Beneath a princess

by Aether Nexus

Sweet Apple Acres

Getting a train to Canterlot from Appaloosa had been a nightmare. By the time Big Mac and Applejack arrived at the train station, the only available train to Canterlot ended up being the overnight train. A slow freight transport with a planned stop to transfer cargo to another train heading to Dodge City, but it was that or get to Canterlot even later.

And not a single word was said between the two siblings.

Not on the approach to the junction, nor when they reached Gastly Gorge. Applejack had spent the entire time trying to think of something to fix the situation, but the best she could think of was that the carpet needed a good clean, she’d not taken her eyes off it the entire time, fearing what might be said if she met her brother's gaze. Though, she didn’t know if he was still awake. It wasn’t until the Everfree Forest came and went that Big Mac finally broke the silence.

“Know what you did wrong?”

“Probably not everything, ah keep rememberin’ something stupid ah did, only I thought of it a few hours back but forgot. You get any sleep?”

“Enope”.

Seconds passed into minutes, the Everfree now behind the train, and only the clatter of the train prevented the harrowing silence. Ponyville would be coming into view soon, and from there, Canterlot.

“What do I do Big Mac?”

“Don’t know” replied the stallion, after a moment he continued, “Never been good with mares, so ah only got the basics to say.”

“Please Mac, any advice will help.” Applejack looked at her brother, he didn’t say much, but when he did it was meaningful, supportive, and helpful.

“You’ve been a right idiot sis.”

Applejack winced, he was also truthful, and blunt.

“But if you see Miss Twilight, there are a few things you need to do.”

Applejack looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“First, ya need to apologise, an make sure you know what you’re apologising for. If you just apologise for upsetin her, she’ll probably get angry. Next, ignore the wings, Miss Twilight is the same pony ya met that night Nightmare Moon got loose. Finally, she hopefully still loves ya, if she’ll listen to ya, just be honest, it's your element after all.”

“Thanks, Mac.”

“And remember, no matter what, we’re still your family, we’ll be waiting at home for you, one way or another.” Said Big Mac as he hopped off the bench and began to stretch as the train pulled into Ponyville station.

“Wait, you not comin to Canterlot?”

“Enope, but they are.” Big Mac pointed to the other end of the carriage, to a now open door, and three very concerned ponies.

********************

The sun had almost dropped below the horizon by the time Applejack got back to the farm, what would she say to Big Mac, were Granny and Applebloom home yet? Would the feeling that someone was missing ever go away?

The downstairs lights were still on, somepony had remained awake, for better or worse. Preparing herself for what was about to follow, Applejack pushed open the door.

“Hey, I’m home.” A quick glance around revealed that no pony was in the living room, however judging from the smell, whoever was awake was in the kitchen, rounding the corner, Applejack found that it was Big Mac in the kitchen.

“Hey Mac, are the others home yet?”

“Eyep, but don’t get comfy. Westfield needs buckin. Ah’ll leave some soups.”

Whatever strength Applejack had drained away, it had been two long days, and bucking trees was the last thing she wanted to do right now. A bed and a long sleep were the only things that would offer any respite from how badly the last two days had gone.

“Can’t it wait? Ah promise I’ll do it in the morning, but it's been a long day. Ah ain’t feelin that hungry either so, ah could hit the hay and wake up early.” She could hope.

“Enope, Westfield. Works mostly done, finish any trees with empty buckets, bring em back, soup’ll be on the stove.”

Applejack sighed. “All right, I’ll get to it, back in a bit.”

Leaving the house, Applejack took a moment to collect herself before heading to the Westfield, she was far too tired for Apple bucking, dealing with the mess she’d created, to noticing a pair of green eyes peering out of the upstairs window.

********************
The journey to Canterlot had been worse than the journey to Ponyville.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had replaced Big Mac, but instead of an awkward silence, Applejack filled her friends in on what had been happening, how she’d been feeling since Twilight's ascension, and the events at Appaloosa.

As for why her friends were going to Canterlot, Spike had delivered summons calling the ex-elements to journey to Canterlot, stating Applejack would be joining them, and Twilight would not be in attendance.

Rainbow Dash hadn’t wasted a second and was probably already in Canterlot if Rarity was to be believed. As for what her friends thought.

Rarity was the first to voice her opinion. “I have to say Applejack, you really made a mess of things”

“Ah know” replied Applejack dejectedly.

“But I do want you to know, I for one, understand where you are coming from.”

Applejack looked at Rarity, she’d expected to be chastised by the mare, she deserved to be chastised. “What, why?”

“One doesn’t simply date somepony outside of their class without a few hiccups.”

It was Fluttershy who responded first, “Rarity, you don’t think Twilight would think less of Applejack just because of something like class, do you?”

“No Darling, but consider this. There are ponies in Canterlot who are much more, to coin a phrase from Applejack, are too “prissy” for farm work, imagine if their special somepony suddenly decided to pack in a life of fashion and decided to grow cabbages. No matter how close they are, it would cause a strain in their relationship if something that large was dropped on them with no notice, changing one's lifestyle so dramatically without consulting one's partner is rather rude.”

Anger flashed in Applejack's eyes, and was on her hooves in an instant “RARITY! Ya can’t blame The Princess for this, it ain’t her fault!”

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were frozen after the outburst, however, Rarity simply returned Applejack’s glare with an almost smug expression.

“Twilight.” Rarity said calmly. “Her name is Twilight, not Princess, and while you just proved my point that you haven’t adjusted to Twilight's new status, I will add that becoming an Alicorn was not something Twilight had expected, so can’t exactly be called a faux par.”

Silence fell over the mares, and Applejack fell to her haunches, she could only think that this had been destined to happen, but if any pony could fix this …”

“Rares, what do ah do?”

“I’m sorry Applejack, but from what I know of Twilight, she will come to a solution on her own, all any of us can do is accept that. We don’t have the elements anymore, there was a good chance not all of us would remain in Ponyville forever, I just assumed it would be Rainbow or Pinkie to leave first.”

“Hey” exclaimed Pinkie, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” Replied the fashionista with a devilish grin, “We can be certain Rainbow will join the Wonderbolts at some point, as for yourself, I half expected you to run after that Party Stallion who dropped by recently, you two would be adorable together.”

With a splutter, Pinkies fur turned a darker shade of red as she struggled to form any kind of argument. Fluttershy held a hood to her mouth to hide her smile, but Applejack heard laughing, looking around to find the source, she that it had come from her.

Applejack was startled when a butter-yellow hoof gently came to rest on hers.

With a smile, Fluttershy all but whispered “You look exhausted Applejack, please try to get some rest. We will wake you when we get to Canterlot, just remember, whatever happens, we are still both your, and Twilight's friends.”

********************

Walking into the Westfield was much different than what awaited her in Canterlot.

The moment the group exited the train, a prismatic blur all but crashed onto the platform. Rainbow had already been to see the Princess but had been asked to come back with the others. All she had been told was that Twilight was gone.

Walking through the trees with nothing but the wind and insects to fill the silence was somehow less lonely than the walk to the Canterlot Castle. While not one of them spoke, and Rainbow refused to even look at Applejack, the worst part was knowing that each step was a step closer, to the waiting Solar Alicorn.

Yet, despite everything she expected, after being escorted to the throne room, Princess Celestia greeted them with her usual smile. Her words, however, had haunted her ever since.”

“The truth is, Twilight is very young for an Alicorn, and has much learning to do before she is ready for a role like Luna, Cadence, or I have. As such, Princess Sparkle will be heading East, across the ocean to New Mareland, I wanted you all to hear this before the announcement tomorrow.

The throne room began to spin for Applejack, she’d heard a gasp from Rarity, a whimper from Pinkie, and quiet sobbing from Fluttershy. The worst part was the look Celestia gave her, it wasn’t anger, only disappointment, she’d have taken anger over that any day, which is exactly what Rainbow provided with a quick hoof to the face once they had left the castle.

Finally reaching the area that still had apples to be bucked. Applejack was surprised by how many of the trees had already been seen too. With how long Mac and Applebloom had been home they must have worked themselves to the bone to make this much progress. Perhaps Pinkie Pie had decided to do some bucking yesterday?

*PHWACK*

The telltale sound of a hard buck and apples falling into buckets filled Applejack's ears.

*What the hay, is Applebloom out here?”

*PHWACK*

*No, too loud a kick, that's a grown pony. Wouldn’t be Dash, but who else could it be?*

Making her way through the trees, Applejack found an Earth pony bucking her trees, an Earth pony she had certainly never met before. In front of Applejack, was a dark purple mare, she had a dark blue mane with a single pink stipe, and adorning her flanks was a white starburst cutie mark with five white apples surrounding it. The mare's mane, much like the rest of her, was caked in sweat, but those purple eyes could only belong to one pony.

“T … Twilight?”

“I’ve been … bucking trees … all day.” The mare said between ragged breaths. That voice, it had to be her! “I’ve been … trying to think what … to say. After Appaloosa … I got some advice, and you know what Applejack?”

Applejack was lost for words, after everything that had happened, this was the last thing she expected to find waiting for her. A single tear trickled down her cheek, could she still salvage things? Could she stop Twilight from leaving her friends behind?

“You Applejack … are an idiot!”

“Twi? It's really you, right? And yeah, ah’m an idiot, biggest there is, but please, don’t go. You love Ponyville, your friends, the library, and the princesses, please, don’t go to New Mareland.

Twilight took a deep breath. “My name, is Smart Apple. As you can see … I’m an earth pony.”

“But, Tw … Smart Apple, why? Why are you …” Applejack said, but was cut off by ‘Smart Apple’.

“Because I got some good advice, and some bad advice from another idiot, and while throwing you into a dungeon on the moon sounded like a great idea last night, I now know I’d regret it. Probably.”

Applejack gulped, hadn’t she gotten that advice from Celestia? Perhaps, Luna was present and suggested using her moon as the prison? She really hoped she wouldn’t be receiving any visits from the princess of the night any time soon.

“Well, er, if been banished is what it takes for you ta come back, I’d accept that.”

“Look Applejack, I need you to listen to me, just for a bit, then you can say what's on your mind. First of all, you’re not going anywhere. Sweet Apple Acers is your home so you’re staying, regardless of what happens. Next is that I’ve grown up around alicorns my whole life, not just as ‘Celestias student’, but I also had Cadence as my foal sitter. I never saw them as any different from any pony else because they never made a big deal about being alicorns, so I never considered them above other ponies. So I never considered that a lot of ponies venerate alicorns, see them as Pony Gods, some entity who’s so powerful they might as well not be a pony. So Applejack, I’m sorry.”

“What? No Smart Apple, you don’t ..”

“Ah aah.” Smart Apple interrupted. “Let me say my piece. Like I said, I’m sorry, I’ve been stuck in my own head, and I didn’t take a moment to think how being with me might be for you. Dating a noble pony is one thing, especially since I didn’t spend any time with other nobles, but dating an alicorn? I’ve been, reminded that being a princess's special somepony is a very daunting position, one that was dropped on you. For so long I’ve pictured you as a strong and independent pony who would shrug off any trouble that came your way, I never considered that you would feel so self-conscious because of me, or see yourself as not worthy, that you’d start to feel pressure from ponies for dating me, or that they’d think you weren’t good enough just because you weren’t some upper-class unicorn. Have I missed anything?”

Applejack was speechless, how did Twilight know how she had been feeling? She had only just come to terms with how she was feeling in the last few hours, but here was Twilight, calling her out on it after only realising that there was a problem yesterday.

“Ya forgot the ‘more important to Equestria’ bit.”

Smart Apple smiled, “Equestria survived almost 1,000 with just one alicorn, and I'm still here, so now theirs four of us. I’ll still be able to help them a little but, it’ll be my choice as to how much I help, and it’ll be less than before. I honestly took on to much.”

“Ah know, I'm sorry Twi…”

“Smart Apple.”

“Smart Apple, ah was a fool. Ah stopped seein' you as you, but a princess who was too good for me, just as ya said. Ah know it was foolish an wrong, I thought that some noble pony would swoop in one day, sweep you off your hooves, show you what they could offer you, a glamorous life in Canterlot, and I’d be left behind on this dusty old farm. Ah thought you’d be in Canterlot a lot, being a princess an all, and I’d be here.”

“I was told that too, distance can break up even the strongest of relationships, I was also told that ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn’t belong on a farm’.”

There it was, the reality of the situation. Applejack could feel the tears now, desperate to escape, but she helped strong, she’d at least be able to do that for her soon-to-be ex-marefriend.

“But, while Twilight is in another country, maybe as Smart Apple, the Neice of Apple Cake, sister of Pink Lady, and daughter of Moonshine Cider, we could try again? If you’d like to, that is.”

Applejack was stunned, in front of her wasn’t a princess, but an earth pony, tired and dirty from working in the field all day. She wasn’t being yelled at by a vengeful force of nature, she’d had a conversation with some pony who clearly, still cared for her, and wanted to fix things going forward.

“But your horn, your wings, how?” She had to ask, perhaps she was still on the train, and this had been some dream.

“I still have my horn and wings, the spell I cast hides them, and I while can’t use magic or fly without breaking the enchantment, and I have no intention of testing if I can still walk on clouds, I can change back at any time. There may be times when I need to go to Canterlot, or times when I need to be an alicorn, but the rest of the time, I can just be Smart Apple, living the life I choose. I’m still upset, but, I don’t want to lose you, so, can we make this work?”

“If you’d forgive me, you don’t need to be Smart Apple, we can make it work, ah’ll be better, you’re the mare ah love and it doesn’t matter that you have wings and a horn, we can make it work, promise.”

Smart Apple smiled, looking over her wingless back.

“I wouldn’t give up my wings and horn for anyone, but today I walked through Ponyville with no pony calling me a princess and when I was walking through Canterlot Castle, the guards didn’t bow before me. I might want my horn or wings some of the time, but, I kind of like being Smart Apple.”

“Well Smart Apple.” Applejack smiled with tears staining her cheeks, “If you’ll accept this foolish pony then I’d be happy to try again.”

“Just talk to me if theirs something wrong and we can work on it together.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Smart Apple laughed, it was the sweetest sound Applejack had ever heard.

“I do have one request though, could you carry me back to the farm? I’ve been running on adrenaline and anger for a while now, and I think I’m spent both … I can’t feel my back legs.”

“Sure thing sugarcube.”

********************

The scrying crystal began to fade as the golden pony returned to the farm carrying her precious cargo upon her back. They’d have a rough few weeks, but they’d work something out, their love for one another was still strong after all.

“Cadence, is everything ok?”

“Yes Shiny. Twilight and Applejack have made the first step to recovery. I’ll give them some time, but I think Pink Lady will be paying them a visit in a week or two.”

“Of course honey, I will either stay here looking after the empire or accompany you. I’ll be on my best behavior regardless of your choice and regardless of where I am. I will not attempt anything untoward towards Applejack, who may become Princess-consort and our sister-in-law one day.”

Cadence smiled to herself, she didn’t know what to think when a powerful fissure opened up in the throne room and deposited a weeping Twilight. It didn’t take her long to understand what had transpired, she could even see where Applejack was coming from, thoughts of a fisher pegasus in awe at the Royal Guards Guard Captain had come to mind once or twice, maybe something for another night.

When she arrived in Canterlot as a newly ascended alicorn, some ponies called her an upstart fisher pony, looking back, the treatment she received from Sunset Shimmer had given her a valuable insight into the apple farmers' perspective. At least Twilight had been spared that.

Cadence stretched as she finally stood up from her position on the magic circle, she’d been keeping an eye on Twilight for a few hours and had ignored the protest of her legs for most of that time. She'd not resort to such measures under normal circumstances, but Twilight was dear to her, surely her Twilight would forgive her for being an overprotective sister.

“Very good,” said Cadence “Now if you don’t mind, I’m very tired so I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Certainly, good night Cady.”

“Shiny”

“Yes dear?”

“Your banishment is over, you can leave the couch, let's go to bed.”

The stallion excitedly lept off the couch and followed his wife, no matter how comfy the couch was, he did not want to spend a second night sleeping there.

Fin.

Author's Note:

I had considered including a gag about Luna glaring at Applejack while eating an apple.

Thanks for reading, its good to finaly have this finished.

Comments

[Mystic Sunrise]

So who the hay actually went to New Mareland? Or did anypony go at all since Twilight is still here? I also recognize that country name from Equestria At War, but that's all I know about it. Hopefully it's just the country and not the whole EAW setting.

[Aether Nexus]

I like using EaW's map, but definitly not that universe in this fic, if I use the universe i'll include the tag.

As for who's in New Mareland? Thats a problem for future Celestia to deal with, she'll probably throw Twi ... I mean Luna at it.

[Mystic Sunrise]

11758948
Oh that'll be a fun conversation once Celestia realizes what Twilight did 😁.

[Mystic Sunrise]

11684198
Dude. Why haven't you deleted that spambot comment? And also, learn how to properly reply to comments. Nobody sees your reply as it is unless they come back to the story.