The loud clanging of the triangle signaled the end of the day and the start of dinner, said signal being reinforced when a withered shout of the apple matriarch "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!!!".
Granny Smith then sat back in her favorite rocking chair and waited for her grandchildren to come back from their respective work stations.
Big Macintosh was the first to come into her sights, the silent stallion coming in from tilling the soil and paving the way for fresh stalks of celery to grow over in the northern field. Little Apple Bloom was en route as well, coming alongside her big sister Applejack. The little tyke was tasked with animal duty today; slopping the pigs, herding cattle and sheep with Winona and gathering eggs from the chicken coop for their breakfast tomorrow.
As for Applejack herself, she did what she normally did and tended the trees; pruning the dying/dead branches, checking on the budding apple blossoms that would soon swell and ripen with a fruity flourish of her family's namesake and of course, she bucked and harvested apples to sell at market tomorrow.
The aged mare couldn't help but to smile warmly as her grandchildren approached the main house, a smile that was wearily but readily reciprocated by the youngsters. She then rose onto aching limbs and led everyone inside to enjoy a full and hearty meal.
Dinner time came and went in the twinkling of an eye and soon, the whole apple family laid their heads down to enjoy some well earned rest. Well, most of the apple family anyways.
Granny Smith slowly ambled out of her room and made her way to the porch outside, her hoof clutching at her pale pink night robe in front of her chest as she took a seat on her rocking chair once again.
'S'bout that time again......' she thought to herself as she looked up to the starry skies overhead.
A slight movement amid the clouds caught her aged but still discerning eye and within moments, two sets of wing beats fluttered noisily in front of her as both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna touched down onto the property.
Granny Smith rose from her seat and gave a reverent bow, aged joints cracking slightly from the steady motion. "Evenin', yer highnesses!"
The two rulers smiled warmly at the spritely old mare and bent low in an equally reverent bow towards the earth pony. Granny Smith always felt a foal-like giddiness when the respectful royals reciprocated the gesture.
"A good moon to you, matriarch of the apple clan!"
"Good evening, Misses Smith!"
With pleasantries exchanged, Granny Smith then led the two rulers inside and welcomed the two rulers into her home. "Can I get you two anythin'? Some cider or tea perhaps? We got a bit of leftovers if'n ya want any."
It was a common tradition among the three matriarchs. Every time they would gather, the kind earth mare would offer them what there was to offer, and every time the sisters would politely refuse. Tonight was no exception.
"We're pressed for time I'm afraid. We must attend to our royal duties and monitor our slumbering subjects as they slumber through our night."
"And I must retire to recharge if I'm to raise the sun. Summer time has always been a bit of a hoof-full for me, more so when I didn't have my sister to rule alongside me."
Celestia and Luna smile to one another as Granny Smith nodded.
"Understandable. If'n y'all would follow me please."
The trio climbed up the stairs to the upper level of the house and entered Applejack's room.
The farming mare was sleeping soundly in her bed, covers hiked up to her shoulders as her mane and tail lay unbound among the sheets. Her trusty Stetson hung on a rack by the door.
"For one who is most raucous in all her endeavors, the lady Applejack slumbers with nary a sound!"
"Luna!"
The old apple chuckled knowingly and proceeded to lower the blanket her granddaughter slept under. "Aw, s'alright, yer majesty! Y'all should hear her when she's plum tuckered out. Whoo-wee! S'like hearing the rails of the crystal shuttle in winter!"
Both Celestia and Luna chuckle at that and approach the sleeping Applejack. The points of their horns began to glow until they both produced a white-hot light. As their horns sparked and blazed, parts of Applejack also began to glow. Little spots the size of bits sprang up from all four hooves and one in the middle of her forehead beneath her blonde bangs.
"Oh, my!"
"Sister?"
"Look, Luna! The limiters are nearly all spent!"
Granny Smith nodded towards the sisters as they looked over the shining spots. "Tha's my sweet pie fer ya! Young'un done worked herself hard again since the last moon we did this."
She looked on with tired eyes as the royal sisters proceeded to pump their combined powers into the still glowing limiters embedded within the young earth mare.
Long ago when Applejack had returned home from Manehatten and received her cutie mark, the little filly was more than adamant in helping her family catch up with their sales and immediately threw herself into apple bucking.
And that's when the troubles started.
The little earth filly was so engrossed with the drive to make up for lost time with her family that she had literally put everything into bucking and harvesting her family's orchards and getting her chores done. In less than three months, a young Applejack had nearly destroyed an entire acre of apple trees while harvesting them, rendering them asunder as if they were nothing but kindling. During that time, a horrified Granny Smith watched on as a distressed Applejack would fruitlessly try and stand a crumbling tree back upright while crying and sobbing out apologies to it.
Little Applejack had become strong; TOO strong.
Granny remembered going through a similar case when Big Mac was just a little colt but overtime he grew into his strength and was able to manage his output and keep it in check. His younger sister, however, had a much harder time with it.
True to her acquired element, Applejack was honest to a fault. Even at such a young age, the earth mare was honest in everything she did. But back then she was just a little filly, too young to fully comprehend that she was too strong to harvest and too strong for doing normal chores. A prime example being the time when a young Applejack tried to help with repainting the barn. Poor filly broke every brush they owned.
And that's where the princesses came in.
The old green earth mare approached the princesses one day and asked that they help with the matter. The benevolent rulers investigated the situation and found that the little earth pony indeed harbor such monstrous strength. Celestia was glad to have employed the help of her sister Luna, seeing as she was the original bearer of Honesty.
The royal sisters put enchanted limiters into all four of Applejacks' legs so as to decrease her physical output, significantly stifling her full potential. As a precaution, a limiter was placed inside Applejacks' head so that she would be unaware of the limiters and never know of their presence.
And so every moon, princess Celestia and princess Luna would pay a visit to Sweet Apple Acres under the shroud of Luna's night and recharge the limiters with enough power to last until the next moon. This has been done in secret for the past decade and a half.
Granny Smith gently ran her hoof along her granddaughters' mane with a melancholic smile as the sisters continued to endow the limiters with their magic. What they were doing was deceitful and downright unfair to Applejack, but she was at a loss at finding a better solution.
Seeing the downtrodden look on the face of the elderly pony, princess Celestia placed a consoling hoof on her shoulder and smiled as warmly as the sun she raises.
"She will know in time, Miss Smith. For now though, this method is needed. Not just for the sake of the apple trees but for Applejacks' sake as well."
Beside her, a sympathetic Luna nodded her head in silent agreement. Granny Smith smiled at the two sisters and dipped her head in wordless thanks.
Their task completed, the sisters bid goodnight to a weary Granny Smith and took to the skies as they started back towards Cantorlot.
"Sister..."
"I know, Luna. The limiters are losing their potency. We may have to increase our visits here, as well as take more drastic measures in the future."
They both nodded with heavy hearts at the latest revelation. For a time they flew in a tense silence.
"Is...what you said a possibility?"
Luna's hesitant question broke the silence between them.
"What I said?"
"About Applejack understanding. This...has gone on for a long time now, sister. Surely the young mare would not appreciate being in the dark concerning something of the utmost importance, especially when it involves her directly."
Celestia let out a heavy sigh as she bobbed her head in agreement.
"I would like to think that Applejack would be a reasonable enough pony to understand why things were done this way. However, should she respond in a more negative way, I wouldn't fault her for reacting in kind."
"Agreed. This has never sat right with us in all honesty. It hits too close to a sore spot."
Celestia looked to her little sister and saw that her demeanor was one of sadness and regret. Of course she knew why Luna was feeling this way.
"I do not like using such deceitful methods either, Lulu. However, I still haven't had any luck with finding a secondary solution to this matter."
Luna rubbed a hoof to her chin in thought. She herself hasn't had any luck with coming up for a solution either, much to her dismay. She wants to help, they both do. Especially since the apple farmer has been more than helpful in saving Equestria and keeping Ponyville safe. Applejack did not deserve this kind of treatment.
"Oh! Sister! What if we employ the assistance of your pupil?"
"Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes!"
Luna went to fly in front of her sister, doing backstrokes with her wings as she maintained a serious but excited look to her eyes.
"We must be truly honest here, sister. Neither of us have really had the luxury of doing research for a new method. Perhaps we should look to another fresh pair of free eyes to help in this matter!"
Celestia tilted her head in contemplation to this new idea. It was true what Luna said, neither one had time to do anything else aside from their duties. Signing stack after towering stack of parchment, though an easy enough task, was not to be taken lightly. It involved a lot of reading and careful consideration on her part. And that was if she wasn't needed anywhere!
"Hmm....it is something to consider. She is the princess of friendship after all. If there is a solution, then I'm sure Twilight would be more than happy to assist us in searching for one!"
Righting herself, Luna smiled toward her sister and the two continued to fly through the night sky, being a hair more at ease but the worry no less farther from their minds. There was much to converse about once they reached the castle, for this was becoming more and more of a delicate situation with each new addition of things to consider. So many things could go wrong but there was also the chance that something could go terribly right.
For now, the two royal sisters focused on getting home and giving their minds a chance to refresh themselves. Well, more so for Celestia than for Luna, who still had to look over her night.
-End