Apples in the Moonlight: Crackshipping Applejack and Luna

by bahatumay

Sleeping Beauty?

The sun shone through the window, illuminating the strange sight of an orange mare sleeping nearly an hour and a half after she was normally up, and a smaller yellow filly prancing in place nervously at the side of the bed as she reached out to try and wake up her sister.

“Applejack? Applejack!” Apple Bloom continued shaking her sister, but she was not waking up. She wasn't dead—her chest still rose and fell—but clearly there was something wrong.

Apple Bloom inhaled, then exhaled. It was time for desperate measures. And maybe it might have been slightly possible that she'd always wanted to try this.

She walked over to the bathroom and returned with a cup of cold water. She waited, giving her sister one last chance for mercy, but Applejack still lay still. Apple Bloom grinned mischievously. It was time. “Wake up!” she cried, overturning it on Applejack's head and showering her with cold water.

Applejack flicked an ear, sleepily brushed some of the water off with a forehoof, and then rolled over and continued snoring.

Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. There was only one course of action now.

She spun around and began running downstairs. “Maaaaaac!”

* * *

“So what's wrong with her, Mac?” Apple Bloom asked.

Mac dropped the smelling salts, looked back at Apple Bloom, and shrugged helplessly. He'd reached the end of his first-aid abilities.

Granny Smith turned. “Applejack? Run and get Twilight. Applejack isn't wakin' up!” She then paused. “Wait a minute,” she frowned, eyes flicking back and forth as she tried to process what she'd just said.

Luckily, Mac was a bit quicker on the uptake. He turned and headed out the door and made a beeline for the library.

* * *

Twilight looked up and shrugged. “I don't understand,” she said, confused. “All the vital signs I can test are perfectly within normal ranges, but she's just not waking up. It's like she's under a sleeping spell of some kind; but if she is, it's stronger than any I've seen before.”

Apple Bloom cocked her head. “You mean like a true love's kiss breaking kind of spell?” she asked.

“Then kiss her, already!” Granny Smith said impatiently, nudging Twilight forward with a hoof. “We've got all the whole south field to clear today!”

Twilight blushed bright red as her wings flared in shock. “N- not me!” she stammered. “I'm not… I don't…”

“Perhaps we might be of assistance?” a new voice broke in.

Every pony looked over. Three bat ponies, two stallions and one mare, all wearing large sunglasses, peeked over the windowsill.

Macintosh's eyes widened as he recognized the bat pony mare from the party. She recognized Mac, too. She lifted her sunglasses slightly and winked at him, though her eyes were squinted nearly to slits the whole time.

“What in tarnation…?” Granny Smith wondered. She'd been alive for longer than she could remember, and she'd never seen a pony like this before.

Thinking she meant the situation, the bat pony gestured. “It's a simple answer, but a somewhat complicated circumstance. May we enter?” he asked.

Granny nodded, and they quickly entered and stood near the closet. It was clear that even with their sunglasses on, they did not enjoy the light.

Apple Bloom, ever curious, walked right up to them. “Ah've never seen ponies like you before,” she said, raising a hoof to poke at the stallion closest to her. The stallion narrowed his eyes (the warning visible even through the sunglasses) and he bared his teeth threateningly, and the filly's eyes widened and she quickly retracted her hoof. The mare bat pony extended a wing and slapped him upside the head, glaring harshly even through the sunglasses she wore, and he had the decency to look somewhat abashed (even if a bit defiant). She pushed him aside, stepped forward, and spread her wings, letting Apple Bloom get a good look.

Mac expected Applejack to restrain her sister. Then he remembered what had happened and he grimaced. Applejack had just been such an integral part of this family for so long that it was just foreign to think that she wasn't here.

The stallion who had spoken first also scowled at the other bat pony stallion, then turned and cleared his throat. “I apologize. We don't talk to day ponies often,” he said with an apologetic shrug at Twilight.

Twilight blinked. His voice was deep and syrupy, and would have made most mares—not including herself, of course—swoon. “Well, you should,” she murmured.

The bat pony cracked a smile, revealing his fangs. “That I shall take as a compliment,” he said. He exhaled and then continued, “Princess Luna has cast this spell.”

“What? Why?” Everypony wanted to know at once.

The bat pony grit his teeth slightly. Apparently, his fluffy ears were a bit more sensitive to the cacophonous noise. “Her highness wishes to spend more time with her, so she cast this spell for her to sleep during the day so she would be awake all night tonight.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Twilight protested.

The stallion winced, torn slightly between reason and allegiance. “Not to speak ill of our regent, but she does tend to be a bit… shortsighted at times,” he confessed. “We three felt you needed to know. She doesn't even know we're here.”

Twilight's scathing yet carefully and respectfully crafted mental letter vanished in a plume of smoke. “So it'd be a bad idea to tell her what a terrible, horrible, awful idea this was?”

The bat pony nodded through a tight smile.

Twilight sagged a bit. “Fine,” she murmured.

“And now, our apologies, but we must take our leave. Our liege cannot know we were here; but we will be back tonight to retrieve her.”

“She can't just…? Oh. Right.” Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “She's asleep. And it's not like you can just find a friendly narcoblix to help her move.”

The second male scoffed. “Hardly. Narcoblixes tend to be… troublesome.”

Twilight giggled… and then paused. “But there's no such thing as a narcoblix… right?”

The first stallion smiled, a half-smile that was definitely hiding something, and then turned towards the window. Twilight and the rest of the Apple family watched as the bat ponies flew away.

“That was awesome,” breathed Apple Bloom. “Did you see her?”

“Eeyup,” Mac nodded. She was becoming quite difficult to forget.

* * *

Macintosh was wiping down the counter when he was surprised by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, but saw nopony. He frowned. Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination. Or maybe it was a muscle twitch from the effort of having to do Applejack's chores today. He definitely missed her already.

He paused as he felt another tap on his other shoulder. He looked behind him-

-and came muzzle to muzzle with the female bat pony from before. Except this time, she was upside down, hanging from the ceiling somehow. Startled, Mac scrambled back and slipped on the wet floor, falling backwards and landing right on his rump.

She giggled, and if Mac hadn't been so irked at being startled by this mare twice, he would have found it appealing. He scowled. You again? he asked wordlessly.

She smirked as she dropped silently to the floor. Yep. Miss me? she responded.

He snorted, but still remained polite. He stood and gestured at the kitchen. You want anything?

She shook her head and gestured proudly at her armor once again. Still on duty.

He squinted one eye. Then what brings you here?

She glanced down and scuffed a hoof, not really wanting to answer.

His eyes widened, and they flicked towards upstairs. You're here to take Applejack, he suddenly realized.

The bat pony mare smiled sheepishly and nodded.

Mac exhaled, knowing it was already too late to protest. “Just… keep her safe,” he pleaded.

She nodded, then brightened. She stepped over to the door and motioned with a wing for him to follow. He poked his head outside and saw what looked like a whole squadron of bat ponies, taking his sleeping sister out through the window and gently loading her onto a metal chariot. They had blankets and straps, ensuring a safe and warm (if somewhat awkward) ride. A pained smile crossed his face. At least she'd be taken care of.

He turned around to go back inside—and nearly trampled the bat pony mare. She scampered out of the way and glared at him.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, holding up an apologetic hoof. “Thought you were going to do that whole 'disappearing on me' thing again.”

The bat pony mare grinned and spread her wings. You mean this thing? She turned and quickly flew towards the wall… and vanished into the shadows, right before his eyes.

Mac's jaw dropped.

He felt another tap on his shoulder, and there she was, hovering right at his eye level in the air behind him.

Mac stared, then nodded weakly. Yeah. That.

She didn't even try to suppress her smile now. She winked playfully at him, and then turned around to go join her bat brethren.

Mac's eyes narrowed, but for some reason, he found himself hoping she would return with Applejack in the morning, too.

Comments

[p61blkwidow]

!what a great story about my two favorite ponies! and you made even more enjoyable with big mac and the bat pony.kudos to you on your fine story and wonderful writing. thank you

[Hobbestc]

Macs got a girlfriend, lol. Talk about cute.I'm enjoying watching them interact.

[necrobat22]

I love this story so far, applejack may be mad when she wakes up to learn she missed an entire day of work

[Tchernobog]

I think I'm more vested in the Mac/Batpony side of the story than the LunaJack.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

6185104
Yeah, me too.