• Published 22nd Apr 2012
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Under the Starry Skies - Wintergreen Diaries



Silver Moonshine opens a tavern in Ponyville, hoping to escape the city and maybe find a nice mare.

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Fallen Star

Chapter 9: Fallen Star

There were no words. Nothing could adequately describe the crushing shame that Applejack felt at that moment, staring up at the stallion she had just violated for the sake of her own petty fears. The secret he bore was on clear display, even as his tears rolled down his coat and into the deep scarring on his chest, as if carved by a knife. Like the winding of a river, they traced their paths before building enough to continue on to the thirsty ground below. Blotches of matted fur marked the chemical burns he had suffered as a result of his failed experiments, bringing back the memories of Cerulean’s scars from when Twilight had nearly destroyed her house. And here she had forced his own dark memories to the forefront of his mind while he lay defenseless. There was nothing to be said.

“I... I never...” Silver couldn’t finish. There was a momentary flash as he spent a great deal of his magic teleporting away, leaving Applejack paralyzed on the ground.

“What have ah done...” She stared at the wet earth where his tears had fallen, before slowly crawling over and placing her hoof over them, as if to hide their existence which was soon replaced with her own. There was no strength left to fight the quaking sobs that wracked her body as she closed her eyes, unable to look at the place he had be lying just moments before.


“Why would she...” Cerulean placed a hoof between Twilight and Applejack as she prepared to go all out on the mare, watching as Applejack fell apart. Twilight’s anger swiftly turned into concern as she watched one of her strongest friend weep ashamedly before curling into as tight a ball as she could manage.

“There will be time to confront her on her mistake, but now is not the time for anger, Twilight.”

“I know. Come on, let’s go.” Applejack didn’t hear them approach nor knew of their presence until a lavender hoof wrapped underneath her neck and drew her into a deep embrace. Cerulean sat beside her and placed a hoof on her shoulders, the other holding Dawn as the infant began to cry as well, reaching out and placing both hooves on Applejack’s side. Setting the foal down, Cerulean watched as she crawled onto the mare and wrapped herself around her foreleg. “Applejack?”

“Ah don’t know!” Everypony cringed at the sudden shout as her violent sobs grew in intensity. Applejack was forced to quiet her voice as Dawn’s concern turned to fear, causing her to cry louder and curl up against Cerulean. “Ah don’t... ah don’t know why ah did that... Ah don’t know why ah’ve been feeling so damn angry all the time. Ahm sick of it, Twilight. This isn’t the pony ah wanna be, not who ah used to be...”


The slamming of the tavern doors startled most everypony in the establishment, and a collective cry of alarm arose as Silver bolted up the stairs. Berry immediately ran to investigate, but was stopped midway up the stairs by a powerful ward.

“Silver? It’s me, Berry! Let me in!” He offered no response but the sound of his muffled sobs, made audible by the collective silence in the room. “Silver, please, what happened?” she pleaded, resting her head against the ward. Applejack. Whatever had happened, she had something to do with it, and Berry wasn’t about to let it slide. She returned to the dining area where everypony, even those that had be drinking, fixed their eyes on her. “I’m sorry, but the tavern is closed. Please, everypony, come back tomorrow night, and don’t worry about paying your tabs.”

“Everypony, please respect Berry’s wishes. Besides, it would seem now is not the fitting time for merriment.” At Celestia’s voice, everypony began to move. It was a long few minutes before everypony was out, save Quakehoof, the kitchen staff, and the princesses. Quakehoof placed a well meaning hoof on Berry’s shoulder for a moment before continuing out the door, followed shortly after by Freefall and Snowdrift, their usually carefree attitude drained by the weight of the situation. Berry leaned back against the counter and covered her eyes with a hoof as Ruby trotted up, struggling to be brave despite knowing something was terribly wrong.

“Mom, what’s wrong with Uncle Shiny?”

“I don’t know, sweetie,” she replied, bending down and holding her close, as much for her own comfort as for her daughter’s.

“It must have been a terrible accident, to cause that kind of scarring.” Berry didn’t bother looking up at Celestia’s voice, answering with a nod.

“I’m sorry, your Highness, but I don’t feel comfortable talking to anypony about it. It’s something he’s kept hidden for years, and only his parents and myself know about it.”

“I understand. If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know. You need only talk to Twilight.”

“Thank you, Celestia, Luna.” The sisters nodded and left quietly. Berry slowly made her way over to a table to sit down, closing her eyes and rocking her daughter softly. A sound in the bar caused her to start, wondering who would possibly ignore Celestia’s command when Lemon trotted over, levitating a glass of rainbow juice to Ruby and some cider to her mother. He allowed a slight smile as Ruby gratefully drained the mug, which he immediately left to refill without a word.

“Lemon, thank you. You’re free to go now, I don’t think anypony else is going to stop by looking for a bite to eat.”

“That may well be, but somepony has to make sure you eat.”

“I really don’t think I could stomach anything right now.”

“Hmmm, I find that to be a challenge to my cooking skills.” He stood and grabbed another two mugs, filling them with different ciders and setting them on the table before retreating to the kitchen. He returned a short time later with a dish Berry hadn’t heard of before, along with some pancakes for Ruby. The food smelled divine, and Berry soon devoured the meal and cleaning the plate.

“I believe you have defended your honor, Lemon. I wish there was more though.” Glancing over at the counter, he pulled a second plate into view and set it before her, commenting with a wink.

“One of the first rules of cooking; always make enough for more than the allotted number of guests.” Berry allowed herself a small laugh, before turning her attention back to Ruby who had proven that syrup was more of a fashion statement than a condiment.

“Come on, Ruby. We need to get you a bath.”

“But what about Uncle Shiny?”

“I think he wants some time to himself. We’ll come see him in the morning, alright?”

“Ok, and if he’s still sad, I’ll just have to make funny faces until he feels better!”

“I’m sure he’ll like that, sweetie.” Berry let Lemon out ahead of her, waving as he receded into the night and, giving one last look towards the stairs, locked the doors and made her way home.


Twilight continued to hold Applejack while Cerulean tended to their daughter, though it took much longer for the broken earth pony to regain some semblance of composure than it did for Dawn, who returned to comforting the distressed mare when she had recovered from the shout. “Ahm scared, Twilight. Ah don’t know if ah can fix this. What ah did just now was horrible.”

“Applejack, I have to tell you, I was shocked to see you do something like that. Your friends... we all know that you’ve been hurting, but we couldn’t figure out how to approach it. I wish we could have helped before it got this bad. But now, you’re going to have to find the strength to, if nothing else, say you’re sorry.”

“What if he doesn’t accept it?”

“What’s done is done, Applejack. Your focus needs to be on your own actions, not his. I know you know what’s right, just as you know what you did tonight was wrong.” Cerulean’s words nearly sent her over the edge once more, but he was right. They were all right. She had internalized everything, refusing to let anypony in enough for them to help.

“Ah need some time... time to think about everythin’.”

“We understand, but Applejack... don’t wait too long. You may let him slip beyond your reach if you do.” Applejack knew her words were from experience, having nearly lost Cerulean a year prior. Twilight relaxed her grip as Applejack attempted to stand, rising shakily before stumbling to the ground a few steps later. Big Macintosh appeared from the darkness, scooping his sister onto his back and saying nothing, returning to the house and leaving Cerulean and Twilight alone in the orchard. The night seemed oppressively cold, and as she noticed Cerulean beginning to shiver she teleported everypony back to the library. Dawn gave no resistance to the call of her bed, and Twilight returned downstairs to find Cerulean sitting on the couch, staring into the distance and still shaking lightly.

“Cerulean, let’s get to bed, it’s a cold night.”

“I’m not shaking from the cold.” Twilight sank into the cushions beside him, resting her head in his lap and looking up at his saddened teal eyes. “Twilight... is this my fault? It sure feels like it is. She didn’t start to change until after that night.”

“You know that wasn’t your fault, Cerulean.”

“I wish I shared your confidence.” There was a flash of lavender and he found himself in bed, where Twilight drew his head to her chest and stroked his mane, something both of them found calming. As his soft snores became audible, she closed her eyes and hoped for a better tomorrow, for everypony.


“Mom, come on, wake up! I wanna go see Shiny!” Her daughter’s voice, combined with her splitting migraine, wrenched her into wakefulness and confirmed her suspicions that she had let go a little too much the night before. While she didn’t intend on becoming dependent on his hangover cure, this morning of all days it would be more gratefully received than any other morning in recent memory.

“Ok, sweetie, I’m up. Can you bring...” She stopped as the filly nudged a glass of water towards her, which she drained before rising shakily to her hooves and stepping off the bed. Her legs nearly buckled, and she stood still as the dizziness from the sudden motion threatened to induce a black out.

“Mom, take it easy. You had... a lot, last night.” Berry nodded, making her way to the bathroom as the nausea came in waves. She turned on the shower water to cold and stuck her head into the stream, gasping as the chilled fluid cleared her mind and eased the churning in her stomach. Her headache remained untouched, but that was to be expected. The memories of the day before began to come back, the look on her cousin’s face for the brief second she saw him the clearest of them all.

“Come on, Ruby, let’s go cheer up your uncle.” Ruby nodded and followed her mother into the early morning sunlight, wincing in sync with her mother as her headache screamed profanities for venturing into the the bright outdoors. Berry wanted to arrive as fast as possible, but in her present condition she knew rushing was just not an option. The tavern was silent as they approached. Berry and Ruby started up the stairs, and the filly’s mother let a small sigh of relief out as she passed the limit of the ward he had placed. But what she found wasn’t a slumbering pony, but an empty upper room.

“Mom, where’s Shiny?” Berry didn’t know how to answer, but she somehow knew he was gone. It only took a moment of searching the barren room for her to see a thick white envelope with her name on it sitting on the desk. She opened the unsealed envelope and pulled out a hastily scrawled letter, with sparse water marks dotting the page.

“Berry,

I’m going back to Manehatten, and I leave the tavern to you. The deed is inside, and I will take care of shipping product out to Ponyville. I’m sorry for not saying goodbye, but I had to leave.

Silver Moonshine”

“I’m sorry, Ruby, but your uncle has left.”

“Left, what do you mean left? He’s coming back, right?”

“He’s gone back to Manehatten, sweetie. And I don’t think he’s coming back.”

“But how am I gonna cheer him up if he’s not here?” Berry stooped down to draw her child close, but the filly’s cries caused her to add her own tears to the mix, her arms falling limply to her sides. “It’s not fair! Why’d he leave without saying goodbye? Give him back! I want my Uncle Shiny back!”


“Applejack, wake up.” Her brother’s usually soft voice was cold and hard. She attempted to dig deeper into the blankets before they were yanked away, leaving her frightened and exposed. “You know, ah was worried about that stallion doin’ somethin’ t’ hurt you, but it seems mah worry was in the wrong pony. Now you git out there an’ go apologize.”

“The Zap Apple harvest is...”

“Not as important as fixin’ what you broke, Applejack!”

“Ah know ah messed up, you don’t need t’ shout!”

“Then you best be about makin’ amends, Applejack. I’m right disappointed in you. Now go on, I sent Applebloom to ask Cerulean and some of the others to help with the harvest. We’ll ‘ave more than enough help to cover your share of the work.” She slowly slid off the bed, standing still as if in thought.

“Ah... ah’m sorry, brother. Please, don’t be mad at me.” Big Macintosh relented, giving his crestfallen sister a loose embrace before continuing in a softer tone.

“Ah fergive you, Applejack. But ah’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

“Yer right...” He dropped his hooves and she made her way towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Big Mac left as he heard the water switch on, and began preparing for the fifth sign. Applejack didn’t allow herself the comfort of a prolonged shower, mainly because she was worried about losing her nerve. After drying herself off, she re-tied her ponytail and donned her stetson, setting out towards whatever awaited her in the tavern.


All activity in the vicinity of the tavern ground to a halt as the filly’s mournful cries resounded throughout the town. Nopony said a word, and the sound chilled Applejack to the bone as she drew near. All eyes turned to her as she realized she was the only pony still moving, and she swallowed hard as she raised a hoof to knock on the door. She jumped back as a small red streak flew out the door, leaving a trail of tears as she made towards her house. Applejack fearfully turned her eyes back to the entrance to find herself looking into eyes that burned with hatred.

“What... did you do... to my cousin.” Applejack took a step back as her powers of speech failed.

“Ah... Ah didn’t...” Applejack’s vision shifted as Berry tackled her to the ground, and she found taking in air becoming increasingly difficult as the mare’s hooves pressed against her throat.

“What did you do, Applejack! He’s gone, he up and left and you were the only pony with him last night! Now tell me! What... what did you do to him!” Applejack feebly tapped a hoof to hers, and she removed her hooves but remained towering over her as Applejack gasped for breath.

“Ah... ah was tired of ‘im keepin’ secrets, so ah...”

“You what...”

“Ah tore ‘is clothes so I could see what he was,” she began, but got no further as Berry rammed her hoof into Applejack’s jaw. Berry’s migraine was threatening to land her unconscious at any minute, but she didn’t care, not anymore.

“You may as well have just gone and raped him, Applejack! The only ponies that knew about that were his family, and you just exposed it to the whole blasted town!” Tears of rage and black spots clouded Berry’s vision as she glared at the earth pony who was rapidly disappearing from her sight. “You better make this right, or I’ll...” Applejack watched as Berry’s legs gave out, the mare slowly sinking to Applejack’s chest as her body was no longer able to cope with the after effects of dissipation and the torrent of fury that had gripped her.

“Ah’m sorry, Berry. Ah’m gonna fix it, ah promise,” she whispered as her own tears began to spill forth. A small crowd had formed around the two, watching in silence as the orange mare held Berry tight, making no effort to stem the rivers streaming down her cheeks. Seeing the ponies all around, Applejack forced herself upright, hoisting Berry onto her back and starting towards the mare’s house. Even if she hadn’t know which one it was, she would have only had to follow the distraught cries of a filly robbed of her uncle to find it. There was no way for her to brace herself against the sound, and with a trembling hoof she opened the door to find Ruby face down in the entryway, not having made it any farther inside before losing the will to move. She looked up as Applejack entered, looking to her unconscious mother and then back to Applejack.

“Leave us alone.”

“Ruby, ah...”

“I said leave us alone! Just get out! You made Shiny leave, and now I don’t get to see him anymore!” After setting Berry down as gently as she could, she wordlessly made her way out, turning back one last time before shutting the door. Ruby walked over to Berry and nuzzled her way under her limp hoof before curling against her chest, and the scene seared itself to Applejack’s memory, adding to the collection of things she would never forget.


The beauty of the fifth sign was lost on Applejack as she trudged back towards home, unaware that her eyes had yet to exhaust their supply of tears. Big Macintosh looked away from the dancing lights that were lighting the grove to see her approach. Cerulean, Twilight, Storm, Rainbow Dash and Dawn all noticed as well, and she suddenly came to as she found herself surrounded by the concerned faces of her friends. Their collective curiosity about how it had gone was answered without a word, one had only look into her eyes to know that things weren’t all right.

“He’s gone...” They immediately crowded around her as she let her strength fail, sinking to the ground and continuing to stare straight ahead.

“Gone? Like, gone how?”

“He went back home... to Manehatten.”

“Applejack, I know that it’s going to hurt, but you need to find him.” She slowly turned her head to meet Twilight’s gaze. “You can’t just let it end like this. Even if he never forgives you, you have to try.”

Ah have t’ try... just like Cerulean in the orchard, and Storm after the Wonderbolts’ tryouts. Just like Twilight, when Cerulean had nearly given up. Everypony backed away as Applejack struggled upright, looking around the circle and making eye contact with each pony individually. “Thank you, everypony. Ah know mah path now.”

“Applejack, where are you going?” Rainbow Dash called out as she turned and started walking away.

“Ah'm going to Manehatten. I ain’t gonna let things stay like this.”