Moon Fall

by 007Delta

Fallen Apples

Rainbow Dash flew over the sprawling Sweet Apple Orchard. As she streaked through the sky, she thought of every misdeed she had ever committed in the course of her life. Every small, slightly regrettable word that accidentally escaped her mouth, every time she argued with Applejack, every time she had made Fluttershy uncomfortable.

Though all these thoughts weighed in her mind like a two ton block of steel, one thing stuck out in her conscious the most.

The guilt she felt from making Fluttershy sad. The yellow Pegasus was so kind hearted and submissive, whereas Dash was competitive, brash, and protective of her independence. They got along well for the most part, but the sheer dichotomy of their personalities naturally caused clashes. It had never really escalated to anything beyond a few annoyed complaints, but one situation a few weeks back ate at the fabric of her soul.

Dash had struck Fluttershy out of sheer anger.

The moment it happened, she regretted it. As the hard hoof smashed into Fluttershy's soft cheek, she could feel the guilt traveling up her foreleg before settling itself in the pit of her stomach. The impact had left a small cut underneath Fluttershy's eye, and even though it had faded a while back, Dash would never stop seeing the red blemish on her unsuspecting face.

Fluttershy stormed out of Dash's house that day, and no one saw for the next few sunrises. Her friends searched frantically for her, but the yellow mare had simply vanished from existence.

After nearly a week had passed, Dash had come home from a long day with the weather team, she found Fluttershy sitting in her living room. The yellow Pegasus looked up at her teal friend, silently trotted up to her, and hugged her. She began to sob silently on Dash's shoulder, whispering apology after apology for what she had done, when Rainbow Dash knew that she only had herself to blame.

She didn't even want to think about that night. All she wanted to do was apologize to her, one final time. She had tried to a few days earlier when she took Fluttershy up into the clouds for a nice quiet evening, but then Dash received her comeuppance when Celestia swiped her off the cloud with a force harder than Dash could ever punch. Deep down inside, Rainbow Dash felt she deserved that hit. Her wound was healed and the damage repaired, but the dent that Rainbow's anger had left could never be buffered out. It would always remain between the two, and no matter how hard they both tried to pretend it never happened, it would always exist.

Now Rainbow Dash was unsure that she would ever be able to mend the one wound that cut her the deepest... But she was damn sure going to try.

Now where could that shy little Pegasus have gone off to?

o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o

Princess Celestia touched down in front of the fallen city of Cloudsdale. Her mouth hung slightly agape as she took in the tragic sight in front of her. Hundreds of ponies were frozen in time, their last moments captured for all the world to see. The bottom of the city had fallen into the earth at a strange angle, causing for the remaining rock to be cracked and jagged. The base of the cloud rose seven or so feet off the ground, and Celestia had to fly up to reach it. She landed in front of a tall stone arch that read in festive letters,

"Welcome to Cloudsdale!"

The arch opened up into a long sort of street, with vendors, salesponies, and customers alike, all frozen into stone statues. What Celestia found odd and slightly disturbing, was that no one had an expression of worry or despair on their faces. Everyone had a smile stretching from on ear to the other, as if they were completely unaware of their surroundings. Celestia made her way down the street and took in the terrible sight. After walking twenty feet or so down the street, she noticed one pony, who seemed like she was staring oddly at something in the sky. Celestia tried to follow her gaze, but whatever she was once looking at was gone now. She continued down the street and noticed more and more people with suspicious looking faces, until she had gone so far down the street, that people were actually frozen in a running position.

The long road finally ended at a large open plaza, and the sight Celestia saw was truly a sad one. There were hundreds of statues in this area alone, all of them terrified. Tears had solidified into grey stones that dripped down from some of their once crying eyes. Some of them had even been maimed. As Celestia walked through, she would catch sight of an errant leg frozen into the stone, or a severed hoof planted firmly into the ground. She even caught sight of a severed head, but Celestia didn't stare too long.

Celestia shook her head sadly as she strolled silently through the city sized stone sepulcher. So much death... She hated it. It made her feel as if her stomach had dried up, and her lungs were too small to breathe. So many lives ended prematurely. It just wasn't fair,

The stone had swallowed all of the Pegasi who touched the stone surface. Now that she thought about it, why wasn't the city turning her to stone? She looked down out of curiosity.

Her good horseshoes had turned to stone, and the entire bottom of her foot was glowing a faint blue. She realized what was happening, and suddenly took flight. She popped off the shoes with her magic, and they clattered to the ground before merging with the surface. The stone was trying to spread to Celestia, but her immense magical aura simply prevented it from progressing. She was simply too powerful for the stone to encase. That being said, she still didn't want to have to touch the infectious surface.

She had seen enough. Cloudsdale had fallen, and lives were taken, and Nightmare Moon was presumably on her way to Canterlot. It was time to protect Equestria, and it was time for Nightmare Moon to fall.

She flew away from the plaza and landed outside of the wreckage. She took a calm stance and focused her mind, taking several deep, calm breaths as she prepared herself magically, for the feat she was about to perform. Blue light began to radiate from her long white horn, as she closed her eyes and bent her knees, readying herself to jump. Her coat began to glow slightly, before her very body began to ripple and swirl with magical energy. She focused her mind on her throne room. More specifically, a spot in between the two large chairs. She imagined herself standing still in that very spot. Once she had a vivid mental picture of the area, she jumped, flapped her left wing to invert herself in midair, and phased through the ground, back first.

There was a short flash of light, before she was propelled upright into the space betwixt Canterlot Castle's two thrones. The spell she had used was one of Star Swirl the Bearded's strange and enigmatic Pseudo-physical manipulations, titled Transflection. By using the mind and magic, two locations could be selected. The first location had to be your current position, and the second locale being your desired destination. Using your horn, the two positions could be connected, placed next to each other momentarily, back to back. The resulting placement would cause "down" in one location to be "up" in the other, so by jumping into the point of transfer upside down, she will have carried enough momentum with her, to land right side up in the desired destination. The concept itself was mind numbingly confusing, and as Celestia struggled to comprehend the logic behind it, she could easily understand how Star Swirl went mad so young...

Celestia gathered her bearings and looked around her desolate throne room. Not a soul stirred in the large hall, and the silence of the area suggested that there wasn't anyone in the entire castle. Hopefully everypony was a safe distance away from Canterlot, because the fight that was about to transpire here would certainly be devastating. Celestia looked over at Luna's throne, frowned sadly, and climbed onto it. She laid down and rested her head on the arm, her face contorted with pain and inner turmoil, as she silently mourned for her sister.

o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o

"Fluttershy? Are you in there?" Rainbow Dash called as she briskly opened the door to Twilight's library. The dark silence of her house answered Dash's question. Rainbow sighed frantically. Why was she not here? Why wasn't everyone still here? Dash was frustrated and confused. She didn't have time for this. She needed to find her friend now, but she had no idea where she could have went!

Dash thought for a second. Fluttershy would have never left the safety of Twilight's library on her own, which means that someone must have gone out with her, or more accurately, forced her to leave. She must have gone off with Twilight! That would explain why Spike was missing, but what use would Fluttershy be to them? It's not like she can do magic, and her fearful demeanor would only slow them down... Perhaps there was something Dash didn't know.

Twilight must have gone to Canterlot, probably to aid the princess in her battle. Dash exited the library and shut the door behind her, before taking off towards the city in the mountain.

o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o

"Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Exclaimed Discord gleefully, "Walking together, on our way to save the world from certain destruction?"

Spike looked up at him, aggravation seeping from his eyes.

Discord ignored the gesture "The suspense is just killing me! I wonder how Nightmare will react when a baby dragon, the element of Kindness and the God of Chaos waltz in to stop her!" Discord laughed profusely. "It's going to be priceless!"

"Would it be any less priceless if it was just a baby dragon and the God of Chaos?" Said Fluttershy uncomfortably as she trailed behind the two.

"Oh come on Shutterfly, what's the point of hanging out if not being with your friends?"

Fluttershy sighed wearily and looked back. They were a about a half hour outside of Ponyville, and very far away from Canterlot. Discord had refused to aid in speeding up the journey in any way, and they had all been forced to walk to Equestria's Capitol.

"Discord, why are you being so difficult? Look at the sky!" Spike pointed at the dark cloud cover while glaring at Discord, but the God of Chaos jut kept strolling. "Nightmare Moon is here! She's transformed! Every second we spend walking, somepony could die! Don't you care?"

Discord looked back. "Spike, my little purple dragon, if I didn't care, I'd be up there with Nightmare Moon, spreading chaos like it was a disease. Not to mention, all of those dark, spooky clouds would be raining chocolate."

Spike stopped and thought for a moment, before his facial expression softened and he looked back a Discord, who only smiled slyly.

"Ok, I know your on our side, but... I just can't make myself trust you."

"That's OK, Blusterfly trusts me, right Stutterdry?"

Fluttershy looked at the ground. "Well, yes... Kind of,". She said that last piece under her breath.

"how long do you suppose it will take for us to reach Canterlot?" Asked Spike, his tone even.

"Approximately 4 Hours, 22 minutes, and thirty seconds." Said Discord resolutely.

"Uh, that's a little specific." Said Spike strangely.

"Would you prefer that I be vague? In that case, a really long time. Like a lot. Seriously,"

Spike grumbled, realizing how blatantly he set himself up for Discord's amusement.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. They had reached the outer northern orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, and began to navigate between the apple trees that spread for several miles.

Fluttershy had given up any thoughts of running away, as she knew that it would only lead to Discord bringing her back. No one had spoken for the last couple of minutes, and Fluttershy was beginning to enjoy the quiet, when she heard a soft sort of wailing noise coming from behind one of the trees. Fluttershy immediately froze. What could it have been? Oh dear sweet Celestia, please don't let it be Nightmare Moon, please don't let it be Nightmare Moon!

Spike heard the noise as well, and silently tugged on Discord's red lizard tail.

Discord turned around quickly and saw Spike put a singular claw to his lips. He then watched as the small dragon crept up onto one of the trees and quickly looked around it. The purple dragon found nothing behind it and continued to search. He began to creep up on the next tree and jumped in front of that one as well. Nothing behind this one either. He continued to look behind the trees this way as Discord and Fluttershy glanced at each other strangely. The wailing hadn't stopped, but something about it sounded familiar. Spike crept up on a large tree, stretching farther up than the others. He walked slowly around it, getting ready to spring out of the shadows, when he caught sight of a large brown hat laying against the trunk, a familiar Stetson worn by a certain orange pony...

Spike poked his head from behind the tree, and Lo and behold, Applejack was sitting against the base, sobbing. Spike stared sadly at the crying mare. She must have found out about Nightmare Moon, most likely Twilight or Dash must've told her. She didn't notice Spike as he watched her cry profusely, she only noticed him as he approached and sat down next to her, in hopes of cheering up the lachrymose farmpony.

Applejack took in a startled breath and hopped up from her seat, reeling away from Spike as he sat down, before she tripped and fell on her side.

"Dear Celestia! Applejack are you alright?" Spike yelled out.

Fluttershy heard Spike's faint words and rushed to large tree.

"W-What?! Spike?" Applejack was at a loss for words. "What are you doin' here!?" She scolded the little dragon as she maneuvered herself on her feet. "Can't ya see ah need a little privacy?" She had tears streaming down her face, which was contorted in pain and anger.

"Applejack! Calm down, I was trying to see if you were OK!"

"Oh yeah? Well Ah'm not!" She took in a shaky breath, the anger in her face leaving only pain. "Ah need to be alone right now! In case ya didn't know, we supposedly have only a few hours left to live!"

"You don't know that, Applejack,". Said Spike, trying his best to calm the emotionally broken pony.

"Yes ah do!" Applejack pointed a hoof towards the sky. "Look at that! It looks like a sea of rotten apples up there! And it ain't clearin' any time soon because Celestia can't do it!" She was screaming now, her eyes pouring tears again. "Now get off my farm!". Applejack stomped her hooves down right in front of Spike, scaring him off his feet, but Spike just laid there in shock. "Didn't ya hear me? I said get!" She stomped her hooves in front of Spike once again, and the little baby dragon began to scurry away on his claws and knees, until he hit his head against the legs of another pony. He looked up to see a concerned Fluttershy standing over him.

"Aw, it's this just great! Ah ask for privacy, and ah get more company! Get off my farm!" Applejack was screaming through sobs, her voice starting to sound hoarse.

Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "No,". She said gently, but seriously.

"What do ya mean no? Ya don't have a choice! Get off my farm!" Applejack's voice cracked and strained.

Fluttershy continued to shake her head. "No,". Came the same neutral, but endearing response. Fluttershy began to take a few steps forward.

"I'm warning you Fluttershy! Get...off...my...."

Applejack collapsed over Fluttershy's shoulder. Tears continued to pour from her face as she bawled, clinging to her friend. Fluttershy closed her eyes and held her back.

"It's alright, Applejack, it's alright,"

Applejack couldn't vocalize any words in between her sobs. The events of the last couple of hours had broken her. She ran from her family, and tried to drive away her friends, but thankfully, Fluttershy saw through her aggression. The shy Pegasus knew Applejack wouldn't hurt anyone, especially her friends, and she needed someone now more than she ever did.

Spike was just recovering from the shock of Applejack's sudden verbal assault, and had no idea what caused their usually happy, inviting, And amicable friend to simply lash out at them.

But Fluttershy knew what she was doing here. She recognized the tree, and she understood her pain. Applejack had only told a handful of ponies about what this tree's significance was to her... But few of them knew why it stood for what it did.

Many years ago, when Applejack was just a filly, a fire broke out in the orchard. No one was sure who or what caused it, but the Deflagration consumed the entire north orchard, and a small portion of the east. A couple was tragically burned along with the trees, and the two bodies were found at the base of a large apple tree which miraculously, remained not only intact, but with a full yield of fresh, ripe, apples.

A wave of past emotion came crashing over her as she recalled that terrible day.

o.0.O== 14 Years Earlier ==O.0.o

A small orange filly came bursting out of the schoolhouse, a smile spread from one white freckled cheek to the other. Her saddlebag bounced heavily against her back, filled to the brim with schoolbooks and other school supplies. She couldn't wait to get home, her mama promised she'd have a big plate of fritters waiting for her to eat, and her pa finally had a day off in the orchards. She looked over the hills and towards their farm, expecting to the sun as it began it's decent behind the landscape, but instead, she saw a long pillar of smoke billowing towards the sky.

Her face contorted with confusion as she tried to conjure up an idea that would explain the smoke. She racked her brain for a solution, when finally, one came.

"Wow, mama did say she was gonna make a big plate, I guess she really did mean a big plate!" Applejack only sped up her gallop towards her home. Her hooves dug up small clouds of dust as she zipped down the thin dirt path that led to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She would have continued her breakneck pace, if she hadn't spotted a red figure, gloomily walking down the road. Applejack slammed her hooves into the ground, grinding to a cloudy halt, before losing her balance and falling clumsily onto her stomach. She could feel the saddlebag slam into her back, causing her to let out a painful, "oof!" As it hammered down upon her.

She quickly jumped to her feet, turned around and stood attentively toward the red, teenage figure.

"Big Mac! Her brother hadn't noticed Applejack running along the path. He looked up quickly, surprise and guilt in his eyes as he turned towards her sister. "What are you doin' walking along the road, all sulking and whatnot?" She took a quick whiff of the air, the pungent smell of smoke intruding into her nostrils. "And why do you smell like a bushel a burnin' apples?" Her eyebrow was raised inquisitively as she probed for answers.

Big Mac looked at her quickly before turning away, his eyes panicking for the right place to look. He started to open his mouth, but was quickly interrupted by his sister. "Oh! I know, you must've been helping momma cook the fritters!" She fell into a fit of laughter. "But it don't smell like you're any good!". Her laughter seemed to upset Big Mac, his face contorting with sadness as his sister mused about his less than reputable cooking abilities. Suddenly, a tear fell to the ground beneath the adolescent colt, a pained expression of guilt and fear looking shamefully towards his sister.

Applejack took notice of his sudden emotional breakdown, and stopped her laughter abruptly. "Ah'm sorry Big Mac, I didn't mean to hurt your feelin's,"

Big Mac only shook his head abruptly. "Sis, something happened at the farm,". His voice was airy and raspy, as it hadn't fully deepened into that of a stallion's.

Applejack suddenly took attention. "Like somethin' bad?" She asked, her voice suddenly serious.

Big Mac nodded slowly. "There... There was a fire." He looked away guiltily. "But we don't know... We don't know who done it," he didn't make eye contact with Applejack for a long time.

The little orange filly put her hooves to her mouth. "Is everyone alright?" She asked in a frantic whisper.

Big Mac wouldn't answer her question. Applejack looked into his sorrowful eyes, hoping that he would tell her that everyone was OK, but instead, only recieved a long silence. "Big Mac?" She asked worriedly. "Is everyone alright?!" Big Mac pursed his lips, before he reached around and grabbed hold of a brown object that Applejack didn't know he was carrying. He walked over to Applejack and placed it on her head, before he stopped to straighten it on her small crown.

Applejack only looked up at her brother, a look of despair slowly crawling it's way on her face as she slowly came to an answer. "This is pa's hat,". She stated, confusion and sadness ringing in her voice.

"Nope,". Said Big Mac, a tear rushing down his face. "It's your hat,"

Applejack never went a day without wearing it since.

Fluttershy patted Applejack's back before the orange farmer finally spoke.

"Thank you, Fluttershy..."

The yellow Pegasus broke the hug and grabbed the hat from beside the tree, before placing it gently on Applejack's head. "Your welcome,". She said with a smile.

Applejack took of her Stetson and held it gingerly in her hooves, before she placed it against the tree once again. With a small smile in her lips, she spoke softly.

"It's about time ah gave this back to ya, pa,"

Applejack then turned around and followed Fluttershy on their way to Canterlot

There, scratched into the bark above the hat, was an epitaph

"Jonathan and Jonagold Apple

No fire could burn their love"

Author's Note:

So... Many.... Back stories....

Having....trouble.....developing....

Gwahh!

(Let me know in the comments what you guys think!)

-Delta

Comments

[Lord-Commander]

Hmm. The idea behind your story, or the subject matter has me very interested in your story. Though its interesting to see what its about and then the ratings for it, which is something a story should never be judged of, not trying to get at anything about the remark, its just surprising. Luna turning back into Nightmare Moon is usually pretty popular from what I see. Thus another interest is made to see why this is so...

Reading the first chapter, I can see that there are things I would have done differently, but nothing completely terrible - though I was reading for enjoyment, not to edit. I did like it, it was enjoyable to read, thought I just got done with the first chapter. I think you captured the interaction between Nightmare Moon and Luna rather well. Celestia could use a touch up, but not something I'd mark against. So up-vote for this.

I'm going to keep reading this and see what its about and if I like the direction it goes.