//------------------------------// // How the apple met the night // Story: The Beginning // by Nicolasmandias //------------------------------// How the apple met the night “Stand up! You have visitors” said the guard as he entered the cell’s corridor, followed by no other than Applejack. Her face was a really weird one, changing from worried to perhaps anger and, well, a small cocky grin; right there Big Mac knew she wouldn’t stop teasing him about this whole mess once he was free again. Free again. Who knew how long it would be for that to happen, he had after all fought Prince Blueblood in the middle of the streets, not just causing civil unrest, but also attacked and equestrian authority. That was at least a long time to serve behind bars. What a lovely weekend it had turned out to be, and he had come to Canterlot only to close a deal with some fancy merchant. A fancy merchant that could be the solution to all their budget problems… a big deal, just gone with one blow of his hooves. “Ah wanna know what they hay were you thinking” said Applejack after guard had left them alone “Attacking royalty Macintosh… really?” “He deserved it AJ, he offended yer friend and our family” he answered. He seated on the ground and stared at the wall, trying not to look at his sister. “Ah ain’t sayin’ he did not, but yer the first one to say that violence doesn’t solve problems” he said nothing. “Look we all know it was fer a good reason, and Ah know some ponies do deserve some kickin’ from time to time. Ah ani’t even mad, and Rarity is making a fuzz over yer bravery ‘an all, but…” “Ah still gotta stay here” “Yup, Twi’s tryin’ to get some help from the Princess but, Ah can’t promise anythin’ big bro” she said looking rather sad “they are still talkin’ bout what yer gonna be charged for and how much the fine will be… that Blueblood guy wants to have yah here fer life…” “Y’know, he might be a Prince, but he ain’t all that above the law.” He said to her. Applejack smiled. She hadn’t been all that worried about his brother serving a life long sentence, but there still was a little part of her being afraid of the thought. They remained silent for a while she looking at him, he staring at the wall. They heard voices outside, perhaps the rest of her friends talking to the guards; at least he heard female voices. Mac began to feel worse, he had ruined this weekend for his sister and her friends; turned what was supposed to be a calm weekend visiting the Princess in to a mess involving fighting a prince in the middle of the street and getting himself arrested. Also there was the fact that he had ruined their chance for making a big deal with the biggest merchant in Canterlot, the whole reason why he had decided to come with them to the darn town in first place, now the chances for sealing the deal were all but gone, no Canterlotian merchant would want to have business with a stallion that had been sent to prison for aggressing a regal prince of Equestria. And so, regret took him, his face changed from his usually stoic expression to a troubled one, he was sad and irritated, against the prince, against the law, against the merchant, but mostly against himself, and that’s what hurt the most. “Ah screwed up AJ” he said simply. Thinking again about what it truly meant to lose the deal. A fire grew inside of him; a dragon was burning him from within, one fed by anger and regret. “Ah should’ve let you handle everything… would’ve saved ourselves from this whole mess. We could still have that deal in our hooves, now what are we supposed to do? Sell the farm? Ah’m just a brute foolish farmer that should have stayed home, looking after my crops, that’s all Ah’m good at… ” “nah, you’re a lot of things, but none of that you are sayin’… don’t get sour on me big bro, this was just a chance… we’ll have another” she said, trying to cheer him up “who’s the one that taught me to believe in the window that opens once a door’s been closed?” His eyes were still fixed on the wall; his face remained sad and grimy “Ah wise pony must’ve said that, sadly he was not ‘ere today…” a sight escaped his lips, he closed his eyes to suppress the anger in his tone, fire still burning his insides “just an useless farm pony… a brute and dumb farm pony, that can’t behave not even for the well being of his family…” “Ah just don’t think so…” she added playfully, trying to avoid her voice from breaking. He turned his gaze towards her, and she just smiled trying to reassure him, she could feel her eyes were beginning get watery. “’cause Ah remember that this pony also said that ‘even tough one must always be more proud of the fights that one avoids rather than the ones one fights, it’s not…’ uh….” She motion for him to help her, blushing a little for not being able to complete the phrase. Macintosh just smiled. “It’s not a foolish act to stand up for one’s beliefs” he quoted. Turning his face towards his sister, the one he knew all too well, reading her face now as he had read her feelings trough her words. A small smile came to his lips, and the flame became bearable. “But what of mah believes was ah fightin’ for?" “Yah believe in treating mares with respect and care, yah believe in dignity and equality of all ponies, yah believe in loving yer family and yah believe that family, friends and morals go before money” Applejack smiled at him, and he saw in her eyes that she was proud of him; and his soul rested on those eyes and on that smile. The burden of ruining a good chance for growing the Apple’s business market and of ruining the weekend was lifted of his shoulders. Now, being in the jail seemed more of a fun story, rather than something to be ashamed of. “That’s what yah believe in, right? That’s why you do what you do, what yah did today and everyday… if anything, granny Smith an’ Applebloom will be proud of you, and so am I” “Shucks, can we leave li’le ‘bloom outta this?” Applejack left out a laugh, one or to tears had escaped her eyes and Macintosh had cleared them out trough the bars before pulling his sister in for a hug. Holding his sister the best he could, the weird feelings that had been nesting on his chest began to disappear, and a comforting smile came to his face. “Now that’s more like it” Applejack said releasing him. She started to chuckle a bit “Ah still can’t believe the face of the Prince when you bucked him to the ground, on one hit! Just wait till we go back to Ponyville, yer gonna be a town hero!” “Or at least Lyra will say so…” Their small talk continued for a little, their hearts now feeling a lot lighter about the whole situation, he now looked at it like a good story to share at the canteen, while Applejack was making it sound like an epic tale of sorts. When the door opened, Twilight Sparkle’s face lighted up, seeing her friends laughing and sharing across bars was a weird but welcoming sight. Behind her entered the same guard that had led Applejack in, and another guard clad in a black armor, the same one that were wearing the guards that had escorted Princess Luna to Ponyville days ago, this new guard looked more serious than the other, and also a little scary. “Rise, prisoner, this is Tinder, captain of the Lunar guard, he is here to escort you back to the castle dungeons” said the first guard. “What?” asked Applejack, more to Twilight than the guard. Macintosh remained silent and got on his hooves. “Yes, Applejack. I was speaking with Princess Celestia and she offered help, then of course Tinder caught up to me saying that Princess Luna had given orders to take your brother back to the castle” “Princess Luna?” asked Macintosh. “Yes” spoke the lunar guard, sounding really tough and adding more seriousness to his figure “after Princess Celestia consulted with her, they decided to take you back to the castle, and there you shall be judged by your crime” “His crime? Mah brother was just… crime? Twi you gotta tell ‘em…” Applejack’s voiced raised a bit, starting to get upset again. “Applejack calm down, the princess and her court will decide. Everything is going to be fine” said Twilight with a smile, perhaps forgetting that the royal court was integrated mostly by royals, thought Macintosh; but even so, Applejack seemed to calm down. “Now, officer, if you may…” The trip back to the castle was a long and silent one, Tinder had decided, by petition of Twilight, not to put chains on Macintosh for the trip; saving him from the humiliation and exposure of the subject, but ponies looked still. As it is usual for places like Canterlot news and gossip traveled fast, and the story of a farm pony fighting a prince had moved from mouth to mouth all over Canterlot by the time they had moved out of prison, the little group was stared down by every mare and every colt they encountered with. It was really uncomfortable for the four of them, Macintosh walked with his head down, Applejack tried to hide beneath her hat and Twilight just smiled uncomfortably; the guard remained in his straight position, the only change was little yet notable frown on his face, holding a silent grudge one very pony that looked at them, it was the way guards were supposed to be, stoic and un amused, Macintosh thought, yet this one seemed more serious. The guard was around Macintosh’s size and seemed twice as silent, not much about his age could be told, he seemed like a middle aged earth-pony and like all the guards that he had seen wearing that black armor his coat was grey and his mane dark; the only distinct thing about the armor was the helmet, it seemed more imposing than the usual ones, it was a round helmet with small wings on the sides, a pair of little antlers on the front and two little horns on the back, the color of the armor was also different, it looked black and purple like the rest but somehow more shiny, he couldn’t put his hoof on it, but the armor looked as important as the pony wearing it. “So, you are captain of the guards now?” Asked twilight once they had arrived to the thankfully much more solitary road towards the castle. “Yes miss, it pretty much came with the armor…” he responded in a monotone voice. “Huh? What does that mean?” “Princess Luna gave me the title a few months ago; I was nominated by one of the superiors.” “I… see…” answered twilight, not really wanting to ask much more. “Thanks for getting the hoofcuffs off my friend…” The guard just nodded, and remained silent for the rest of the way, and so did they. By sunset they were already at the castle, and after reassuring Applejack that her brother would be fine, mares and stallions parted ways, Twilight leading her friend towards their chambers and the guard leading Mac to the dungeons. The corridors towards the dungeons were completely different to the rest of the place, while the upper part of the castle was colorful, wide and warm; this place was grey and cold, badly lit and very tight. The holding cells of the castle were lodged in the cliff beneath the main structure, so the corridors were going down most of the time, a few doors were lodged on the walls of the corridor and it had a few twist and turns, for the looks of it there was a labyrinth of corridors and rooms beneath the castle, mostly the kitchen and the guards quarters Mac guessed. After a while they arrived to a small hall that connected with other doors and corridors, once inside the room, looking through a window Mac realized that they were at least three floors beneath the main hall of the castle and a few kilometers to the left side of the cliff. They moved trough one sturdy looking door, one which was mostly designed to hold the prisoners inside the corridor they were now going down trough, because not long after crossing it, they were at the holding cells. -.- Night fell through the land, and the small cell got completely dark, lit only by the moon’s light. Mac had been inside the cell for no longer than an hour and he already disliked it, he was completely alone in the dark, no other prisoners in the cages next to him, no guard at the entrance of the dungeon, jut him and the night. At least the small crowded window he had in the cell provided a nice view of the night and the mountains behind Canterlot. “How in Equestria is this any better than the town prison?” he asked out loud. He expected no response, which brought him to jump a few meters once he got one. “Do you not like the view?” asked an imposing female voice. Mac turned around in a fast motion, not sure what to expect from the darkness behind him. A pair of royal sky blue eyes was the first sight that he caught. “Um, I…” it took him a while to find his voice and properly bow. There in front of him, stood Luna, Princess of the night, imposing and beautiful, her mane and her eyes shining with the moon she had so caringly looked after. “It’s a nice view yer highness…” “I can handle things from now on Tinder” she said, to the pony that Macintosh had just realized was standing behind her, the same guard that had escorted him down there. “leave us for now” The guard just nodded and left the room. And Mac remained silent, his nose as close to the ground as he could get it, not sure how long was enough to bow to the Princess, especially since he was in prison. Without moving any other part of his body, Mac took a small glimpse of the Princess, she looked really imposing and the moon casted an aura of light around her making her look regal, noble and magnificent, as he had always thought the night to be. “Rise, please, I desire to share a few words with you.” She said in a much softer voice, trying her best to sound friendly. Yet somehow, it made him feel uncomfortable. “Please, I mean no harm” “um…’course not Princess, ‘am sorry” he said getting on his feet, but still keeping his head down. Not daring to look at her face. “So, Macintosh Apple is it?” she asked in a calm voice. Giving a few nervous steps in front of his cell “Brother of Applejack Apple, holder of the element of honesty” “Eeyup” “Convicted for civil unrest and fighting an Equestrian authority?” “Eeyup” he said in a quiet note, like expecting a punishment from the Princess “what is my sentence your highness?” “Nothing yet, I am afraid the high council has taken the matter upon themselves to dictate a sentence” she said in a perhaps worried expression. He raised his head, and for a couple of seconds he dared to look her in the eyes, and she saw expectation and confusion. She started to play a little with her words, trying to explain “you see... Macintosh, the… ‘Stallion’ you fought is related to a few members of the council, and his grandfather preside the high council a few years ago… so basically…” “They want my blood…” he regretted those words as they came out of his mouth; quickly he lowered his face again hoping the Princess to forgive his audacity. But she had seen the ironic smiled that crept to his mouth as he said those words, and the defiant tone which he had said them. “Indeed they do” said the Princess among a soft laughter, a sweet laughter that sent shivers down his spine. “That is why I am here for, to prevent that from happening” And that’s when he finally raised his head and both their eyes met. She saw a hint of hope, expectation, nervousness and also defiance, not against her, she understood that, but against those who wanted him to rot in jail. And he saw in her eyes nervousness as well, but in the same stare he noticed the confidence in her words and the offering she had made him. “But, Princess, ain’t you not upset by my words?” he asked, not really knowing how those words had come out of his mouth; they meant both a tease and an invitation. “Upset, for speaking your mind? Nonsense… you took those words from my mouth” she said relaxing a bit too. Something that came as a surprise for her, not really knowing she had been tense. A small smile formed on her face, confidence kicking in. “I want to offer you a bargain, a deal which can save you from the grasp of the council” A change in his features told her to continue. Slowly she started pacing around in front of his cell. “What I am offering you is a usually practice amongst royalty, see, whenever an important pony has it’s encounters with the law, they are offered this possibility; instead of being thrown in jail or having to pay their fee, they make a favor to whoever high authority decides to offer it” she said making sure Macintosh was understanding “the excuse is that the prosecuted gets to serve the kingdom as payment for their crime” “I’ve heard ‘bout that. It’s always offered to royalty or some fancy noble pony… a scam to justice if you ask me…” again he covered his mouth, but the Princess laughed again. “That is indeed. Back in the day my sister and I used it for helping ponies in need, yet offering this option used to uncommon, fair trials was our pride… of course things have changed, justice now is… well, more unfair… and Celestia’s voice among the council seems to be limp, and…” she just shook her head, it was not time for that talk, yet upon turning around, she noticed that the stallion was listening carefully, understanding her words ‘perhaps even sharing them’ she thought. That brought a smile to her face, apparently she had not made a mistake. She decided to change the subject and move on to the reason of her presence before the stallion “please excuse me… anyway, please tell me, why did you hit my…‘delightful’…nephew?” “Um…” he was a little taken aback by her question, but the look on her face told him that it was safe to tell the truth. Leaving aside her usually quite nature, Mac decided it would be wise to just let all his thoughts go; he really needed her to understand. “Well…. To begin with, he insulted a friend of mah sister, he was gonna make ‘er cry an’ in front of all those ponies, you see she has a good heart, but the mare cares ‘bout other ponies opinions, specially of the really fancy ones… well, anyways, she was ‘bout to cry an’ tha’s somethin’ yah don’t do to a mare… that’s not how a stallion’s supposed t behave…” “And that made you interfere?” “Eeyup, ah was inside a store with this big fish of a merchant me an’ mah sister wanted to seal a deal with, an’ yer nephew…” Luna just smiled at the informal addressing, a little surprised how fast the stallion had loosened his words; she liked to think that he felt as if he was talking to an equal, although for a brief moment. Mac said his apologies and then continued “well, the Prince was making a whole fuss about it, an’ no pony dared to stop him, and Ah guess her friends were in a bit of a shock since none of ‘em jumped in… so Ah did what Ah had to do, stepped in fer a friend… that was the right thing to do I guess…” “It was” she said reassuring him. He smiled. “But ah just went in to tell ‘im to stop, got in between him an’ Rarity. I think then Fluttershy went to her side, or some of ‘em did… ah said him a few words ‘bout how a stallion is supposed to treat a mare… and then it got ugly, he started yelling things about me being a dumb colt that dared to speak to a prince, nothing more than a farm pony” he said taking a pause, Luna just looked at him, not really surprised by the attitude of her ‘nephew’ “you see yer highness, ‘am used to be called that… ‘am used to ponies thinking me a fool… and I can tolerate that… but then he messed with more important things… like miss Rarity’s honor, Ponyville and mah family. And if there is anything a stallion should stand for, is for that, family, friends and home… so ah just… well, bucked his face to the ground…” The princess just laughed. Using her magic she opened the door of the jail “come, sit with me” she said inviting him to a small table nearby “there are important things at hand” “Thanks yer highness” he said shyly. A little bit reluctantly, he seated next to her, not really knowing what to say or what to do. Slowly he raised her face to look at her, she was staring trough one of the windows. “This… offering, I am putting before you… may prove to be dangerous, so you will have un till tomorrow night to think about it… besides, by then we shall see what kind of sentence will be dictated for you…”she said still looking through the window. The change in her tone told him she was worried about what was coming. “What’s the deal ‘bout yer highness?” he asked, perhaps trying to help her. She did look troubled, perhaps choosing her words. What could this deal be about? “Threats and dangers to our kingdom have been rising lately, more than what it was thought to be usual, have you noticed this?” he did nod a little, something that made her feel more comfortable. “Ah’ve noticed a few things, like that, what was it… ursa…something, that attacked Ponyville a while ago, or dragons coming near our homes, no to mention that discord fella…” he said; thinking back, it was true, times seemed more agitated than they used to be “hay, even them royals seem more unfair… um… sorry yer highness” “Do not be, it is true” she said reassuring. Slowly she stood up and began pondering around, while she collected her thought he followed her with his gaze. “There is a balance that must always be kept one way or the other, between harmony and chaos… too much harmony will bring an upraise of chaos, and well, perfect chaos is harmonious on itself… it is a complicated game the one this forces play…” “Eeyup” he said trying his best to understand her. “so…” “In which set of this game do you think we are?” she asked simply, thinking that was a question which he would not answer “as things ‘ve been lately, Ah’d say too much harmony an’ little chaos” he said with a concentrated expression. “… Indeed!” Luna said happily, he caught up quickly “what are the facts that led you to that conclusion?” “Hmm… to begin with, discord was supposed to be the ‘lord’ of chaos… so that’s some upraise yeh’ve got right there” Luna nodded “then there are the elements of harmony… an’ Ah remember miss Sparkle sayin’ they had returned, say ‘reincarnated’, after some long time” “A thousand years… since I was defeated and sent to the moon…” she said sounding still melancholic. “Nope, a thousand years since Nightmare-Moon was defeated” he said, adding a slightly emphasis on the name, Princess Luna smiled a little, rising her head to look at him who was still playing with his thoughts “an’ ‘course since those things are the elements of harmony, that means that there is much more, well… harmony, at the same time that happened, yah returned… Ah... Ah mean… yer highness returned…” “Exactly. And please, you can lose the formality” she smiled but he denied with his head, perhaps he still did not find it proper, she thought “that is important; see, the harmonic way of things for that thousand years would have been to have two princesses on the throne, and for the elements of harmony to be ‘active’. But it was not like that…” “There was no harmony or a whole o’ chaos, so there was…” “Balance, yes! Or, well, at least a kind of it” she said smiling, he did understood. “But now, there are two princesses, and the elements, so there is a whole lot of harmony…” “Which brings outbursts of chaos to compensate, outburst that become different problems, some more dangerous than others. From a single broken hoof, to a house burning or even Discord’s awake… Yes, that is exactly it” she said smiling, he smiled back at her. So far so good, she thought. “Now, our issue is that my sister has… failed to see this… change, this evolution, or at least she has failed to see the connection between problems, she just thinks of them as isolated events; Do not get me wrong, she does worry about problems, big and small, trying her best to solve them as they come up, but she is not prepared to face what may come.” “Ah guess I can understand that, but is she really blind to these things, or is she denying this whole big connection?” asked Big Mac puzzled. Perhaps he thought, stepping in the line of the princess’s trust “uh… ah mean… Princes Celestia does an amazing job, but she has been doin’ it fer so long that… well, when yah do somethin’ fer long time, yah get used to it… and it’s really hard to see a change when it is so, especially when it is somethin’ as delicate as safety fer Equestria… Ah mean, Ah can imagine that…” he rushed his words, getting a little confused when saying them, trying to make his best to tell her his point of view. “Yes! That is the problem! I believe she is afraid of the idea of a change in her rule, a change in state of peace our kingdom has had for a thousand years” The princess was blazed with excitement, he had understood, in his own way he had come to the same conclusion as her. “Needless to say then that her denial has kept her from taking preventive measurements” “But… aren’t the guards up for these things? Aren’t they in control of the deputies and fire stations of Equestria?” he said thinking about the all well to known golden clad ponies “as far as Ah’ve know, they are the ones that take care of this things, their institution…” “Indeed, they do, or at least they are supposed to. But now a day’s… to move guards and send them in for any big situations or even one of their small forces, means for us to ask for permission before the council… it is ridiculously bureaucratic. ” she said a little upset and angry “as I said there is no response team prepared for this dangers; even for us to act or even leave Canterlot, there must be a permission signed by the council…” “tha’s stupid…” he said bluntly, she smiled. “It is. So you see, when problems come, there is no way to help, and Celestia gets really stressed by this situations. Lately she has counted on Twilight and her friends for help… but we cannot count on them forever” “An’ that’s your idea yer highness? Take the weight from yer sister’s shoulders?” “To make sure that there is always someone ready to help were and whenever it is needed, yes… that is what I ask…” End of chapter one.