//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Living Nightmare // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 6 ___________________________________________________________ The bell rang, telling me the school day was over. It went a lot faster than back at home. There school ended at 3 o’clock. Here, in Equestria, it finished right after lunch. The other fillies and colts all got up, putting their stuff in their saddlebags and left, chatting with their friends about what they planned to do for the rest of the day. I waited at my desk until they’d all left, got my saddlebags and headed out myself, passing Diamond Tiara’s desk as she glared at me, having to wait for her dad to come pick her up and for Miss Cheerilee to tell him about what happened, both her being mean to me and her planning to hit Dinky. I got outside and suddenly remembered that Twilight told me I had to follow Apple Bloom to get to Sweet Apple Acres. I looked around and began to panic. I couldn’t see Apple Bloom anywhere. If I couldn’t find her, how could I get to Sweet Apple Acres? Suddenly, I noticed a small speck of yellow off in the distance. It was moving way faster than I thought a pony could move and was getting smaller really fast. I bolted, galloping in the same direction, trying to catch up, but all too soon realized I’d never catch up on hoof. I didn’t know how to fly yet either, so my wings weren’t really gonna help me. If only I could go faster, like I was as a cloud of stars— wait, WHAT? I panicked again. I had somehow turned into a cloud of blue filled with stars, with no idea how it happened. I don’t wanna be a cloud. Change me back, change me back! No sooner had I thought it, I was a pony again. I glanced around, checking everything was where it should be. I frowned, looking at my hooves. How had that happened? One second I’m a pony running after Apple Bloom’s disappearing speck then I’m a— I’m a cloud again. This time, I don’t panic. I think about what’s happened. It doesn’t feel bad and I can clearly turn back to the way I was before without a problem. I turn what would have been my head if I wasn’t a cloud to where Apple Bloom’s speck had been, only to see it so far off I can barely see it at all. I zoom forward to close the distance and realize I’m moving way faster than before. Guess being a cloud lets you move really quickly. Within moments I caught up with Apple Bloom... only for the feeling of raising my eyebrows, if I wasn’t a cloud, to happen. Apple Bloom was riding in a wagon of some kind, a bicycle helmet on her head. Sitting in front of her was Sweetie Belle, who was also wearing a helmet. Pulling the wagon, riding on a wooden scooter, was the Pegasus, who was wearing a helmet as well. Her wings were buzzing really fast, so fast they were a blur. I followed them to a farm on the edge of Ponyville and guessed this was Sweet Apple Acres. The scooter and wagon stopped and the fillies all got off and out respectively and took off their helmets. But, as they were turning to put down their helmets, they spotted me in my cloud form and screamed. I yelped, dropping to the ground and turning back into a pony. “S-sorry,” I mumbled, scuffing at the ground. “T-Twilight said I was staying at Sweet Apple Acres tonight and that I should follow Apple Bloom to find it, so I followed you as that cloud... still not sure how I did that though.” “Did ya have to follow us like that?” the Pegasus asked, frowning. “Ya couldn’t have just called out, “Hey, Apple Bloom, wait up”?” I continued to scuff at the ground. “Wait,” Apple Bloom said, frowning. “Yer the pony mah sister’s been getting the guest bedroom ready fer?” I nodded. “Twilight told me Applejack said it was alright... isn’t it?” my ear fell back as I watched the three fillies. Apple Bloom glanced at the other two, then at me again. She didn’t look at me like the other ponies in town had. There wasn’t fear in her eyes, only... not-sureness. “Okay. If mah sister says so. Just... Just...” she didn’t seem to know what to say next and turned and walked away, her friends, after giving me the same look, following her. I watched them walk off towards a big red barn, then turned to the house the Pegasus had parked her scooter and wagon in front of. Hesitantly, I walked towards it and knocked on the front door a few times. “Alrigh’, alrigh’. Hold yer, horses, Ah heard ya the first time,” an old woman’s voice called from inside. I raised an eyebrow at her words. Sure, I knew “hold your horses” means be patient and wait, but saying that to a pony? That’s just silly. The door opened and an old mare with a green coat, a grey mane and tail, both tied up in a bun, golden-orange eyes, wearing a scarf that was orange with red polkadots on it and a Cutie Mark of a pie of some kind. Her eyes fell on me and went wide. I began to panic. I knew that look. I’d seen it in lots of cartoons. When old people (or, in this case ponies) got that look, it was followed by them having a heart attack and sometimes die. Looking at this mare, she was either Applejack’s mum or grandma and when she had her heart attack, Apple Bloom would blame me, then she’d tell Applejack it was my fault her grandma had died, then she’d tell Twilight and Twilight would tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they’d banish me to moon and I’d never get to see my family ever again— But, instead of what I thought happening happening, her eyes go back to normal and seem to soften. “Well, Ah was wonderin’ when Ah get t’ meetcha, little one,” she says, stepping back and motioning for me to come inside. I just stare, my brain going blank. She... she didn’t have a heart attack? She... she’s not scared of me, like everypony else? “Well, come on, now,” she chuckles, nodding into the house. “We’d best get ya’ll ready. Can’t sleep if yer not ready, now, can ya?” I blink, slowly nod, and walk inside. The older mare leads me upstairs and down a small hall, heading for a door at the end of the hallway. “Um... Miss...?” I asked, realizing I don’t know this mare’s name. “Granny Smith, dear,” she said, giving me a sideways glance and smiling. “Ah’m Applejack an’ Apple Bloom’s grandmother.” “O-oh,” I nod. “Okay, um, Mrs Smith—” She tut-tuted and I flinch, thinking I’ve down something wrong. “Just Granny Smith, dear. Like the apple.” I blink. She... she was named after an apple? Her name was actually Granny Smith? “Doesn’t that get confusing, everpony calling you “granny” when they’re not your grandchildren?” I asked, before realizing I was saying it aloud instead of in my head. She shook her head. “Nah. Ah know it’s mah name and folks do too. Tain’t a problem at all. Also, Ah see yer gettin’ use t’ our pony lexicon.” I stopped, frowning in confusing, my head cocked to one side. “Lexi-what now?” Granny Smith just chuckled. “It’s a way o’ talking,” she explained, motioning for me to continue following her as the door neared. “See, humans and any non-ponies when not talking ’bout ponies, say things like “everyone” or “everybody”. Now, we ponies, we say “everypony” fer both. Ya’ll seem t’ have picked it up quickly.” I looked down. “I only do it so ponies won’t be mad at me.” I bump into Granny Smith and fall onto my butt, rubbing my nose with a forehoof. Granny Smith had turned around and was looking at me with confusion and concern. “Now, why would ponies be angry at ya fer talking like ya should, little one?” she asked, leaning down and putting a hoof on my shoulder. I move my hoof from my nose and look away. “From the way they all look at me. It’s like I’ve done something wrong, but I haven’t done anything. I don’t even know how I got here or why I look like this. I-I don’t want them being angrier than they already are,” I sniffled, a few tears welling in my eyes. “S-so I talk like them. M-maybe if I do that, they won’t be so angry.” Suddenly I feel forelegs wrapped around me and look up to find Granny Smith is hugging me, her face looking sad. “Ah’m sorry, little one,” she said in quiet voice. “Ah know tain’t easy for ya, in another world, another body, yer family gone. But, know this, young’n. Ya’ll ain’t done nothing wrong. This ain’t yer fault an’ it never will be. Yer just the unfortunate child that go’ pulled inta all this mess.” Her hug is... nice. It... it reminds me of my own grandma. I return the hug, nodding into Granny Smith’s fur. After a few minutes we pull apart and she shows me to the room I’ll be staying in. It wasn’t much; just a room with a bed with apple-patterned covers and a small bedside table. It was fine. I didn’t think I’d get too much. Besides, I was a guest in their house. It’d be rude of me to have expected more. That episode of Arthur where Brain stays over at his house for the night taught me not to be rude when staying at someone else’s house and I was sticking by it. “Do ya need any help, dear?” Granny Smith asked as I used my mane to take off my saddlebags and leaned them against the wall. I turned to her and shook my head, barely holding back a yawn. “No thank you, Gr-Graaaany Smith” I said, a second yawn catching me as I spoke. “I’m okay. All I brought was what Princess Twilight gave me before I went to school and didn't leave in my desk there. I don’t have anything else.” The old mare nodded. “Well, looks like ya’ve had a long day, even if it’s only a little past lunchtime. Get some rest, little one and Ah’ll come by ta check on ya in a bit, okay?” I nodded, rubbing my eyes. Even though it was still just after lunch, I felt really tired. Maybe it was everything that mean Diamond Tiara put me through at school. What was her problem, anyway? Why was she so mean to me and her own sister? Yawning again, I moved to the bed, struggled a little to get up onto it with my pony legs, got under the covers and closed my eyes, deciding to have a small nap. ___________________________________________________________ “Honey? Honey, are you okay?” That voice. I know that voice. It’s my mum. I open my eyes and find I’m in a hospital bed, with my mum, dad, little brother and sister all standing around me. Well, my little sister was sitting on the end of the bed, but that doesn’t matter. So... it really was a dream after all? It had felt so real. “Well, what are we going to do with you now?” Mum asks, a... mean look in her eyes? I blink. What did she mean? I move to sit up, when I see my starry mane moving in the corner off my eye. I look down and see, not hands, but my hooves. I’m back home, but I’m still a pony. “Well, I don’t want her coming home with us,” my dad says in a really mean voice and I wince. "Last thing we need is the neighbors to find out we've got a freak pony for a child." Why would he say that? He’s my dad. “What a freak,” my brother Tim says, grinning at me like Diamond Tiara had. “She’s not even my brother anymore.” “Do whatever you want with that thing,” Mum tells the doctor I didn’t notice until just now, who was standing at my right, an evil glint in his eyes. “We don’t want it anymore.” With that, they all began walking away, only my little sister, Jenna looking back at me from over my dad’s shoulder, but even she was looking cruelly at me. “Bye-bye, freak-pony-brother-sister,” she called, waving to me as they disappeared down the hall. “No, wait!” I cried as the doctor grabbed me and started pushing me down. “Mum, Dad, Tim, Jenna! Don’t leave me! I’ve still Michael! I’m still me! Please, DON’T LEAVE ME!” Oh, you poor thing, another voice says. It’s a voice I know, but I don’t know why and it chills me. Suddenly the hospital disappears into a blackness, before I suddenly find myself standing in front of what looks like a jail cell in a huge wall of golden light, even the bars were light. Behind the bars, there was nothing but darkness. I stepped forward, but felt another shiver down my spine. What was this, and why did it scare me? Suddenly a pair of eyes look out at me from the darkness and I stepped back. They... they were my eyes. Blue dragon-like eyes staring back at me from the darkness. Well, isn’t this nice? We finally get to meet, face to face, so to speak, the voice from before says and I quiver. Why does it scare me so much? “Wh-who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking. Aw, you don’t remember me? she asks in what I can tell is a mocking sad tone. I thought you’d at least remember me. After all... The eyes lunged forward a pony jumping into the light. I stepped back a few steps in fright, though I didn’t seem to move away from the bars, my eyes wide. The owner of the eyes looked like a grown up me, if I grew up as a pony. You stole my body from me! she snarled, her eyes glaring knives at me. I stepped back a bit more, my legs trembling. “Y-you’re her. Th-the pony everypony keeps calling me. N-N-N-N-N—” Nightmare Moon! she leers, showing sharp teeth, like a vampire, only all through her mouth, causing me to shiver. You stole my body from me, you little brat! Suddenly, she calms down, a cool and calm smile appearing on her face. You poor thing. Everypony treats you so badly, yet you did nothing wrong. I looked down. I didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. Aside from Princess Twilight, Miss Cheerilee, Dinky and Granny Smith, nopony had really been nice to me. Spike had been nice, but he was a dragon, not a pony. My eyes widen. “Y-you gave me that bad dream!” She nodded. So, she says, her voice sounding warm and kind, what if I made things better? Got even with all those mean ponies who have treated you so wrongly? I shook my head. “I-I don’t wanna hurt anypony.” Her warm look disappears, turning into a scowl. Really? Not even that Diamond Tiara? Well, Diamond Tiara was a horrible pony and had treated me pretty badly, but she was already being punished by Miss Cheerilee and her dad would probably punish her too. She scoffed, leering at me. So, you’d reject my offer, to instead live a life with everypony looking down at you? I blinked, then shook my head. “But, the princesses are going to send me home.” She blinked, looking at me blankly. Then, she pulled her head back and cackled, as if I’d just said the funniest joke in the world, or worlds(?). Oh ho-ho-ho! That is rich! You actually think they’re going to send you back! She burst into laughter once again. I shivered. “B-but they are. Wh-why wouldn’t they?” She sneered. Because of me. I blinked. “What?” She snorted, looking at me with a look as if I’d just said something stupid. You really are blind, human, aren't you? Then again, what should I have expected. When you got angry at that filly, it was not rage I could have used, but righteous, she spat the word in digest, anger. Your innocence is what trapped me in here, sealing me deep within my own forged body. You are my prison and my warden. As long as you remain, I am trapped and Equestria does not fall to the Eternal Night. I shivered. Eternal Night? She still wanted to bring that? Doesn’t she know it would kill all the plants, the trees, the flowers, everything? I frowned. “Wait. If I remain? So, if I got home...?” This cage breaks and I will be free to bring the glorious Eternal Night, she nodded, grinning her pointed teeth. If you leave, I go free. You stay; I remain trapped, as do you. I backed up again, yet I still didn’t seem to move any further away. “I-I can’t go home?” She sneered. They won’t let you go home, fool. They’re going to sacrifice your life, your happiness, to save the rest of their precious subjects. Tears started falling from my eyes. I wasn’t going home? The princesses were going to make me stay, to keep her inside me? “No,” I whispered, my legs shaking. “Y-you’re lying. Th-they wouldn’t do that.” You have no family, child, she snickered. You’re dead. You’ll never see your precious family ever again and the princesses are just pretending that they’ll send you home, while they really plan on keeping you here forever, just to keep me imprisoned within you. “YOU’RE LYING!” I screamed, I light burst from my body, the world around me shattering into white light. Don’t believe me? her voice echoed at me through the blinding light. Alright, fine. Just ask Applejack, the Element of Honesty. She never lies. ___________________________________________________________ “Stellar? Stellar! Girl, wake up!” I gasped, sitting up, panicking, still looking for the bars I’d seen before. I felt a pair of hooves grabbed my shoulders and started whipping at the hooves with my mane, trying to get away. “Stell— ow! Stellar, calm down! It’s me, Applejack!” I stopped, my mane settling down and looked, my eyesight returning, the orange mare from yesterday coming into view. She was smiling at me warmly, a way my mum always does when I’m upset and she’s trying to make me feel better, evne though she's got a few cuts from where my mane lashed out at her, and it did work, a little, before that mare’s last words echoed in my head. Don’t believe me? Alright, fine. Just ask Applejack, the Element of Honesty. She never lies. I looked down, not meeting the older mare’s eyes. “Sugarcube, what’s wrong?” she sounded concerned, not angry. I looked up at her, seeing a blurred image of her through my tears. “A-Applejack? C-can I ask you something?” She wiped the tears from my eyes, giving a warm smile. “Sure. Whatcha wanna?” I looked down, then up at her again. “Will... w-will she be free if I go back?” Something flashed in her eyes and her smile became a little bit forced. “Uh, whatcha mean, sugarcube?” I looked down. “I-if I go back home, will sh-she be freed?” I gulped. “Bu-but if I stay, sh-she’ll stay trapped?” I chanced a glance up and saw fear enter her eyes. “Wh... whadya mean?” That, after what that mare had told me, was all the answer I needed. I wailed. “Mummy! Daddy!” I felt Applejack put her forelegs around me and holding me close. I pushed her away, turning into a cloud of smoke and shot out the door, down the hall and off across the fields, not caring where I was headed, only just able to hear Applejack calling out to me, her voice growing fainter and fainter every second. ___________________________________________________________ Applejack ran after the cloud of smoke Stellar Nova had turned into, but it moved too fast and, before she was even off the porch step, she saw it disappear into the trees of the Everfree Forest on the boarder of the farm. Shoot, she thought, her mind filled with worry. That poor filly. How had she figure it out so fast? “Applejack?” the farm mare turned as her little sister and friends hurried up to her. “We heard cryin’ an’ say that filly’s smoke thing headin’ inta the forest.” Applejack gave her sister a firm look. “Apple Bloom, got get Twilight. Scoots, find Dash. Sweetie, get yer sister an’ Pinkie. Tell ’em Stellar run off inta the forest after learning the truth. They’ll know what Ah mean.” Scootaloo and Sweetie nodded and shot off towards Ponyville to get the ponies they were told to find. Apple Bloom, however, hung back. “What about you, sis? What’re you gonna do?” Applejack turned in the direction Stellar’s star cloud had gone in. “Ah’m goin’ in ta find her.” “But, sis—” Apple Bloom began. “No buts, little sister,” Applejack cut her off. “Now go!” With that, she run off towards the Everfree, hoping to Celestia that Stellar didn’t go too far in that she’d find her in time. ___________________________________________________________ I returned to my normal pony self and stood where I was. I’d stopped in a small clearing. I blinked, realizing I had no idea where I was, other than that I was in the forest of the castle Princess Twilight found me in. I glanced around and noticed nothing looked familiar. I hadn’t been paying attention to where I’d been going, just zooming off, staying as a cloud to stop myself from crying. Now, looking around, I realized I was lost, with no idea how to get back to the farm. I remembered taking a few turns, but not when or where. I slumped on the ground; my belly pressed against the grass and let myself sob. Lost wasn’t the word for me. I was just... just. I was trapped in this world; the princesses weren’t going to send me home. I was going to be stuck here forever, just so that that monster doesn’t get free. Why? Why did this have to happen to me? I don’t know how long I sat there and cried. It could have been hours, but I don’t know. When I finally did stop crying, it wasn’t because I’d cried myself out. It was because I heard a twig snap. My head shot up and I looked around. It was dark. Really dark. The sun must have almost set. But, that wasn’t what scared me. off in the distance, just on the edge of the clearing, I could see at least five sets of yellow eyes looking at me and there was a really yucky smell in the air. I stood up on shaky legs as the things the eyes belonged to stepped into the clearing. They looked like wolves made of wood and plants. They were all looking at me, licking their lips. A part of me wanted to run, turn back into a cloud and get away, maybe find some place to hide. But my legs wouldn’t move and I couldn’t turn into a cloud for some reason. I just stared as the wood wolves moved slowly towards me, drool dripping from their mouths. “He...help,” I squeaked, barely able to hear my own voice. “S-somepony... help.” The wolves all looked to each other and I could swear they were sneering, before they leaped at me, their jaws wide, showing rows and rows of sharp teeth. I shut my eyes, waiting for the pain of teeth digging into me. But, it didn’t come. As soon as I closed my eyes a voice boomed, one I had heard before. “LEAVE HER, BEASTS OF THE FOREST!” I opened my eyes in time to see the wolves being thrown backwards, hitting the ground. Standing in front of me, her mane billowing like the night sky was Princess Luna. My eyes widened as I saw she had a large gash in her front leg. "Princess, your leg!" She chuckled. "Tis nothing, young Stellar Nova. In the past my sister and I have had to regrow whole limbs." She then turned to glare at the Timber Wolves. She was standing in a way I’d seen animals do when protecting their babies in TV shows. Suddenly, something Diamond Tiara said came back to me. Princess Luna’s the closest thing to a mother you could possibly have and you don’t even have that. I looked up at Princess Luna as she blasted two wolves that had launched at her, sending them flying back and slamming into some trees. Did... did Princess Luna really see me as... her child? I mean, I’m not. She’s not my mum, my mum’s my mum, not Princess Luna. But... if I could never go home... ___________________________________________________________ Luna blasted the last Timber Wolf, which hit the trunk of a tree, then turned tail after its pack, whimpering as it limped as fast as possible from the Night Goddess. Luna sighed, relief flooding her being, ingoring the pain from the gash one of the wolves had inflicted upon her side when she'd leapt to shield their prey and turned to look at the filly she’d protected... only for worry to return. Stellar Nova was not looking at her. She was looking at the ground, tears dripping down her muzzle. She moved forward, only for the filly to flinch. She hesitated, then continued, laying down on her stomach so as to be eye level with her and looked her in the eye, or would have, if Stellar wasn’t staring at the ground. Luna had been sleeping, at the time, when she’d sensed a nightmare in progress. This had confused her, for not many ponies slept during the day, most tending to sleep at night. She had then tried to venture into the nightmare, to try and help the pony in trouble, only to be stopped. Something had prevented her; a power much like her own. It was then she realized who was having the nightmare. Stellar Nova. She’d fought through the barrier and managed to at least see what was happening, only for her heart to clench. Stellar had been speaking with Nightmare Moon, still trapped with the cage Stellar’s own innocence had created. Whilst she had been able to hear most of what was being said, she did hear Nightmare telling Stellar the truth she, Celestia and the Bearers had wanted to hide for as long as they could. Nightmare told Stellar she would not be returning home, that she was stuck forever as the pony she was now and that she was dead. Luna knew what Nightmare had meant by dead, but Stellar had not, though she still had sobbed, begging Nightmare to stop, but she didn’t. Finally, Stellar had had enough and, upon screaming that Nightmare was lying, had tapped into the power she had that mimicked Luna’s dream abilities and shattered the nightmare construct Nightmare had used to speak with the child. But Luna had heard Nightmare’s last words as the dream realm had faded. She had told Stellar to ask Applejack if she was really lying and knew, right then, that Stellar would know the truth. Fearing the worst, Luna leaned her head down and nuzzled Stellar, who sobbed in response. “Stellar Nova...” she said, then had to stop and take a few breaths, before continuing. Children, pony, human or whatever species they were, were delicate and had to be handle carefully. “How... how much do you know?” The filly sniffled and looked up at her with eyes that had gone red from crying. “Y-y-you’re not gonna send me back—” Luna stiffened, but the filly went on. “—a-and that sh-she’s inside m-me a-and if I g-go home sh-she’ll break out and h-hurt everypony and... and...” the filly looked away, as if she was scared to say further. Luna gulped. “And?” The filly didn’t meet her eyes, but Luna felt as if they were boaring into her. “D-Diamond Tiara said you’re... you’re my mum.” Luna’s heart leaped. This was too soon. She’d barely gotten through things and already the filly was thinking of her us her mother? “But... you’re not.” Two things happened that Luna didn’t understand. She felt better at hearing that, but, at the same time, it made her heart ache. The filly looked up at her, tears still falling from her eyes. “Mummy's my mummy, but...” she started sniffling and looked down once more. “I’ll never see her again,” she finished in a choked sob. Luna’s heart ached for the child. How much pain could Nightmare inflict on the innocent? It enraged her so much, but the she had to keep her rage in check. Now was not the time to be anger, now was the time to be comforting. Using a foreleg, Luna pulled the sobbing child to her and wrapped her wings around her tiny form. Stellar merely continued to sob into Luna as guilt racked the older mare. This, all of it, was her fault. Stellar was suffering for her mistakes. Had she never let herself be consumed by her anger, allowed Nightmare Moon to take control of her, the Elements wouldn’t have needed to banish her from her body, Nightmare wouldn’t have remained as a shadow of herself and used the residue of the Rainbow Power unleashed across Equestria to give herself physical form, pulling the human boy, Michael from his world and sealing him within her own form, trapping her deep within. This child, this poor, innocent, lonely child was suffering and all the blame was on her and nopony else. “I’m... I’m sorry, Stellar,” she whispered and the filly’s sobbing lessened a little. “I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault. You are paying for my mistakes, which you shouldn’t have and for, I am so, so sorry.” The sobbing continued, but at a much quieter level. “If... if you hate me... I will completely understand, Stellar,” the Night Princess went on, her throat closing a little as she said it. “If not for my actions over a thousand years ago, you would not be paying for my mistakes now. Your hating me is the least punishment I deserve...” “I-I don’t hate you.” The small voice made the Alicorn look down at the filly, who was looking up at her with bloodshot eyes. “Y-you saved me. I’m... dead, back home.” Luna’s heart leaped again. How did she know that? How could she—? “Mum and Dad told me I might die,” she said, her voice quiet and calm, something that scared Luna. No child should be speaking like this. The filly gave a small, choked laugh. The kind one does when everything has crumbled around them and they're trying as hard as possible to not break. “I’m dead. I’m not even seven, and I’m dead. It’s funny, right? You’re not meant to die unless you’re old. I’m not old, I’m just six. It’s funny. I-it’s—” She broke down and a new round of wails, stronger than anything before ripped through the young filly and she buried herself into Luna’s fur. Tears ran down Luna’s own face. She wished Stellar wasn’t so smart. If she wasn’t, she might have been able to live in ignorance for a while longer, not knowing what cruel fate she had been dealt. However, it seemed fate wanted to be even crueler to this poor child, for she had learned and understood all too soon that she would never return home, never see her family again. Luna only just paid attention to her need to raise the moon and did so without moving, so as not to disturb the grieving young life in her embrace. After what felt like hours, Luna heard a voice calling out. “Stellar? Stellar, where are you? Come on, Stellar! This is the Everfree Forest! Ya can’t be in here, it’s dangerous! Stellar! Come back ta the farm, please!" “Over here, Applejack,” Luna called softly, though loud enough that she knew Applejack would hear her and know where she’d called from. Within moments the trees were parted to reveal Applejack, panting, her mane in a mess and filled with twigs. Upon sight of the Alicorn, Applejack almost bowed out of reflex, still not used to not needing to bow, when she noticed the sobbing form in Luna’s grasp. “Oh, sweet Celestia,” the farm mare murmured, coming closer. “Princess she... she knows that—” Luna nodded. “I am aware.” Then her face fell. “Sadly, that is not all she has learned.” Applejack understood, her face becoming solemner than before. “Here,” Luna stood, passing Stellar to Applejack. The filly did not protest, but latched onto Applejack and continued to cry her sorrows. “Be sure she gets a good night’s sleep.” Luna turned to leave, but Applejack’s voice stopped her. “Luna. She... she didn’t have the best day afore this.” The Alicorn nodded. “I know. Diamond Tiara was rather horrid to her, I suspect.” Applejack blinked. “Uh, how d’ya know...?” “She mentioned the filly’s name and said she’d told Stellar that I was the closest thing to a mother she could have.” Her voice went cold. "A cruel joke to pull on one who has already suffered so much." Applejack scowled. “That no good...” Luna did not say anything at first, merely nodded and spread her wings, before glancing back and saying, “Have a good night, Applejack.” Then whispered in a lower tone, “I am so sorry, Stellar,” before taking the air, leaving the farm mare and the filly to their night.