----Schoolhouse Apples Part Two----
Del and June continued their race through the orchard with a spectating Nyx above them, a smile still on her lips. Ultimately, Del was the first to enter their house, earning a small chiding from the voice she identified as Applejack. After a graceful landing at the door, she lifted her hoof to knock but the door swung open and Applejack stared in awe at the mare in front of her. "By Celestia's flowing mane! Look how much you've grown, Nyx!" Applejack commented.
"Nice to see you, again, Applejack." Nyx smiled as they shared a strong hug.
"And so strong, too!" Applejack added. "Oh, what am I doing? Come on in!" Applejack moved from the doorway and let Nyx stroll in. Nyx noted in her mind that the house had not changed one bit since her absence. Applejack moved passed her and entered the kitchen where Nyx's nose caught the scent of dinner. She moved towards it and poked her head around the corner where she saw Caramel and Cheerilee working together to make the meal. Then she saw the transaction of Caramel's lips meeting Applejack's. "That's a shocker." she joked.
Caramel jumped slightly. "Now who's this?" he wondered.
"I'm not sure you remember but this is Nyx." Applejack greeted.
"Nyx...Nyx...Nyx..." Caramel repeated. "Wasn't she Nightmare Moon?" Nyx winced at the mention of her former name.
"Yes." Applejack answered sternly as she kicked Caramel in the shin.
"Dinner's- I mean, soup's on!" Cheerilee announced. The ponies grabbed their dinner and sat in the living room, seeing that they didn't have an extra spot at their table for Nyx. "So where've you been all these years?" Applejack wondered.
"Oh, travelling." Nyx answered nonchalantly. "Though it did surprise me."
"How so?" Applejack wondered as she took a bite of her apple cobbler (not her cousin). Nyx explained how the towns and cities treated her as if she were a regular pony and that her past had never happened. This surprised Applejack a lot. Seeing the fact that she did bring eternal night for a few weeks before righting her wrongs.
Once the "kids," which were Del, June, and Api, were sent to bed, for they had chores to do, the other ponies decided to talk about more "adult" things while downing some Hard Apple Cider. Nyx was the first to get tipsy after seven bottles. They told jokes and stories that were viewed as "uncouth" to Rarity. "How is....how is....Rarity?" Nyx slurred as she set down her mug.
"She's fine." Applejack replied. "I think she's pretty used to being a mother 'n all since she has two children."
"No....kidding." Nyx chuckled drunkenly.
"I think that's enough for you, sugar cube." Applejack laughed as she stripped the bottle from Nyx. Nyx pouted, but she didn't protest. "Wanna know something?" Applejack wondered as she finished her tenth mug.
"Yeah.....?" Nyx replied, suppressing a hiccup. Then things took a turn to sadness.
"Before I had Del, I went through a rough depression." Applejack started.
"W-Why?"
"Do you know what 'infertility' is, Nyx?" Applejack wondered. Nyx's heart sank at the mention. Applejack was the healthiest mare she's known, how was she infertile? Applejack took advantage of Nyx's silence to press on.
"The doctors said that I was indefinitely infertile. Meaning that I would be able to have children for as long as I lived." Applejack paused to wipe a surfacing tear. "But then there was one doctor who explained to me that infertility works in one of two ways. One-" She lifted a hoof. "It was affected by something psychological or two-" She lifted the other. "It was genetic." Applejack paused again.
"He told me that the surgery was thirteen hundred. But explained that I didn't need to worry about that."
"How so?" Nyx wondered.
"He told me that my eggs were only 'inactive,' not dead." Applejack explained. "So I sought out what it was that was causing this psychological hurdle. I soon found that it was the fact that I avoided my parent's graves since their burial." An unnerving silence blessed the room as Nyx processed it. "After I did so, few weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant." Applejack concluded.
"That's a sad note to end on." Nyx chuckled, trying to liven up the atmosphere in the room.
"Oh, jeez." Cheerilee groaned as she looked at the clock. "Is it that later already? Well I think we need to sleep because some of us have jobs in the morning."
Everypony, save for Nyx, said their 'good-nights' and retreated to wherever their beds were. Applejack offered Nyx the guest room but she declined it. Nyx laid down on the couch and looked out the window. She never knew that Applejack went through so much pain to have her first child, save for the labor. Nyx closed her eyes and drifted into the realm of dreams, hoping to get a visit from Luna.