Timed Ramblings

by Midnight herald

Blue Moon

"You're sure you're alright with me watchin' this?" Applejack murmured, casting a wary glance to the regal figure beside her.
"I could think of no other pony I would rather have as a witness, honest Applejack," Luna answered, her voice an airy ghost of its normal glory. Even in the darness, with only the stars to see by, Applejack could tell Princess Luna wasn’t on par with her normal self. Her mane, normally awash with a sea of stars, looked much more like it had when the Elements of Harmony first stripped her of the Nightmare’s influence. Her wings wilted elegantly towards the ground, their feathers loose and ruffled. It was downright disconterting, seeing a Princess of Equestria looking quite so ... tired? worn-down? No, Applejack realized. It’s weird because she’s showing her age for once.
“You need a witness? For what?” Applejack asked, moving a bit closer, to see Luna more clearly.

Luna huffed out a good-natured sigh and gestured toward the moon with a tattered wing. “Your grandmother may use the phrase ‘once in a blue moon?” she began, a mysterious half-smile showing on her shadowed face. Applejack nodded. “This is what that refers to,” Luna continued, looking up at the oddly darkened sphere that hung ominous and half-seen on the partially cloudy night. “The time is come when I must... remake myself.”
“Beg pardon?” Applejack tried to catch more of the emotions playing across Luna’s face, to understand what Luna was thinking. With a brother like Mac, she’d gotten good at reading POnies’ faces, but Luna wouldn’t let her get a good look. She snorted in irritation and stopped trying, instead waiting for Luna to continue speaking. She waited a long while as crickets in the grass around them marked time in little chirps.

“It is... the nature of my timelessness,” Luna finally continued, staring out at the horizon. “Celestia burns on unending, as does her Sun. But the Moon shifts, changes, ebbs and flows with the ocean tides. And as it changes, so must I. This body has grown worn and weary, I fear, and it is time for me to be reborn.”

“Why d’you want me watching this? It seems more Twilight’s kinda deal,” Applejack protested, nervously scuffing at the hilltop.

“I do not rarely come back from this the same as I was, Applejack. And I occasionally lose myself entirely along the way. And as much as I love our dear friend Twilight, I trust you better to help me without question or quarrel, and to help me find myself again, if I am so truly lost.”

“That’s moving into some serious mojo, Princess. I’m not sure I’m up for it,” Applejack growled, tugging her stetson lower over her eyes.

“You are strong, Applejack, stronger than you know. You have a strong connection to the Earth itself, and a sharp mind with strength to match it. I would have no other by my side for this.”

“But I --”

“The time for arguments is over,” Luna gasped, her wings flaring out in ... terror? Pain? For a moment she was bathed in pure, silvery moonlight as bright as the desert sun, and the next... she exploded into tiny stars. Applejack stared numbly at the burning patch of grass that had held her companion seconds before, absently stomping out a few of the larger grassfires before they could spread. She looked up to the sky, her eyes racing across its many stars, looking for some change, any change.

“Luna? LUNA?” She shouted. her eyes found the moon, glowing with an odd, pulsating, otherworldly blue light. “...Blue moon,” she murmured in wonder, her hindlegs collapsing onto the young grass beneath her.
The stars surrounding the moon twinkled, the sky itself seemed to ripple, and a shooting star appeared in the sky, its light growing brighter and larger as it streaked towards her. Right at her. She fought down panic as the flying, flaming thing hit the ground barely a hundred feet away, tossing up dirt and tree splinters and burning chunks of who knew what.
TIME LIMIT-------
Applejack approached the crater carefully, peering into its smoking depths with a slight squint. In the center of the smoldering chaos, a young pony lay curled up in a little ball, quivering. She trotted down the slope, avoiding the worst of the hot rocks, and made her way over to the pony who fell.

“Luna?” she breathed. “Is that you?” The young alicorn looked up with guileless blue eyes and tilted her head to the side in childish confusion.

“Who?” she asked.

Author's Note:

Prompt 310: a time of renewal

After the submission window closed, I got another idea for a light romance centered around checking out the same book again and again. Kinda wish I'd gone for that one, because I wrote this totally scattered, and I think it shows.

Comments

[Midnight herald]

2385435 That's pretty close to where I was coming from with this. I think the other contributing factor to her rage here is also coming from her absolute helplessness against Chrysalis when she tried to take her citizen's safety into her own hooves for once. I can see her to some small extent being resentful of the Element Bearers - She could banish her sister, but it took the Bearers to free Luna from the evil that had consumed her. She could do nothing against Discord when he rose to power, and then when she finally rose up to meet a challenge herself, that challenge wiped the floor with her. And now she's using her chances to go against Chrysalis again and again and again to validate herself, to make herself feel like she can actually amount to something when it comes to the safety of her subjects. After all, what's a leader for if they can't keep their followers from harm?

It's undoubtedly unhealthy, and I'm not sure whose side I'm on in the end, but you got the gist of it for sure, as far as Celestia's concerned.

[DarkwingSnark]

I have noticed when you don't have focus on what you want from the story, it leaves things very open. Not saying that as a bad thing. The story introduces some very curious and original concepts. I'm surprised I haven't seen people cover the different colorations of the moon before.

[Midnight herald]

2399335 A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a month, which happens every 3-5 years-ish, although I might be off on the timing. That spawned the phrase "Once in a Blue Moon", which in turn spawned this fic. I figured that there had to be some further significance to it when the moon is controlled by an immortal princess, and so this happened.

I agree that my more scattered fics leave a lot to be explored later on if I so choose, and I see the good things in that, but I'm also very much not in a place to be exploring those available avenues right now, so I think the ambiguity comes across in a negative way for me right now simply because I know I won't be able to fill in the gaps until my life slows down again. So it goes.

[Mermaid]

This is an idea I'd never have thought of, but that makes perfect sense now that I see it. Also, good on you for following the spirit of the challenge and trying different pairing dynamics! Luna and Applejack are not characters I can easily picture interacting, and yet your reasoning in-story makes sense.

edit: Now that I remember, the closest thing to this I can think of was when I once heard (either in a discussion/comment or in a fic) the idea that Luna went through the phases of the moon, looking like a little mare like in the second episode as the moon waned and growing bigger like in Luna Eclipsed (or even like Celestia?) when the moon waxed.