//------------------------------// // Spirited Discussion // Story: Apples in the Moonlight: Crackshipping Applejack and Luna // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Applejack could only stare in shock. Luna had sacrificed herself for her! Nightmare Moon looked over at the captive Celestia. Applejack was horrified to see her eyes widen with delight as she took in the sight of her former enemy, even if she was relieved to not be currently in the line of fire. She turned and struggled to walk away. The Nig͝htmar͏e leaving her had drained her of most of her energy. She felt as weak, and she stumbled along like a newborn foal as she headed towards the door. She needed to get help! “I must say,” Nightmare Moon murmured as she walked around the trapped Celestia. “It seems I always know just how to decorate.” Black smoke slowly trailed from her flowing mane and tail, subtly congregating around her body. Celestia's narrowed eye followed her movements. “Don't get too used to it,” she warned. “Ironic,” Nightmare Moon continued as the black smoke continued to cover her body, now trailing down her legs and up her head. It slowly condensed and solidified into her familiar ethereal armor and helmet. “I was just about to tell you to get comfortable. And as for you…” Applejack froze. She could hear Nightmare Moon turn her attention towards her. She wasn't even halfway to the door yet. Nightmare Moon’s newly-shod hooves echoed through Luna’s room as she approached Applejack. “I must thank you. It's not every day a willing host-” Nightmare Moon stumbled. She scowled. “Not willing,” she mumbled, correcting herself. She seemed almost disappointed. “Not willing at all. She fights me! For you.” She paused, taken aback. “She fights for you,” she repeated, almost dumbfounded. “We can't have that.” Nightmare Moon strode forward once more and continued conversationally, “So I suppose I shall simply have to banish you to the moon.” “What?” Applejack gasped, scrambling backwards. “You heard me,” Nightmare Moon said conversationally. “You're a risk. As long as you’re here, I don’t have complete control over my host. You need to be eliminated. And it seems oddly fitting to give you the same punishment given me.” She grinned and winked. Applejack jumped as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Two lunar guards burst in through the window and swirled through the air, extinguishing the nearest torches and sending glass shards everywhere. Nightmare Moon was forced to protect her face with a wing. They swooped in, physically grabbed Applejack, and flew backwards, dragging her into the shadows of an alcove. Nightmare Moon smirked. “You think the darkness is your ally?” She strode forward, her sharp eyes adjusting quickly and cutting through the darkness. “The darkness is…” Her voice trailed off as she realized that the alcove was empty, aside from the tapestries. Nightmare Moon growled and lit her horn. They burst into flames, but there was no screaming; and when they fell, there was no secret passageway behind them, only the stone wall. Applejack was gone. “Where are you?” Nightmare Moon screeched. She held her breath and swiveled her ears, listening for… “Ah don't think this is such a good idea.” Foals! She grinned maliciously and sprinted over to the dark, empty corridor. And then Nightmare Moon skidded to a stop. Empty? But she'd just heard her voice! She paused, and forced herself to relax, forcing her breaths to come more slowly. She stepped forward, and whistled as if calling for a dog. “Applejack? Come out and play!” Her eyes half-closed as she let her ears swivel once more. “We’re safe. She'll never look here.” Nightmare Moon's sensitive hearing picked up another voice, this one the quiet and syrupy voice of a bat pony, and she looked up at the ceiling from whence it had come. The stone ceiling stared impassively back. Nightmare Moon scowled. She would not be made a fool of! She lit her horn and blasted the ceiling. This, of course, was not a wise course of action. In fact, this could be considered her most foolish action thus far. The new hole in the ceiling substantially weakened it structurally, and Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened in the split second before the whole floor collapsed under the weight of a heavy mahogany dining table above, burying her in a mound of rock and table with various dishes and silverware. One leg of the table was sticking up at a jaunty angle almost like a sword of legend. From her hiding spot on top of the little ledge just under the window (specifically, pressed up against the wall as far away from the edge as possible), Applejack gasped. She looked over at her two guards, still winded and panting from the effort needed to shadowtravel with a guest, and they seemed concerned, even if they did share a look that bordered on ‘relieved’. Together, they helped Applejack over the ledge and back into Luna's room. Applejack hesitated, then rushed over to the rubble pile. “Luna?” she whispered quietly, reaching down to slide a rock aside. Bat ponies emerged from the shadows, and quickly they began to move the rubble in an attempt to unbury their regent. “No!” Applejack jumped. She'd nearly forgotten Celestia was here. Celestia was still trapped in the tree. She had her eye turned as far as it would go so she could see, but she was too far away to do much of anything else. “Get back!” she warned as she struggled to pull herself free. “That won't even faze her!” The bat pony nearest the pile hesitated, and this proved to be a mistake. The entire pile vibrated as Nightmare Moon, who was very much alive, struggled to stand up. A rock fell from the top, tumbling right into his helmet. It resounded with a violent clang, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Nightmare Moon struggled harder, but she was stuck. Alive, terrifyingly alive; but stuck. But not for long. She relaxed, exhaled, and then closed her eyes. Blue smoke seeped from the rocky pile, and slowly gathered itself just outside of the rubble until it reformed into an awfully familiar shape before solidifying into an awfully familiar form. Applejack froze as the bat ponies scattered once more. Nightmare Moon, none the worse for what had just happened to her, opened her eyes. “Well, that was uncomfortable,” she said pleasantly. “Now, where were we?” She turned back towards Applejack with a predatory glint in her eyes; but was distracted once more by a bat pony flying behind her. He swooped around the room, the wake from his wings blowing out the torches. He circled around, heading back towards the darkness… Nightmare Moon snarled and lit her horn, filling the whole room with light. Too late, he realized what she was doing. He dived desperately for the quickly-disappearing shadows, but the light from her horn was too bright; the shadows were banished and he collided with the wall, unable to shadowtravel where there was no shadow. He sat back, dazed, and shook his head. Nightmare Moon grinned as she approached. She opened her mouth, and her fangs gleamed in the light of her horn. But he wasn't done yet. Reaching with his wing, he grabbed something from under his armor and threw it at her, and Nightmare Moon quickly shifted her head and dodged it. It embedded itself in the wall. She squinted at it and recoiled. A sleeping dart. Scowling, she turned back, ready to remove his head from his body… But her turning away had brought enough darkness to the corner that he had been able to shadowtravel and make his escape. She let out an angry growl… and then a second dart ricocheted off her helmet. Surprised, her concentration faltered. She spun around and nearly fell victim to another, this one bouncing off her chestpiece. Huh, Applejack thought dumbly. The armor does work. Nightmare Moon scowled and lit her horn even brighter in warning. The darkness suddenly was lit up by a myriad of bat pony eyes (shielded from the light by hooves, of course) and the glint of armor, and more darts ready to be thrown. And throw they did. Nightmare Moon was forced to throw a shield up to protect herself. More darts and now teeth, jagged ponyshoes, and wingblades clattered repeatedly (but harmlessly) against the shield, and her eyes narrowed. Applejack took this opportunity to run towards Celestia. Maybe she could free her. She kicked at the wood, but could not use her entire strength; she didn't want to hurt Celestia by accident. “How did I even do this?” she wondered aloud as she tried pushing with her forehoof instead. “The tain̛t is a powerful thing,” Celestia explained grimly. “It amplifies your magic even as it lowers your inhibitions. Hurry! You won't hurt me; but you need to get me out! The noctrali won't hold her off forever!” Applejack nodded and got into bucking position. She briefly checked on Nightmare Moon. Sure enough, over on the other side, Nightmare Moon scowled under the constant onslaught, unbeaten and definitely unbowed. She couldn't work like this. Her half-lidded eyes flitted back and forth as she scanned Luna's memories for… There it was. She brought her wing up to her lips, formed a small u-shaped divot by her tongue, took a deep breath, and then blew. A shrill whistle sliced through the air, making Applejack wince and miss her third buck. It rose up in pitch until Applejack couldn't hear it anymore. She was the only one thus unaffected. Bat ponies everywhere screeched in pain and retreated, stuffing their hooves in their ears as their sensitive hearing was assaulted. Applejack could swear she saw blood coming from the ears of some of the fleeing noctrali, and she winced. Nightmare Moon continued her auditory assault, and bat ponies began fleeing. Applejack grimaced and took a few steps back. She felt as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. When the last of the noctrali had disappeared, Nightmare Moon lowered her wing. She looked over and began walking towards Applejack, and her eyes flickered up the crack Applejack had put in the tree trunk. “Naughty, naughty,” she chided as she shot a magic blast between Applejack and the still-captive Celestia. Applejack was forced to duck and managed to dodge it, though her hat was not so lucky. Nightmare Moon fired again, and Applejack scampered back, getting further away from Celestia. Nightmare Moon slowly circled around, horn still lit threateningly, forcing Applejack to keep moving, until finally stopping when she was between Applejack and Celestia. “Now then,” Nightmare Moon said pleasantly. “Where were we?” Her answer came in the form of an exploding window, and she was forced to bring up a wing to shield her face again. Lightning Dust, still wearing her Shadowbolt uniform, had made a dramatic entry. This was made even stranger because this window had already previously been broken during the escape of the bat ponies; she could easily have missed the glass remnants entirely and still entered just fine. Lightning Dust grinned confidently at Nightmare Moon as she hovered in the air and delivered her challenge. “We're at the part where I kick your butt!” she proudly proclaimed. Applejack could only stare, unable to comprehend this. If anything, Lightning Dust seemed to be relishing this situation. Was she insane? She had to have been. That was the only possible explanation. Nightmare Moon paused and looked around, as if waiting; then squinted. “Since when do Wonderbolts travel alone?” she wondered aloud. She sniffed, and her expression soured. “And when was the last time you washed that uniform?” Lightning Dust scowled. “I am a Shadowbolt,” she corrected angrily. “Do you not see the color scheme?” Nightmare Moon looked over at Applejack. “You're seeing this too, right? Crazy mare?” Lightning Dust growled. “I'm here to stop you in the name of the Night!” she threatened. Nightmare Moon chortled. “You're joking, right? You've got to be joking. Do you understand? The Shadowbolts were a joke when I made them, and they're a joke n-” Nightmare Moon stopped her taunt short as she took a hoof to the chin for her lack of respect. She couldn't suppress a choked cry of pain as her head snapped backwards under the force of Lightning Dust’s flying charge. Lightning Dust whooped triumphantly, and looped around for another try. But Nightmare Moon was having none of that. She spat out blood and her eyes narrowed. In a flash of light, she teleported to about three paces in front of where Lightning Dust was flying and extended a foreleg. Lightning Dust couldn't react in time. Her neck hit Nightmare Moon’s foreleg, stopping short; but her body’s momentum continued forward. She flipped flank over teakettle through the air until she collided with the wall, stopping her flight short with a sickening crunch. She slid back to the ground and groaned painfully, but she managed to push herself to her hooves and drunkenly bring her head up. Blearily, she looked ahead. Her eyes were skewed and unfocused, and blood trickled from her nose and lip. She panted. “That… did not go as good… as I would've hoped,” she muttered, and then she stumbled once and collapsed, unconscious. “Oh, horseapples,” Applejack swore under her breath. Now she really was up a creek without a paddle. Well, maybe not completely, she realized. Luna had been fighting for control. That meant Luna was in there somewhere. And maybe she could reach Luna. It would be a desperate move, but one she had to make. After all, Luna was willing to sacrifice for her; Luna deserved a little sacrifice from her. She stood up, ignoring the frantic bat ponies (now with cotton and other fabrics stuffed haphazardly into their ears) motioning her to stay down. “Luna?” she started. The alicorn looked over and stared down her muzzle at her. “You will address me as Nightmare Moon,” she said coldly. “Luna,” Applejack repeated, stepping closer. She was now within a few paces of her. “I know you’re in there. I believe in you.” Nightmare Moon snorted. “Fight her, Luna,” Applejack urged, taking another step forward and looking deeply into her slitted eyes. “Do it, for us.” “Applejack, no!” Celestia warned, her voice desperate. “You cannot reason with her! She is not the one you love!” Applejack looked back and cracked a half-smile. “I'm not trying to reason with her,” she pointed out. “Love don't exactly need reason.” Nightmare Moon squinted and cocked her head. She wouldn't. Celestia’s eye widened. She wouldn't. She would. Applejack met Celestia's eye and shrugged. “True love overcomes all.” And with that, she turned back towards Nightmare Moon, leaned in... ...and pressed her lips against hers.