mane, that was bouncing with her running. She finally came to a halt before Applejack, looking rather distressed. “What’s wrong Apple Bloom?” Applejack asked the little filly, who was catching her breath. Apple Bloom looked up to face her sister and pointed off into the horizon. “I just saw Princess Celestia!” Applejack took a step back and started forming sweat on her forehead. “N-now what ya talkin’ about there Apple Bloom? The princess is on holiday and—” “But she’s right on our farm! Over there!” Apple Bloom pointed behind her as she spoke loud. “N-now don’t ya go pullin’ our leg Apple Bloom,” Applejack told her sister with mock anger. “It’s not nice to lie.” She said the last words as she was pursing her lips and darting her eyes. Apple Bloom groaned and rolled her eyes. “Come on! Let me show y'all!” She took hold of her sister’s hoof and started dragging her. Big Macintosh merely shrugged and followed his two sisters, thought a part of him was curious to Apple Bloom’s claim. “N-now Apple Bloom! Surely ya imagining it! Come on, let me go now and let’s go get some dinner!” Applejack tried to persuade her sister, but to no avail. Before Apple Bloom could respond, she stopped and pointed to another figure off in the distance. A white alicorn lying on the ground with her head in her forelegs and her jewelry lying on the side. “There she is!” Apple Bloom whispered loudly to her sister and brother, the latter staring in disbelief. “Ah don’t believe—” His words were cut off by Applejack, who pulled him to the side and smiled nervously. “Why don’t ya take Apple Bloom back to the farm now Big Macintosh?” She asked her brother, her sweat flowing freely from her forehead like a stream. Big Macintosh merely stared at his sister. “What’s going on here Applejack? What ya know—” “Look Big Mac,” she said interrupting him again. “You have to trust me on this. Please, just take Apple Bloom and head back to the farm. I’ll be along in a minute, alright?” He paused for a moment, before finally nodding. “Alright,” he said. “Come along AB,” he added, turning towards his youngest sibling. “Do I have to?” she whined. “I want to go and say ‘hello’ to the princess though.” “Eeyup,” he answered back with a nod. “I think it’s best we let Applejack talk to her instead.” Reluctantly, Apple Bloom started trotting back towards the farmhouse, a large frown on her face. Big Mac turned to follow her, stopping for just a moment to give Applejack a look of concern. When she didn’t bother to look back at him, he sighed before heading off towards home as well. Applejack waited for a minute until her two siblings were out of hearing range before trotting over to the princess. Celestia didn’t seem to notice as she approached, instead remaining on the ground with her head buried in her own hooves. Although Applejack had at first assumed that Celestia had been lying in silence, as she got close enough she could hear the distinct sound of sniffling coming from the alicorn. Stopping just shy of where the princess was laying, Applejack stopped and thought about what to do next. She knew that she needed to say something, but had absolutely no idea where to begin. Thankfully, she didn’t have to think about it long. Celestia suddenly poked her head up, as though she had instantly become aware of Applejack’s presence. Her head spun around, quickly stopping as her tear-stained eyes met the farmers own. “Applejack!” she exclaimed, quickly reaching up to dry the remaining moisture from her eyes. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you arrive.” Applejack smiled back as warmly as she could. “That’s alright yer highness. I should be the one apologizing to you for interrupting. If ya don’t mind my asking, what are ya doing out here all by yourself?” “I was…” Celestia began, but caught herself before continuing on. Here ears drooped to her side as she turned her head away. “Nothing. I was doing nothing.” “Beggin yer pardon, your highness, but that’s not what it looks like to me. Something must have happened for you to come all the way out here in broad daylight, without so much as a disguise. Now, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what’s wrong.” She paused for a moment, before hesitantly asking, “Did something happen to Luna?” “No, nothing happened to Luna,” Celestia said, dismissing her with a wave of her hoof. “At least, nothing recently.” Applejack furrowed her brow. “Recently?” Celestia nodded with her lips pursed and quivering. “I-I am so blind…” she trailed off, a stream of tears present on her face. “What’re ya talkin'—” “Everything!” Celestia shouted out at Applejack, startling her. “I am so blind to everything and everypony gets hurt because of it!” She lost her breath as her face was stained in tears. “First my little beloved sister, instead of helping her like a big sister should, I end up destroying her! All because I couldn’t stop being a glory hound for my family!” Celestia closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. “And now she returns from that Tartarus I sent her to even worse!” Applejack felt a tinge of pity for Celestia in her heart as she lowered her hat to cover her face, her eyes peering at the saddened princess. “Princess—” “All my other subjects fall to my ignorance! How many have suffered because of it?! Your friend Fluttershy was near death because I couldn’t care a flying feather to get off my fat lazy flank to just visit her! My own so—” “Princess!” Celestia stopped as Applejack suddenly spoke up. Turning back, she saw the apple farmer looking down at her with a comforting, yet sad smile on her face. “Forgive me for saying this, but Ah think yer being way too hard on yerself right now.” “But I—” “No buts,” Applejack interrupted not allowing the princess to continue. “Yer not the only one who failed Fluttershy. The rest of us didn’t notice anything was wrong either. Besides that, you were trying to take care of yer sister. Ya couldn’t even leave the library, let alone know about what was going on with Fluttershy. “And as for yer sister, you did what you had to do. She would have destroyed the world if you hadn’t—” The sound of Celestia laughing between her tears caught Applejack off guard, silencing her. “Yes, she would have wouldn’t she?” Celestia asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Except for one small problem. That wasn’t Luna trying to destroy the world all those years ago.” With that said, Celestia proceeded to tell Applejack all about The Nightmare that Twilight had informed her about earlier. She told her all about how Luna was not the one responsible for anything that had happened. When she finally finished her description, Applejack let out a low whistle. “I don’t believe it…” she muttered. Celestia nodded and turned back to face the dirt. “Do you understand now? I failed her. I failed my own sister. In the time of her greatest need, I not only ignored her, but I sent her away without even bothering to ask why. I was so blinded by my false sense of duty, that I banished my own sister, a victim already, to a thousand years of torment from a monster that fed off her mind.” Applejack sighed. “Princess, you can’t blame yerself for that. You thought that you were doing what was best for Equestria.” “But I should have done more for her! I should have stopped and tried to make things better. Instead I picked the easiest option and sent her away instead. Everything that’s happened, every hardship that she’s had to endure, all the pain that she’s going through right now… it’s all my fault.” She began sniffling again as a fresh set of tears began pouring from her face once again. “Even if she recovers, how could she ever forgive me for what I’ve done? How could I ever face her again knowing that this is all my fault?” Celestia sat and sobbed for a moment, waiting for Applejack to tell her how wrong she was. Only, the rebuke never came. Instead, a comforting hoof rested on her shoulder. Turning back again, she looked into Applejack’s smiling face. “Because princess, she’s your sister.” “...What?” Applejack smiled knowingly upon Celestia. “Princess, Ah know how it feels to have a little sister and let her down. Heck, one day she came home cryin’ cause them bullies were teasing her to pieces about her not having’ a cutie mark yet.” Applejack remembered the days leading up to her sister returning on that fateful day. “Now to be completely honest with ya, Ah told her to just plain ignore it. Seems it didn’t help much… cause of her returning in that rotten state that day. Ah thought Ah was such a rotten apple to have her cry like that, till Granny told me this. ‘It takes a foal to ignore a mess before them. But it takes a full grown pony to clean it up.’” Celestia blinked as she remembered a similar saying, she wanted to speak but was silenced by Applejack again. “That’s when Ah realized. Ah wasn’t being honest with myself when Ah knew there were messes with my little sister. Ah just ignored it till it hurt her badly. But Ah promised to fix it and make it up to her.” “And did you?” Applejack nodded with a proud grin. “Sure did. Them bullies will know now not to mess with others again. Luckily their parents agree with my form of lecturing.” She said before she inhaled and let her breath out slowly. “Yeah Princess, ya really messed up with yer little sister. That much is clear. But to go on and say ya can’t do anything to make it up to her, that just makes ya a liar. And are ya a liar Princess?” Celestia shook her head furiously, furrowing her brow at Applejack. “Of course I’m not a liar!” “Then get yer flank over to yer sister right now and set things right!” Applejack pointed to the library off in the distance, her eyes staring down at Celestia. “Remember, family first. Go on, git!” Only, Celestia didn’t leave immediately. She looked up at Applejack in wonder until the farmer started to feel nervous of being reprimanded. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, as Celestia grabbed Applejack and pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you Applejack,” she whispered. “I… I needed to hear that.” At first she was stunned by the action, but soon enough Applejack returned the gesture. “No problem princess. We all need to have our flanks kicked once in awhile.” Celestia laughed as she pulled back. “Please. Just Celestia is fine.” “Well, alrighty then pri… I mean, Celestia.” Applejack responded with a warm smile. “Now ya really should get back to yer sister. She’s probably wondering where you ran off too.” Celestia nodded. Without another word, she turned and prepared to head back towards the library. However, she didn’t get too far, before the sight of a purple unicorn standing in the midst of the trees with a horrified look on her face caught her attention. “Twilight!” She exclaimed trotting over to the frozen mare. “What are you doing out here?” “I… I…” Twilight began to stutter. “I was looking for you, princess. I’ve been all over Ponyville looking for you. I was worried about you.” Celestia smiled. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m quite alright now. Your good friend Applejack helped knock some sense into me.” “She… I saw… and…” “Aw shoot,” Applejack exclaimed trotting up next to the princess. She casually reached up and gave her a gentle punch to the shoulder. “I just gave Celestia here a bit of advice. Nothing anypony else would have done.” Twilight’s eye twitched. “Celestia? You called her… Celestia? I… don’t even…” she muttered before her eyes rolled backwards and she fell to the floor with a thud. The other two stared at her for a moment before turning and looking at each other blinking. “What the hay is wrong with her?” Fluttershy took a deep breath as she trotted up the stairs of the library. Spike was leading the way up, while Pinkie Pie bounced behind her. Rainbow Dash, still insisting that this was a bad idea, had decided that she was better off waiting outside instead. Fluttershy couldn’t really blame her for feeling that way. In all honesty, she wasn’t really sure what to expect from this visit either. As the reached the guest room at the end of the hall, Spike pushed the door open, stepping aside so that the others could enter first. The room was rather gloomy looking, the blinds having already been drawn and the only light coming from a couple of candlesticks in the corners. In the very center of the room, laid the princess of the night, still just as helpless as Fluttershy remembered her. For a moment, the timid pegasus felt her courage leave her. She turned and prepared to run away, but was blocked by Pinkie Pie. “Nopey dopey Fluttershy! You’re already here now, let’s go in and say ‘hello’!” Pinkie told her friend, jumping behind Fluttershy and pushing her to where Princess Luna was lying. Fluttershy gulped as she was pushed forward, standing inches away from the princess. She saw the princess’ eyes moving and felt a shiver of fear running down her spine. Fluttershy merely took a step forward and rested herself on a chair at Luna’s side. “Um… Princess Luna… how are you?” She asked timidly, with her voice as soft as a mouse’s. No response came from Luna, only her eyes were alive as they traveled from one spot to the other. Fluttershy shuffled her hooves, thinking of what to say next. “I hope you are doing well here in Ponyville…” she trailed off, seeing only eye movement and nothing else again. Taking deep, deliberate breaths, Fluttershy continued. “Look, I um… what I’m trying to say is… I mean I don’t know if you can hear me and all but…” Her mind raced as she tried to calm her thoughts. She knew what she wanted to say, but was still having trouble managing to say it. Turning back, she looked at Pinkie Pie and Spike. Both were giving her supportive smiles. It helped calm her down just enough. Turning back, she took a deep breath. “I… I’m sorry…” she said softly, closing her eyes to try and hold back the tears. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do this to you. If I’d known that this was going to happen, I’d have never done this to you.” Fluttershy tried to continue, but the tears were starting to flow much to freely at this point. They prevented her from saying anything else, other than “I’m sorry” over and over again. She was so caught up in her own emotion, she didn’t notice the others entering the room until she felt a comforting hoof laid across her shoulder. She turned around quickly and looked into the smiling of of Princess Celestia looking back at her. Forgetting decorum, Fluttershy immediately reached and grabbed the princess in a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” she cried into her fur. “I’m so, so sorry.” Celestia returned the hug. “There’s no need for that Fluttershy,” she said comfortingly. “You have nothing to apologize for.” “But I—” “No Fluttershy,” Celestia interrupted. “You have done nothing wrong. Everything that has happened, it is entirely my own fault.” “Don’t say that princess!” Fluttershy said pulling back in shock. “I mean it isn’t—” “It is though,” Celestia insisted. “It’s my fault that Luna is in this condition in the first place, and it’s my fault that you feel this way.” The tears began to pour down her own cheeks as well. “And I am so very sorry Fluttershy.” Both ponies remained in the hug for a few moments before letting go. Fluttershy smiled softly as she wiped a few tears away from her eyes. “Princess, it’s not your fault for what happened to me.” She told her, looking to Luna again. Celestia scrunched her lower lip. You are so kind She thought to herself, before turning back to Luna. “Luna,” Celestia began, taking a hold of Luna’s hoof again. “I wasn’t the good sister ponies made out to be. In fact, I was the worst kind of sister ever.” Celestia sniffed, a new set of tears forming. “Maybe I still am? All those years you’ve been alone up there with that monster, I know now why you ended up like this.” “But I promise you, from now I promise to set everything right.” She gently nuzzled her sister’s head and kissed her forehead softly. “I love you Luna. I love you so much.” She pressed her sister’s head against her chest as she held onto her, crying freely. “T..” Celestia’s eyes opened wide and her ears perked. Everypony in the room gasped. Removing herself from Luna, Celestia looked at Luna’s head. Her eyes were moving along with her mouth, albeit slowly. “Lulu?!” Celestia called out, using Luna’s nickname she used all those years ago. Princess Luna’s eyes looked up to Celestia’s and her mouth moved again steadily. It was just for a moment, but the word Luna spoke was as clear as a bell. “Tia…”