Before her fall, Luna lived entire lifetimes as a mortal pony. She now wishes to do so again, and elects to spend some time with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She never expected to fall madly in love.
Before her descent into madness and her rebellion as Nightmare Moon, Luna lived entire lifetimes as a mortal and traveller amongst the ponies of Equestria.
Restored to her true self, Luna knows she must return to her cyclic life to remain whole. As preparation she chooses to reacquaint herself with the lives of her subjects in this modern age, and in the guise of Sable Moonshine, unicorn scholar and distant friend of Twilight Sparkle, she travels to Ponyville to spend time with Twilight's companions. Despite the 'exciting' month of astronomical observation and scientific research planned by Twilight, Luna nevertheless finds time to work a day at Sweet Apple Acres. And then another.
And another.
Applejack, meanwhile, is pleasantly surprised by Sable's dedication and enthusiasm for hard work. She's less pleasantly surprised by Sable's enthusiasm for Applejack.
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. – Buddha
The sun had set, the moon had yet to rise...
Luna paced the broad space of her sister's private chambers, impatience already building in her chest at the thought of another round of argument with her dear sister Celestia. Luna loved her sister, loved her more dearly than anything else in the world. She was cautious, steady; determined and constant. Yet there were times when her ability to stand rock-like in the path of anything she perceived as dangerous or generally bad transformed constance and cautiousness into a ridiculous stubbornness that nearly always ended in their fighting.
In the past their fights had usually ended with a few days of quiet strife between them, generally resolved when both sisters realised they were at loggerheads of trivialities. Occasionally they had been prominent enough to affect the court.
Once...
Luna huffed and pushed the unwanted memory away. Here and now, that was where she must dwell. Slowing her pace, she turned her head to watch Celestia. Yes there she was, still holding that faintly annoying smile, a cup of tea hovering at her side as she waited for Luna's response. Luna turned on the spot and continued to pace, never taking her eyes from her sister even as Celestia raised her head to speak.
"Luna, you've been wearing a hole in my rug for the last ten minutes without even a word."
The Princess of the Night stopped walking and lowered her head. "You said it was not a good idea."
"I don't believe it is a good idea. You've been back for two years; you're barely re-integrated into the court. Many ponies still view you with more than a little mistrust. Now is hardly the time to go off on another of your adventures."
"It is not some adventure, Celestia. I have explained this."
"I suppose not," Celestia replied, a little too primly. She turned back to her tea and her papers and read for a moment, a frown creasing her all-too-perfect features. "But I still don't believe it's a good idea."
"Celestia, since our return we have not been outside of this palace on anything but official visits. We cannot go for a walk or visit friends, which we do not have anyway, and even the palace gardens are a constant mob of flunkies, lackeys and favour-seeking lickspittles who leave us no peace! We have only the stars." Luna looked up and gave Celestia the toothiest grin she could manage, letting just the hint of illusory fangs glimmer in her mouth. "You remember what happened last time we befriended the stars?"
To her credit Celestia managed to see the joke. She let her tea settle on a low table by her couch and eased herself to a more comfortable position.
"Very well. Convince me."
As if they hadn't had this conversation a thousand times before. Perhaps Celestia had simply forgotten in the meantime, though Luna doubted it. Luna inclined her head and made her way to a smaller couch – really more a pile of throw-cushions with pretensions – and settled herself. A slight hint of a familiar scent rose from the cushions, a musty and attenuated remnant of Twilight Sparkle, which left Luna first wondering how often the young student had sat here and then how often Celestia had her chambers cleaned. She decided not to think about it.
"As we once did, so we wish again to travel outside the palace to spend time amongst our subjects without being mobbed, treated as some fragile statue or considered 'scary' by anypony. We wish to... to make friends."
Celestia frowned and retrieved her tea. "I was led to believe you quite enjoyed your, ah, first visit to Ponyville."
"Celestia—sister, you know we enjoyed that Nightmare Night. It was greatly cathartic, though we found it difficult to slip the habits of those centuries before our banishment. Yet—yet it was not satisfying. It was not life! We played the harlequin, I entertained and it was fun, but it was not any life I wish to live. Am I to remain but a nightmarish mummer for the whole of eternity?"
Celestia's laughter wasn't meant to be a put-down. Luna knew that. She knew it was just her sister reacting to a desire that she probably hadn't needed to consider for a long time. It still hurt. It was also blessedly short-lived as Celestia noticed Luna's discomfort, though she had tried to hide it. Celestia once again considered her tea, then placed it on the table before giving Luna her full attention.
"Luna. I know you used to do this sort of thing a lot, but those were very different times, when the court was not so isolated from the common pony."
"Isolation is why I must do this, sister. I cannot let that happen again."
Celestia's eyes narrowed and she turned away from her sister. Silence descend over the room, the sort of silence normally accompanying a thick fall of snow, frosty and bright, filled with ancient regrets.
"Do you remember the Spring Day fire dances?"
"The equinox," Luna said, memories of chilled bodies and bonfires on night-frosted ground whispering through her mind. "I remember. We would dance for a whole day and night with our ponies. You would often drink too much."
"We lived amongst them, worked with them and cared for them. They were our ponies. Our family. We were so very close to so many." Celestia stared into the distance whilst her tea hovered just out of the way. It almost seemed hesitant to approach, as if waiting for the mood to improve. "It hurts when they leave, Luna. How is it you can stand to expose yourself to that over and over?"
I am the moon, Luna wanted to say. It was so simple, but her sister had never truly understood the fundamental difference between them. Now Celestia was watching her expectantly, waiting for an explanation that both knew from bitter experience could never be given. All Luna could do was lower her head and wait for the inevitable denial. Even immortal eyes could be blind to some things.
"Go then," Celestia said, as if sensing Luna's fading mood. "Take some time away if that's what you think you need."
Luna's heart thudded heavily in her chest. She looked up. "Thou art allowing—"
"Allowing." Again the laughter, bright as the sunrise; Celestia could not stay dimmed for long. "Luna, dearest Luna, could I have stopped you? Though I do appreciate the courtesy of your asking."
The tea was hovering by her again. Celestia took a delicate sip and closed her eyes, savouring the aroma. Like everything about her it was a constant, never-changing part of Celestia's life. The servants might change their faces but their tea was ever the same.
Luna glanced to the darkened windows. She would have to play her part in maintaining Celestia's constancy soon. "There was more than mere courtesy, sister."
"I can take care of the moon for a few days if that's what you want. I realise you're still not at your full potential—but Luna, you can't just drop in on some random town and expect to be welcomed." Celestia frowned again, but then another bright smile graced her features. "Of course you weren't going to do that were you?"
Luna returned the smile and shook her head. "I have my plans. They will be much easier if I am released of my responsibilities for a short while."
"I remember a time when I realised there had been an extra guard in my chambers for almost an entire day. That was the most impressive glamour you ever pulled off."
"Nay sister, the most impressive was—"
The words died in her throat. In the excitement Luna had forgotten herself. Celestia's ears dropped flat against her head and Luna felt her own moving in sympathy.
"I shall retire to my duties. I feel I shall have a long night and day ahead of me."
The smile Celestia offered was as warm as it could ever be. She levitated a till-now hidden pair of wire-rimmed spectacles onto her muzzle and turned her attention to whatever affairs of state had been keeping her up at this hour. Luna hadn't realised Celestia's eyesight was troubled at all. Perhaps it had simply always been the case and she just hadn't noticed.
Celestia cleared her throat and rolled her eyes toward Luna, peering over the top of those silvery rims.
"You know, you never said where you were going."
"I believed I should pay a visit to Twilight Sparkle. She was the pony who gave us so much help and she has shown great friendship, much as can be shown to the Princess of the Moon."
"Twilight, yes." Celestia nodded, already lost in her papers. Luna rolled her eyes and quietly left the room, already drafting her letter to the young mage in the back of her mind. This was going to be fun!
The sun was still riding the horizon when Luna rose from her truncated sleep. She had a slight headache. Nothing unbearable, a temporary side-effect of sharing her control of the moon with Celestia. Her sister had wisely suggested that she maintain some form of link with the lesser light even if she wasn't going to use it. Ever the diplomat, Luna mused. Ever trying to appease her own fears for Luna's sanity. Perhaps this trip would help calm her.
Twilight's response to her letter had been surprisingly muted though perhaps she'd not been able to fully understand what Luna wanted to do. The young mage had discussed the possibility of some astronomical study and then seemed to just break off. It was perplexing. On the other hand she knew that Twilight had enjoyed her company previously and Luna did quite enjoy the thought of a little stargazing with another pony for company. It would allow her some perspective on her work after all and there were a few details she wanted to share with a pony of like mind.
Her bags were packed and already on their way to the station. Luna regretted not having the chance to ride the train herself for it seemed to be a marvellous new piece of technology and something she could have spent days studying, but to do so would have left her with no time at all to prepare for the actual journey.
Luna stepped out onto the balcony of her bedchamber and watched the sun's last inches crawl beneath the horizon. She looked across to her sister's rather more substantial platform (wondering not for the first time if there wasn't just a tiny bit of overcompensation in play) and watched for Celestia's return. She didn't have long to wait; the sun princess stepped out onto the balcony in all her regal glory, head held high as she turned to the east and the moon. Luna felt at a short remove the power Celestia exercised and was fascinated at the differences of technique.
It had to be said though, Celestia's imagination when it came to the stars themselves was severely lacking; a night like this, so warm and clear, deserved at least a little decoration between the ever-present constellations. But that was hardly her problem now was it?
Luna grinned, suddenly feeling free for the first time in months. In centuries. A leap and a beat of her wings took her high over the castle and on an arcing trajectory for Celestia's wide-open arch. She alighted just shy of the light and walked slowly to her sister's side.
"An especially beautiful night, Celestia."
"You're a terrible liar, Luna," Celestia said, smirking. She turned back to her chambers. "All set?"
"All except the glamour. I regret not preparing it earlier, I suspect you may have found it most interesting." She paused, looking over the moonlit city. Few were awake at this hour. Once she had resented that fact, but now it gave her an odd sort of peace. "Celestia, this is but for a short time you understand. It is... practice. When the time comes—"
"I am not going to pretend I suddenly understand why you do it Luna, but I won't try to stop you then either." Celestia shook her head and smiled once again. She turned back, framed and silhouetted in the light from her chambers. "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't."
"Of course sister," Luna said. She turned and leaped from the balcony, a long glide taking her far out over the city until she was lost in the darkness. Celestia watched the empty sky for a short while longer, then returned to her chambers.
To say that Twilight Sparkle was stressed would have been a gross understatement. Stress was a mode of existence she had left behind several hours ago, replaced with the cold, numbing certainty that nothing she was doing would be remotely good enough for the royal visitor she was expecting at any moment. Not for the first time that evening she cursed the lack of her assistants, but she'd had no choice in the matter, not wanting any news of her visitor to leak before she was prepared. Both were sleeping heavily, Spike tucked up in his little bed, Owlowiscious on his perch downstairs. The sleep spell Twilight had cast on them would probably last until just before dawn, though she was sure Spike would have overslept anyway. He always did.
Unfortunately that left her with a distinct lack of help to prepare for Luna's arrival. Twilight felt slightly giddy just thinking about it, though that might also be her fourteenth coffee finally kicking in. She wasn't sure if all that caffeine would affect her magic, but so far she hadn't noticed anything unusual: surely the world had always had that slight glow around the edges?
She wandered the library in a daze, checking rooms, shelving a final book and wondering just what she'd forgotten. Her checklist had almost fallen apart from checking and rechecking its contents over the last few hours but it all seemed to be in order. Telescope, extra telescope, spare bed, astronomy reference guides...
Nothing left to do.
"Huh."
Twilight was about to check the list again just to be sure when she heard a loud thump at the front door followed by a loud pounding of hooves. Scroll forgotten, Twilight rushed to the door and flung it open.
"Princ—er..."
A youngish, black-coated unicorn mare stood in the door with a goofy grin plastered to her face. She stepped forward and peeked around the library. "It is nice to see how tidy you have kept your home, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight, backside pressed against the wall, held out a foreleg to keep her new visitor from coming any further. "I—do—do I know you?" She shook her head. "I, uh, I mean the library's closed. Opening hours are nine to five thirty if you want to come back in the morning."
She punctuated the statement with a very slight press of magic against the dark-coated mare, just enough to give her the hint. The unicorn didn't seem inclined to leave and instead turned to stare at Twilight, evidently shocked at her reaction. Realisation twitched at her brow.
"Twilight, it is I!" She leaned closer to Twilight and winked whilst lowering her voice to a ridiculous stage whisper. "Luna!"
"You're kidding." Twilight backed up to get a better view of the mare. She did look a lot like Luna, though smaller and a little pudgy, truth be told. "You're kidding, right?"
The unicorn smiled again and made her way into the library, inspecting the books under Twilight's watchful gaze. Twilight took in the mare's mane, pale blue with a dark streak, and her cutie mark – a crescent moon resting between two bright stars.
"Luna?"
"Of course, Twilight Sparkle! Would we lie to our sister's most loyal and trusted student?" She took a step towards Twilight, still smiling. "Or to our friend who showed so much kindness when we were so alone?"
Luna, for it obviously was her, continued her slow tour of the reading room as if she were looking for something. Twilight couldn't help but stare; it wasn't every day you had the Princess of the Moon come into your library, especially in disguise. Speaking of which...
"That's quite an impressive glamour, your high... Lunaness." Twilight quailed, expecting some sort of rebuke, but Luna just continued to smile and inspect books. She didn't even look at Twilight when she spoke again.
"Call us—call me Sable. Sable Moonshine. It is the name by which I shall be known for this visit," she said, finally returning to Twilight. Luna's face screwed up in thought as she looked up at Twilight's. "We are shorter than we expected. Interesting."
"I don't quite—I thought you were just coming to town for a few days to, I don't know, look at stars? Why would you need to be in disguise?"
Luna tilted her head in confusion. To Twilight it seemed as if she had expected a slightly different reaction.
"Perhaps I didn't read your letter correctly, You—Lu—Sable." That was going to be difficult to remember. Practice! "I think we'd both benefit from an explanation. And some coffee."
"I believe I shall benefit from coffee, Twilight Sparkle, however you appear to have had enough caffeine for one night. The way you are beginning to blur at the edges is extremely amusing!"
Twilight would have argued the point, if only the burning sensation in her stomach had gone away. She turned, then turned again after spinning too far and made her way to the kitchen. Coffee was a simple affair; she had some left from her previous binge and it was still warm which saved time. For herself Twilight poured a glass of milk. She tried to warm it a little with a quick flare of magic from her horn. It turned green.
"Perhaps I did overdo it," Twilight murmured as she poured the green ooze down the sink. She quickly poured a fresh glass and hoisted the tray before her into the reading room.
A book floated past Twilight as she entered, an astronomy text by its cover. She followed the tome to Luna, who was now seated at the far end of the room with her snout buried in another book. The astronomy text flopped down on a table by her seat. Twilight followed shortly with the coffee tray before settling down on a cushion near Luna.
"So... S-sable Moonshine?"
Luna's magic sought out her coffee and lifted it to her lips. She turned a page. "We thought it a fitting name."
The book flopped against its partner and Luna turned to face Twilight with another goofy grin. It seemed even sitting undisturbed in Twilight's library was an extreme joy for her. Much as Twilight liked the idea of her Princess enjoying her library, the reaction was a little odd, and she rather suspected the books were not the reason behind her smile.
Luna could see the puzzlement on her face too, for the grin faded and she tilted her head. "You appear troubled, Twilight Sparkle."
"Yeah, well, there's a lot to take in. What happened to your cutie mark?" The question poured itself out before Twilight could stop it. She cringed at her lack of tact, but Luna seemed unfazed.
Hah, see, because she's the moon and—shut up Twilight!
"As you said, it is a very effective glamour, Twilight Sparkle." Luna dipped her head to the coffee and breathed in its aromatic steam with a sensuous smile. "As my letter was evidently too cryptic, I shall explain. We... I felt a need to spend time amongst our subjects as I once did, without being seen as an object of veneration or fear. Or 'fun'."
"I—I guess it makes sense. I know nopony in Ponyville is scared of—scared of the Princesses these days, but I guess they would be very nervous if one was walking around town every day."
"You understand, Twilight Sparkle," Luna replied.
"Just Twilight. Please."
"Of course. And I am Sable," Luna repeated. She took another sip of her drink; more like a gulp really. In fact everything Luna did at the moment seemed to be powered by great enthusiasm. "I dearly regret not properly informing you of my plans, Twilight. I wished you to know of my intentions, yet I was aware that our communications would not be completely private even with my personal seal."
"A fair precaution," Twilight murmured. She was feeling giddy herself. Even in disguise this was still Princess Luna, the mistress of the night skies herself! In Twilight's living room! Twilight already had her favourite telescope cleaned and packed for any stargazing trips they would make together. Watching the stars with the Night Princess. She felt like a little filly on Hearthswarming Eve.
"So. You used to do this sort of thing before?"
Luna closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them again they had a distant look, two dark tunnels leading to another time and place. "Once, at the start of everything we lived as normal ponies, though we knew we were different. Over the centuries I spent many lifetimes apart from Celestia... I loved and lived and experienced such joy and such heartache as my loves were taken from me, and grieved as only those who love can grieve."
"That sounds awful!"
"Nay, to do so was still greater joy, for it bonded me to the world. I am not my sister, undimmed and constant. I am the moon, Twilight. I am ever-changing. To be whole I must be broken."
A melancholic silence filled the library as Twilight considered what she had heard. It was incomprehensible, it almost seemed as if Luna purposely sought out the pains and trials of life. She was immortal, she could do anything yet she chose this?
"And you think these lives you lived are s-some way to be 'broken'?"
"It is who I must be, Twilight. To deny this of myself leads to dark places." Luna shook her head and smiled at Twilight's questioning frown. "I cannot teach this to you. Perhaps one day you will understand."
"Well you're here now, I suppose that's something." Twilight sipped at her milk. The chill drink seemed to calm her nerves a little. "What about your cover story?"
"A cover story! How wonderful!" Luna clopped her forehooves together and grinned in a mood change so jarring that Twilight was worried it might have given her whiplash. "We feel as if we are in a plot of intrigue!"
Twilight suppressed a giggle at Luna's behaviour. Evidently she wasn't the only one feeling like a filly, though she could never imagine Luna as anything other than an adult now. Yet she seemed at turns so wise and so naïve.
"We could... say you're a family friend who's come to visit?"
"Yes! We are a student at Celestia's School for gifted unicorns, here to perform research on your studies!"
"And the stars," Twilight quickly added. Luna raised an eyebrow and playfully peered across her coffee at Twilight. "What?"
"I am honoured at your interest in my night, Twilight. You are a good friend and I would be more than happy to show you everything I can. After all," she said, turning to look at the cutie mark overlaying her own. "I am now an astronomer, and I am taken with the idea."
Twilight knew her grin was as goofy as Luna's by now but she didn't care. She finished her milk and triumphantly slammed the glass on the table. "We can get started—"
"Tomorrow, Twilight Sparkle. We can get started tomorrow." Luna finished her coffee and placed the cup rather more gently next to Twilight's glass. She stood. "I have a few items of equipment that shall arrive in the morning. For now I would like to see my accommodations."
Twilight's excitement froze in her heart. The beds! How would Luna react to something so rustic and common? Only two pillows? No gigantic roaring fire? A tiny room? A wooden floor?! Oh Twilight what have you done, expecting a princess to have a sleepover on your silly little spare bed?
"Of—of course." Twilight bowed her head to her chest as if that would stem the spreading chill of dread she felt there. "This way."
She led Luna up to her room, pushed the door open and stepped inside. Luna's smile broadened when she saw the neat little bedroom. She leaped onto the spare bed with a joyful giggle and bounced a few times to test the mattress. "It is wonderful!"
"W-wonderful?"
"Yes! Twilight, we spend our entire life on a mass of pillows and silk and squirming—well, it is different," she said, settling into a more demure pose on the bed. "I shall enjoy the differences, Twilight Sparkle. They are why I am here."
"But you're a princess," Twilight replied. She knew she was whining now, she didn't care. The whole night had been one long series of emotional mountains and valleys that had left her just a little nauseous. Unless that was caused by all the coffee.
"I am not a princess, Twilight. I am a unicorn of a mid-ranking Canterlot family who has come to spend a week or two with her friend and she shall behave as if this were true."
Luna cleared her throat. She hadn't quite slipped into the Royal Canterlot Voice. Not quite. Twilight forced her ears upright and tried not to think about raising Luna's ire again.
"Forgive me, Twilight. I am tired." As if to make the point Luna was struck by a very large yawn. She settled down on the bed a little more and gave out a contented sigh. "We shall talk more of this on the morrow. First, I shall experience a good night's sleep."
And within moments she was fast asleep, like blowing out a candle. Twilight watched Luna for a few moments longer, trying to understand what she was supposed to do or think. Perhaps... perhaps she should stop worrying. Luna knew what she was doing; after all, she was a millennia-old immortal. The thought calmed Twilight a little and she realised that she too was rather more tired than she had thought. Twilight tip-toed over to her bed and crawled beneath the covers, suddenly very weary as all the excitement (and caffeine no doubt) drained away. She lay back and began to drift off to sleep.
And then woke suddenly as a loud, hurking snore filled the room. Twilight stuffed her head under her pillow to try and muffle the sound but another ripsaw demonstrated the futility of her acts. She sat up and glared at Luna. Immortal royal she might be, but nobody snored like that and got away with it.
So she wanted to be treated normally? Twilight waited for Luna's mouth to open again and expertly tossed her pillow at it.
The pre-dawn light streaming through the window woke Luna. In itself that was an unaccustomed sensation, made more peculiar by the size and quality of the room she found herself in. She hadn't taken the time for a detailed exploration the previous night, even after the unexpected yet most entertaining pillow-fight Twilight had initiated for no apparent reason, but she had appreciated its basic honesty and simplicity.
Books lined nearly every available space, for someone as studious as Twilight would surely go insane without a constant access to the written word. It gladdened Luna's heart to see how many were related to the stars. Luna slid from the bed to continue her perusal, walking softly to avoid waking Twilight.
She came to a writing desk, a hugely ornate thing that looked out of place in such a small space. Luna suspected it was a gift from Celestia, who was prone to overcompensation at times, yet despite it being such a contrast to the room she couldn't deny the superior craftwork. It was a desk built to last and built to survive the ministrations of a mage, as it already had. Luna could see the scars of several overenthusiastic experiments on its surface. She glanced up at the ceiling and saw at least one mottled chemical stain.
The room was very much lived in. How long had Twilight been in Ponyville? Two years? She had certainly settled herself well, Luna thought as she tip-toed around the room. She paused to look at her sleeping friend and smiled.
Luna's stomach, unused to the odd hour, growled menacingly. She opened the door, expecting for a moment to find a waiting attendant she could demand food from, then remembered that she wasn't a princess right now. Yet Twilight couldn't be disturbed for it would be unfair to wake her so early, and her little dragon friend was apparently notorious for his ability to sleep through anything. Another stolen glance up at Twilight's prone form and Luna had a sudden and rather wonderful idea. She almost bit her tongue with excitement as she skipped back through the room and up the back stairs to the kitchen, her mind ablaze with thoughts of the magnificently prepared feast she would present for Twilight. And herself, naturally.
Twilight woke with the smell of smoke in her nostrils. She snuffled and tried to clear the air by turning over, then buried her head under her pillow to get away from the smell. Smoke. In a library. A library full of books. Smoke. In a house made from a tree.
Smoke!
"Fire!"
She leaped from her bed, noticing only in hindsight that Lu—Sable's bed was already abandoned as she shot down the stairs to the reading room, a fire suppression spell already coiling around her horn.
A thin cloud of smoke stirred fitfully across the ceiling, pooling around the stairs and crawling up to the upper floors, but Twilight could see no sign of a fire. The spell dissipated with a quiet pop and she flopped onto her haunches, panting as the adrenaline worked its way through her body. Twilight shook her head and gently slapped her cheeks with her forehooves.
The clatter of pots drew her back upstairs to the kitchen where she expected to find Spike preparing something. Except Spike, as far as she knew, was still fast asleep in his basket which left only one other possibility. Heart filled with trepidation, Twilight pushed open the door and stepped into the kitchen.
"Hello Twilight!"
"S-Sable?" Twilight looked around the kitchen and tried not to think about how long it would take to clean up the mess. Somehow there were eggs on the ceiling. Why were there eggs on the ceiling? "What's going on?"
"I have prepared a meal to break our fast!" The goddess-in-disguise pointed at a plate stacked high with what looked suspiciously like pancakes. "A veritable feast! Though you are woefully short of certain key ingredients and I am afraid you will have to purchase a new skillet, as I appear to have destroyed this one."
As proof Luna held up a mangled mess of metal that did appear to be vaguely skillet-related. I'm not even going to ask how she did that, Twilight thought, already rather closer to the edge of sanity than she liked. On the other hoof the pancakes did smell genuinely good.
"I wasn't expecting breakfast," Twilight said. Luna's face fell. "I-I-I mean I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it looks delicious, I just didn't expect it! That's... that's all."
"Well, now you shall have an unexpected pleasure, Twilight," Luna said. She winked and levitated the plate of pancakes out of the kitchen. Twilight heard her stump down the stairs to the bedroom and then pause. A shout echoed back a moment later.
"Twilight, we cannot find the dining hall!"
It was going to be a long day, Twilight could tell. A very long, very interesting day. She took a last look at the almost unrecognisable kitchen before dragging herself out into the main room.
The smoke had largely cleared, though the smell would persist for a few hours. Twilight made a note to check that no books had absorbed anything damaging. Fortunately the most vulnerable volumes were kept in a hermetically sealed cabinet in the reference section on the ground floor, where she exercised a very strict 'no touching' policy for all but a chosen few.
Twilight found the Princess pacing uncertainly at the top of the stairs, pancakes suspended carefully near the wall, unmoving. In all honesty it was hard for Twilight to reconcile her previous experience of Luna with this... this Sable. The eagerness to enjoy and take part was the same, but cooking? Competently? Well, somewhat competently Twilight amended as she recalled the kitchen. Princesses were supposed to have ponies doing everything for them weren't they?
"Sable." Twilight's ersatz friend didn't respond. Obviously she was still getting used to the name as well. "Sable! We eat in here."
"In the bed chamber?"
"It's the only chamber," Twilight said. She turned and looked at her room. It had begun to seem so large, or perhaps so efficient; even with Sable's bed in the corner it still had plenty of space. She glanced at the floating stack of pancakes and then dragged her work table away from the wall. "If I have a lot of guests I set up a table in the Politics and Philosophy section downstairs, but I don't normally need to do that."
By now she had finished moving the table and set out two place settings. A short burst of magic tore the pancakes away from Luna's yielding grasp. When Twilight looked back the night-black unicorn was staring at her with uncomprehending eyes.
"But the bed chamber?"
"If it helps, you can try thinking of it as a dining room that just happens to have a bed in it. Now come on, I want to try your pancakes."
The demand seemed to mollify Luna. She trotted to the table and sat down, her face cheery as Twilight helped herself to a small stack of pancakes. Twilight noticed that Luna had also brought out syrup, cream and – Celestia be thanked – raspberries. She loved raspberries. Had Luna been reading her letters?
The vague worry over her privacy was lost as she tucked into the breakfast. "Oh, heavens, these are wonderful! Luna, when did you learn to cook?"
Luna cleared her throat and purposefully looked away, refusing to answer.
"Oh. Right," Twilight said. She swallowed another mouthful and put on her best smile. "Sable. Same question."
Luna raised a portion of her pancakes – her 'feast' – and an odd melancholy clouded her eyes.
"We were not always the pampered monarch, Twilight Sparkle. As I told you last night, I have lived many lives and I had many lifetimes to learn the art." She raised an eyebrow, still examining her pancakes. "However, as your kitchen attests, I am somewhat out of practice."
They ate in silence. Now and then Luna seemed about to speak but, whenever Twilight turned to pay attention the princess seemed to shy away or find something else to do. Twilight wondered what she might have done or said wrong, but there was little point in trying to guess. She'd only make things worse if it were true. At least the pancakes were good.
As the last of them disappeared on to Twilight's place, Luna shifted and arched her back. She grimaced. "I had forgotten how odd a sensation it is to have no wings."
"But surely they're just invisible?"
Luna shook her head and smiled. "Nay, Twilight Sparkle. This is no mere showmare's trick."
"You mean—b-but that's amazing! How do you compensate for the mass difference? Do you convert the extra to energy and dissipate it somehow? But then how would you get everything back in the right place to—"
"Twilight, please," Luna said, holding up a hoof. She frowned ever so slightly, arched her back again and then shook her head. "I cannot answer your questions simply, I promise I shall teach you some of what I know, later," she stressed, cutting of Twilight before she could speak. "I am not here to be your tutor."
"Oh that would have been a much better cover story!"
"I was already enamoured with the idea of being your friend, Twilight Sparkle."
"We can do that too," Twilight said, a little too quickly. She could feel her stomach twisting again, already on edge as conflicting desires fought for dominance. Twilight couldn't believe she was so quick to try and seek advantage from somepony who just wanted to be her friend. On the other hand, she was a princess...
Practicality won the day as Twilight realised the table wouldn't clean itself. Nor would the kitchen. She quickly began gathering up dishes, levitating them into a pile at the edge of the table until Luna's magic suddenly took over the task.
"P-p... S-Sable, you can't—"
"Twilight Sparkle, you may cosset me all month if you wish, but I must do this today if I am to gain anything from this outing." Luna hummed as she gathered the dirty dishes to herself and turned toward the kitchen.
"Sable, I really think I should—"
"No!" Luna stomped toward the kitchen. "We are a princess, we may do as we wish! And it is our decree that these dishes shall be sentenced to drowning in soap!"
That's what I was worried about, Twilight thought. Luna may have shown herself to be a domestic demi-goddess but it seemed she had almost no sense of proportion. If Twilight were lucky, Luna would only fill the kitchen with suds and not the entire building. She made a mental note to stock up on more soap.
After an hour, drawn out to what felt like several days by Twilight's tension, Luna had finished cleaning and was back in the library, perusing the history section. The kitchen had not suffered any sort of soap-related apocalypse and was actually a little cleaner than normal, though Twilight knew the smell of burnt sponge and singed chinaware would linger for weeks. The skillet was consigned to the trash – Twilight would take it to be recycled later – and whatever food and cutlery had survived the destructive tide of Sable Moonshine was carefully stored away, ready for Twilight to take stock later on.
It was barely nine and Twilight was already exhausted, though she was rarely much of a morning pony anyway. Maybe she'd have Spike take care of the stock-take. That way she could go and collapse with a nice book in the reading room and not think about anything involving food. Speaking of which...
"Is there anything you're after, Sable?"
Luna looked up from her study of the shelves and gave Twilight a half-smile through furrowed brows. "There are many I things seek, Twilight Sparkle."
"Twilight," Twilight said. Luna's absent-minded nod was the only reply she got. "Well, you know where I am if you need help finding anything specific."
Luna stood and turned sharply from the shelves to trot across the room. She pause by the wooden bust in the centre of the room and peered at it before glancing around, then meandered toward the modern literature section and sat down with a thump, staring at the shelves.
"Oh, I was thinking I would invite my friends to meet you this lunchtime," Twilight said. Luna twisted toward Twilight, surprise pulling her eyebrows almost past her horn. She grinned.
"Wonderful! Are we to meet them here? Or shall we go out to an eatery or place of entertainment?"
"Uh, well, I thought a picnic would be a nice way to introduce everyone. I've sent Spike out to sort the details."
"I wondered whence the little dragon had departed." Luna rubbed her chin, lost in thought. "An outdoor meal sounds like an excellent idea. I have not had one in almost two thousand years. It shall be fun! Are we to have the traditional birch pyre? Would you like me to prepare any—"
"No!" Twilight closed her eyes and tried to keep her ears upright as visions of the fate of her poor battered kitchen flashed through her mind. She put on a friendly smile. "I mean... no, you're a guest and a friend, it would be unfair to expect you to make breakfast and lunch."
The room almost visibly brightened as Luna's smile returned.
For the workers of Sweet Apple Acres the working day had started several hours earlier, before the first light of dawn and the rising of the sun. With just a few more days to the start of Applebucking season there was not a minute that could be spent on anything other than repetitive, laborious work and preparation, and that was on top of all the regular work that went on around a farm of such a size, from tending greenhouses to cutting hay to the constant repair of tools and buildings.
From her perch on a hill behind the farmhouse Applejack surveyed the frenetic activity of the Apple Family empire and nodded to herself, for it was good. Even if she had been forced to lay in extra hours thanks to that idiot stallion and alleged fieldworker suddenly deciding to up and leave in the middle of the night without so much as a thank you ma'am, and even if they were expecting an unusually large harvest and had an unusually short time to bring it in thanks to a scheduling mix-up at the weather factories over in Cloudsdale. And even if...
Applejack sighed. If she rehearsed all the problems she was facing she'd be here all day. But it was good, because the alternative was idleness and sloth and if she'd learned anything in her life it was that idle hooves caused mischief of the worst kind. A busy farm was a happy farm.
The bustling scene and her anticipated return to it would have to wait, however. Applejack turned to face her current, minor assailant and his terrifyingly sharp teeth, claws and temper.
"I'm sure it'll be great, Spike, but I don't see why I should be cuttin' a day short right at the start of the harvest to play picnic with Twilight and her new friend."
"Don't shoot the messenger, Applejack," Spike replied, hands spread in supplication. "Of course I could just wander back down and tell Twilight that you said you're toobusy to spend time with one ofyour best friends..."
"That's exactly what I am sayin'!"
"Oh."
Dragon faces were not nearly as expressive as a pony's but even Applejack could see the change in Spike's demeanour. He slouched and turned away, sighing heavily.
"Spike..."
"No, it's fine. It's not like she was really excited about a day out for everypony or that she'll be upset if a friend can't take a couple of measly hours out of an entire season to see her or that it's the first time she's had a chance to even talk to that friend for several weeks."
"Now listen here, it ain't been more than... why it's only been a..." Applejack began counting back the days since she had last spoken to her friend and found a great many of them. Work, always work. Funny how the thing she had been so proud of a moment earlier had suddenly become such a burden. "Oh mercy, has it really been that long since I saw Twilight? Maybe I do need to take a break."
"You're coming?"
"I guess I am at that. You give Twilight mah reservup and I'll see all y'all later."
The smile on Spike's face was a sight to behold as he scooted down the hill back to town, though Applejack had difficulty actually beholding it through the trail of dust he kicked up. She shook her head, then turned back to the farm.
A short trot down the hill brought her to the family home, a haven of relative peace on the farm at this time of year. Through the kitchen window she saw Granny Smith and Applebloom playing a game of checkers, which Granny Smith seemed to be winning quite handily judging by the sour look Applebloom was giving the board. Applejack had learned long ago never to challenge the old nag to anything. Not even Applebucking; Granny Smith would gladly shatter her own legs before admitting she was beat.
A pair of fieldworkers wandered past the gate on their way to a late breakfast, deep in conversation. They seemed happy, despite the extra hours they were putting in. Even the new one, Rock or something was it? Sky stone? No matter. She was a strange cookie but Applejack knew a good, hard worker when she saw one.
She continued through the yard until she found the target of her search lurking beneath a tree. Lazing, more like. Big Macintosh put his all into everything he did and right now he was putting it into not doing a dang thing. Applejack pushed up her hat and whistled her appreciation.
"Y'all are gonna turn into part of that tree if'n you stay there much longer, Mac," she said, giving her brother an affectionate nuzzle. Mac grinned up at her and twisted his ever-present stalk of grass around his mouth.
"Yup."
"Listen, I gotta go into town for a few hours an' make nicey-nice with some new friend of Twilight's. Think y'all can hold down the fort till I get back?"
Big Mac nodded and smiled, then lay back and pushed a hat over his eyes as Applejack turned to leave. "Y'all take care now."
"I will," Applejack yelled over her shoulder, already in the mood for a few hours of impromptu rest and recreation.
A gust of wind caught at her hat as Applejack exited the yard, accompanied a moment later by the loud groan of tortured wood. Applejack looked up at the nearest trees, branches heavy with almost perfectly ripe apples, just in time see a particularly overladen limb heave itself out in the wind and crash to the ground. Now free of the loaded branch, the tree swayed like a drunken sailor as it fought the miniature squall and sought a new balance, flinging apples and leaves every which way and leaning dangerously close to one of the greenhouses.
Applejack set off at a run toward the tree. She spotted a few workponies nearby, the same she'd seen passing earlier. "You two! Rope, baskets and a saw!"
Without pausing for breath Applejack spun on her forehooves and gave the tree a firm kick, flinging another bushel of apples into the air. The tree groaned and swayed again, even lifting its roots free of the ground. Too late, she thought. She bucked it again, trying to guide the already lost tree to a safe landing. With a loud report the tree lifted itself clear of the ground, almost seeming to jump, eager to be free of its earthbound ways. It fell away from the greenhouse in a flurry of leaves and shattered branches.
Applejack flopped to her haunches and wiped her brow. Familiar hoofbeats behind her told of Big Mac finally dragging himself over to see what had happened. He took in the scene and whistled.
"I knew building them greenhouses so close to the orchard was a bad idea," Applejack groused. She pushed her hat back and took in the scene. "Never thought I'd be in the dumps at havin' too many apples."
Big Mac inclined his head and nodded at the returning workponies, before turning back to look at the tree. "Nope."
"If a little breeze could do that... Send Apple Fritter down to the weather factory an'have her make sure they ain't sendin' any wind up our way. We can not afford to lose this harvest, Mac." Applejack pushed her hat forward again and gestured at the surrounding ponies to begin clearing the tree. "Better get to work, I guess."
It was almost noon by the time Applejack finally escaped the farm and its never-ending litany of demands. A collapsed barn roof, rats in the granary and an injured fieldworker were just the highlights.
"After today I am gonna be workin' until I drop an' no two ways about it," she muttered.
"Until you drop what, darling?"
Applejack felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest. She glanced over at Rarity, who had somehow managed to sneak up on her despite the path being deserted in both directions. The fashionista was giving Applejack a very appraising look, as if fitting her up for yet another dress. Applejack was not interested in another dress. She had three already.
"Just, uh, farm work," she said, rubbing the back of her head as Rarity cantered up to her. "I got a lot on an' almost no time to do it."
"We're all quite busy at the moment aren't we? Why just today I—oh sweet Celestia, what is that awful smell?"
"Uh, now y'see—"
"Darling, perhaps you should read up on a new invention I like to call bathing. I hear it's all the rage!"
"It's not like I had much of a choice, I've been working solid since sunrise!"
Rarity slowed her pace and seemed to be thinking about something. Well that was just fine with Applejack, if it meant she'd not have to listen to more comments about her bathing habits from some wannabe princess with delusions of sainthood. Applejack set her eyes on the distant hill they usually used for these outings and set herself into a comfortable canter. She could see a pair of ponies already on the spot; one was Twilight, who Applejack could recognise anywhere. The other was new.
"Applejack, darling, wait!"
Despite herself Applejack slowed a little to let Rarity catch up. The unicorn tossed her hair as she drew alongside Applejack and gave her a broad smile.
"I'm so very sorry Applejack, that was terribly rude."
"Y'darn tootin'!"
"Quite. Well I believe the fresh air has already reduced the... odour quite significantly," Rarity replied, standing as close as she dared to Applejack and holding her dainty little snout in the air. "I was planning on an afternoon at the spa with Fluttershy after this lunch but apparently she has, ah, other engagements. You could come along instead, if you like."
Applejack sighed. It was just like Rarity to do this, offering a chance at what she believed to be a taste of heaven as an apology. Applejack tried to suppress a smile. "I'm sorry, Rarity, I gotta work the rest of the day."
"Nonsense! I won't stand to see you work yourself into a stupor again, you're going to come with me and you're going to be pampered and preened until you positively glow. Now say thank you and I might let myself forget this little incident."
"Are you kiddin' me?"
"On this subject, Applejack, I never joke."
The back and forth continued as they trotted toward the picnic. Applejack could feel herself relaxing under the constant wash of Rarity's chatter, even as the conversation turned to her work and various contracts she had secured in Canterlot on the back of the royal wedding. She tuned it out, tried to enjoyed the walk and the freedom from her responsibilities for a little while.
High above, Celestia's sun shone bright and hot in a deep blue sky, barely a cloud to hide it. Perfect weather for a lot of things that definitely weren't apples, nor the harvesting of apples, making of cider, storage of fruits and general work of the season. Applejack shook her head and tried to concentrate on something that wasn't work, only to find herself worrying about the fieldworker who'd managed to get her leg cut up in a hay baler. Any relaxation she'd felt was sucked away by the tension in her withers and back, the itch in her legs that could only be scratched by the firm bark of a tree under her hooves. She almost turned away there and then, but halted at the last moment as Rainbow Dash zoomed overhead. Besides, she'd promised Twilight she'd be there, she couldn't back out now.
Applejack's thoughts were interrupted by Rarity, who squealed something so outrageously loud that she managed to drown herself out in the noise.
"Whut?"
"I said that must be Twilight's new friend! Oh isn't she gorgeous?"
Applejack glanced over at the strange pony with Twilight.
"I guess I don't know gorgeous from tubby," she said with a wry grin. Rarity's shocked glare said everything she needed to know about that subject. "Y'all suppose she's from Canterlot?"
"Where else! Though such a dusky colouration is extremely unusual amongst high society mares."
The others were arriving as Rarity and Applejack drew close and some part of the picnic was already set out, complete with the stereotype chequered cloth. Pinkie Pie was carrying the largest basket Applejack had ever seen. Twilight turned as they arrived and greeted Applejack with a warm smile.
"You made it!"
"I sure did, though I gotta confess I'm a mite on the ripe side..."
"No kidding," Rainbow Dash replied. She held her hoof over her nose and fluttered her wings at Applejack. "What did you do, wrestle a pig?"
"Jealous?"
"What? That doesn't even make sense!"
"Girls!"
Twilight forced herself between the pair and glared at each of them in turn until they backed down. Applejack let out a sigh. This was not going well, she could feel the familiar lump at the back of her throat that turned up whenever she was in the wrong. " 'm sorry Twilight. It's been a hard mornin'."
"Right. Well, now you can forget all that." Twilight stepped back and looked at each of her friends in turn. She spent a little longer staring at Applejack, who couldn't think why she'd do that, then put on another broad smile and held out her hoof to toward her companion. "Girls, I'd like you to meet Sable Moonshine. She's taken some time off from her studies in Canterlot and will be staying with me for a couple of weeks for some, ah, extracurricular research, I suppose."
"Greetings!"
A chorus of welcomes echoed around the group as they introduced each other to Sable, shortly followed by a overly dramatic gasp as Rarity belatedly noticed the mention of 'Canterlot'. The dark unicorn's gaze lingered for a moment on Applejack, just as Twilight's had, but her expression was tinged with uncertainty. She held out a nervous hoof.
"You are a farm worker?"
"That's right!" Applejack pressed her hoof against Sable's and grinned the biggest, widest grin she could force onto her face. Sable nodded slightly but her expression remained unreadable. "I'm also the best dang cowpony from here to Appleoosa!"
If Applejack's boast had impressed Sable, she didn't show it. If anything she seemed unnerved by the brash reply and quickly backed away, much to Applejack's annoyance.
Guess I'm too stinky for her, she thought. Applejack, y'all are too stinky for your own self, never mind some prancing Canterlot courtier, some part of her brain added.
"... and you simply must tell me who does your mane, it's so stylish, so retro-chic! I just love it! And your fetlocks, so daring, so autrement! Tell me, do you bleach them or is it a natural colour?"
"I... I would love to tell you about my styling attendants, but I am not sure you know them," Sable replied, almost collapsing under the assault of Rarity's commentary on every part of her look.
And who has styling attendants anyway?
"Oh darling, knowing who they are doesn't matter, I simply must experience their work! Oh!" Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof and almost squealed. "I just realised I have an ensemble that would look absolutely splendid on you! Please tell me you'll pay a visit to my little shop soon?"
"Of course! We... we shall have so much fun!"
Applejack couldn't help but grin at Sable's dazed expression, one shared with so many who encountered Rarity for the first time. Yet somehow she managed to survive an introduction to Pinkie Pie, who seemed unusually subdued by comparison; Pinkie Pie obviously realised she had an impossible act to follow and just didn't try.
Sable returned to her spot by Twilight as everyone settled down and Pinkie produced their meal. Applejack had expected the basket to contain some sort of party bomb, or at least a giant cake, but instead the party pony brought forth a feast of treats and savouries that threatened to put even the Apple Family annual shindigs to shame.
Appreciative murmurs ran around the group as the food was laid out and just as quickly snatched up. Sable seemed content to just watch, though she must surely have been as hungry as the others. Applejack wondered if that was politeness or something else and recalled the reaction of Canterlot's elite to her own 'carnival food'. She snorted. The sound seemed to startle Sable and she turned her piercing blue eyes on Applejack, then raised her eyebrows and quickly looked away.
"Everypony, I would like to thank you for making me so welcome today. Twilight has told me a great deal about all of you, her closest friends, such that I almost feel I know you myself." Sable smiled as she spoke. Applejack wondered what the joke was and found herself frowning at Twilight, though fortunately her friend didn't notice. "As Twilight has so graciously explained, I shall be staying with her for a short time to undertake some research on a topic we are both extremely keen to understand. I should also like to spend time with all of you, if you are willing to allow my presence."
"Of course, silly!" Pinkie practically bounced over to Sable and wrapped her in a great big hug. "If you're Twilight's friend, you're our friend too!"
"Absolutely," Rarity agreed between mouthfuls of whatever treat Pinkie Pie had laid before her. "You simply must spend some time with me at the spa, dear. Lotus and Aloe will do wonders for your back which, I noticed, you seem to be having some trouble with if I'm not being too forward?"
Sable's ears twitched, followed a moment later by a sort of half-shrug as she shifted her back. "You are so perceptive, Rarity. Of course I would be honoured!"
"Oh the honour is all mine," Rarity purred. Applejack closed her eyes and tried not to feel embarrassed for her friend.
The meal wore on but Applejack found she had quickly lost her appetite. She gently pushed her plate away and sat back, ignoring Pinkie Pie's quizzical look. A moment later Applejack found her plate had magically disappeared and turned to see Pinkie looking at her with an overstuffed grin. She winked and swallowed, before returning her attention to Sable.
And that was the thing. Everyone seemed so enamoured with this newcomer, even Fluttershy had come out of her shell a little. Applejack was sure by now that she was just another shallow, stuck-up society mare... well, reasonably sure. Probably. The point was she'd turned her nose up at Pinkie's food and the silly pastry chef was still hanging on her every word. And she'd reacted to Applejack like she was just a serf or labourer or something. Stuffy, loud, haughty. Everything Applejack disliked about Rarity without any of her redeeming features.
Maybe she was being too harsh. Maybe it was just the events of the day getting to her. She tried to put the thoughts from her mind and concentrate on being friendly, not that she was in much of a mood for it any more.
The conversation wound on. Applejack gave the occasional polite response if necessary but otherwise stayed quiet, letting her mind wander over the preparations for the start of the harvest. Short-handed as she was it would be difficult to take care of the entire harvest without losing a significant portion, and now there was the threat of more trees collapsing under their overbountiful crops which meant she might even end up with a smaller take than usual.
Applejack heard someone calling her name and shook her head clear of the reverie.
"Whut? Sorry, I was thinkin about work."
"I was just explaining that you're expecting a very large harvest," Twilight said, gently touching Applejack's foreleg with her hoof. "And that you're probably quite tired."
"Oh... yeah, tired," Applejack replied. "We had a tree go over an' one of the seasonals is laid up in hospital with a hole in her leg the size of mah hoof. I got more apples than I know what to do with... but this ain't the place fer me to complain." She glanced at Sable and tried to smile. "You never told us 'bout what it is y'all do for a livin'."
"I herd the night..." Sable glanced at her cutie mark and frowned as if remembering something important. "That is to say, I am an astronomer. I study the stars and the moon, and..."
Sable looked at Twilight with a pleading expression and the younger unicorn looked thoughtful for a moment. The two leaned close to confer in quiet whispers. Applejack risked a glance at Rarity and saw a very knowing look as Twilight began to speak.
"Outside of her studies Sable helps maintain a catalogue of the stars for Canterlot University and provides a similar service to the School for Gifted Unicorns."
"Yes." Sable nodded eagerly. "I have a great love of the stars. Sometimes I feel they are my only true friends. Apart from Twilight Sparkle, of course!"
Twilight giggled and leaned almost drunkenly against Sable's side, which in turn set off Pinkie Pie and then Rainbow Dash. Soon even Applejack was laughing along with them, happy to just let go of herself for a moment and join in the fun. The laughter soon died down, replaced with a comfortable silence as they contemplated the now departed feast. Pinkie Pie let out a gaping yawn and stretched, cat-like, before starting to pack up her basket of goodies. With that signal for the end of the meal, Twilight and Sable both stood at the same time. They giggled again.
"We should get back," Twilight said, tail twitching with her usual eagerness when anything involve books was in her near future. "We've got a lot planned for tonight."
Sable nodded her affirmation and gave everypony all a far-too-cheery wave as they turned away. The others remained, lingering by the remnants of the food and enjoying the sun or, in Applejack's case, enjoying the fact that they still weren't back to work for the rest of the day.
With the pair out of earshot, Rarity's eyes narrowed and she leaned towards the others. "Tell me I was not the only one to see something going on there."
"I thought they looked very happy," Fluttershy offered. She blushed and stared at her hooves. "Do you think... maybe?"
"No maybe about it, darling! Whatever that pony is here for it's not just stargazing."
Rainbow Dash stood up and glared at the gossiping pair. "Guys, this is Twilight we're talking about, she'd rather stick her snout in a book than... than anything."
"Well there's definitely something going on. Oh, do you suppose she's some sort of spy for the princess?"
"I don't rightly think this is any of our business," Applejack retorted. She stood up and glared at the others. "Whatever Twilight gets up to on her own time is her own business. For all ya know she really is just here to look at the stars an' you're all makin out like she's some sorta high-class courtesan! How would y'all feel if she started talkin' about you like that? I don't rightly care none what this Sable gits up to when I'm not around an' maybe all y'all should do the same."
"I thought she was fun," Pinkie Pie said as Applejack stalked away, legs protesting at the sudden demand to move after so long seated.
The tired farmer had almost reached the bottom of the hill when she was was halted by the sound of Rarity clearing her throat. Applejack rounded on her friend but the unicorn just nodded her head toward town and grinned.
"You didn't think I'd let you walk out on our little arrangement, did you, darling?"
The spa. Oh Celestia. Though she didn't mind the big hot-tub, Applejack would rather douse herself in a trough back at the farm and have more time for work, but the mare would not be refused; not even after the tongue-lashing Applejack had just handed out. And now she was doing that pouting thing. Applejack could not imagine a more useless thing than a hooficure on the very first day of Applebucking season.
The afternoon had gone extremely well, Twilight decided once she was safely ensconced in her library and free to let her thoughts wander a little. The food had been good, the weather had been perfect and, best of all, not one of them had guessed that Sable was actually Luna. Twilight felt her heart flutter at the thought that this odd little plan might actually be working. She skipped down the stairs to find Luna, who had once again settled in the reading room and was nose-deep in a book.
"Apple Husbandry, Care and Management," she read. Luna peered over the top of the book at Twilight and raised her eyebrows. "Reading up on the local industries?"
"We find it an interesting subject," Luna said with a defensive glare.
The book wavered in the air for a moment, then gently lowered to a table as Luna lost interest. She closed her eyes and pressed a hoof against her temple.
"Twilight, I am concerned that I have offended one of your friends."
"Who, Applejack? She's not easy to offend at all, you're probably worrying about nothing."
"I am not so certain," Luna replied. She began to pace the room, a habit that Twilight could see becoming annoying if it occurred too often. "When I greeted her I was—I reacted as if I were offended by her. It is so easy to pick up the habits of court, Twilight Sparkle, and a farm pony of such robust calibre would be treated with some disdain by many ponies in Canterlot."
For a while the only sound was of Luna's hooves as she walked back and forth across the reading room and the odd snatch of birdsong from an open window upstairs. Twilight glanced at the book again and then at Luna, still pacing, but now with her head down and her ears lowered. Every so often her tail would slap against her flanks, chasing a non-existent fly. She seemed out of sorts.
"Luna, are you..."
"Sable, please, Twilight." Luna raised her head. Pain etched her features. "I must find some way to make amends to your friend. I would not wish to come between the two of you by my offence."
"Sable, you won't. I know Applejack, she's a good, honest pony. She won't let a little thing like that get in the way."
Luna smiled, but shook her head as she resumed pacing and Twilight wondered just what was going through her mind. In truth, understanding the moon princess was already much harder than she'd thought possible. How could a mere pony understand a goddess, after all?
"I'm making some tea," she said, moving toward the stairs. Luna's vague mumble she took for assent. A nice cup of tea always put Twilight in a better mood, though she knew it was as much an imitation of her beloved Celestia as anything she'd chosen for herself. Surely it would help Luna as well?
Rifling through her large selection of teas she finally settled on the lapsang, taking a moment to experience its rich, smoky aroma before she began her preparation ritual, ingrained by long repetition. Soon the kitchen was filled with the muggy warmth of steam and the scent of long nights spent studying arcane lore. Twilight loaded her tray and trotted back down to the reading room.
"Sable, I brought you—"
The room was empty. Twilight looked over her shoulder at the stairs, wondering if she had somehow managed to pass the princess in her rooms above but that didn't seem likely. Unless she was invisible. Twilight placed the tea tray on a nearby table and quickly explored the library, searching for any sign of habitation.
"Sable?"
Silence was Twilight's only answer. She closed her eyes and conjured a spell of allsight, seeking the hidden world of magic before setting off to explore again. A strange and ethereal realm overlaid the library, lines of magical force twisting and bunching around sources of magical potency, particularly her collection of Starswirl's Historia Magicae, but of Luna there was no sign. Twilight dispelled the magic and sat down, staring at her books.
Disappointment, just a little of it, laid over Twilight's heart, but she knew Luna wouldn't be gone for long. She'd probably just gone for a walk to clear her head. Feeling suitably re-assured, Twilight poured herself a cup of tea and settled in the corner to read.
It had always just been 'the spa', never knowingly named in Applejack's presence. Ponyville was a fairly large town despite its agricultural economy,m but it was still too small to justify more than one spa, so nobody ever referred to the place as anything else. Applejack wasn't even sure if it had a name, not that she'd ever felt the need to find out. She appreciated the hot baths but almost everything else in the place was Rarity's territory, completely alien to Applejack, and completely impractical. Take the whole concept of mudbaths, for example. Rarity paid anything up to seventy bits a session to lie in a bath full of mud with vegetables on her eyes for an hour, when she could do the same down at the creek all day. For free.
And Applejack could have a hot bath at home whenever she wanted, though it wouldn't have any of the fancy-pants stuff they put in the water here. Anyway, there was something to be said for bathing in a pool larger than her entire bathroom. Applejack relaxed into the steaming hot water and let it soak away her the aches in her legs.
Through the mist she heard a quiet splash as Rarity settled herself into the pool with a contented sigh. "Oh this bath is going to feel so good..."
"You got that right," Applejack replied. She almost couldn't remember why she'd objected to coming. She let out a contented sigh of her own and slid a little deeper into the water. "I feel better already."
"After that little display at lunch, darling, I'm glad to hear it!"
"Rarity, you know how I feel about gossip—"
Rarity tittered and splashed at Applejack. The farmer blinked water from her eyes and glared at her friend.
"Not that, you silly pony. Naturally you were right, it wasn't our business."
Rarity lifted her hoof to her face and examined her closely. Was she thinking about a hooficure? Oh Celestia she was! Better distract her!
"So... display?"
"What? Oh... oh yes, the way you treated Sable of course."
"The way I treated her?"
"Naturally!"
"Now you just wait an applebuckin minute, missy, I did not treat her with anythin' but politeness and respect and all she did was look down her pretty little nose at me like I was some sort of no good, common, dirty—"
"Earth pony?"
"Right! Wait..."
"Oh my stars, there's a terrible working class monster in my bath!" Rarity giggled and splashed at Applejack again, then let out a sigh. "Darling, she took to Pinkie Pie well enough and that particular earth pony smells of nothing but sweat and stale flour most of the time. Did you see your face when Sable talked to you?"
"Mah... Rarity, I can't see my own face."
"Yes, that right there is exactly how it looked," Rarity replied, examining her hoof again. She stood and began to climb out of the tub, humming a bright little tune. One of the spa's attendants waited at the top with a towel. "Aloe, dear, I believe my friend and I shall be taking the massage today."
"Of course." Deep blue eyes turned to Applejack, filled with amusement at her predicament. Aloe indicated the stairs down to the spa's floor. "This way."
"No fancy stuff, I can't work if y'all give me fancy stuff."
The spa pony gave Applejack a languorous wink and turned away from the pool, swaying her rear in what she probably thought was a provocative manner but which Applejack just found lewd. She kept her yap shut about it though; no point in antagonising the staff when they had access to hair curlers.
Aloe had a massage tablet set up by the time Applejack had dried herself off, and was examining her hooves in an off-hand manner while she waited for her charge. Behind her Rarity was undergoing some sort of primal torture judging by the way her spine was crackling under the ministrations of Aloe's sister, yet her face was the very picture of bliss. She turned a lazy eye toward Applejack and stuck out her tongue.
"Hurry up, darling, you're missing all the fun."
At Rarity's words Aloe tapped her hoof and shot Applejack a withering glare. The put-upon earth pony carefully settled herself on the table and waited for the pain. She winced as Aloe's hooves pressed against her withers and the spa pony began to probe gently at her spine.
"Madame is under a great deal of stress, I feel," Aloe murmured.
"I suppose I might beyyaaaah! What in tarnation—"
Applejack's protests wilted as Aloe jabbed another hoof into her back. She could feel muscles relaxing that she didn't even know existed and what should have been intense pain became... something else.
"Oh lordy..." Applejack winced as her back popped, expecting a sudden spike of pain, but all she got was a warm sensation below her withers. Her head flopped against the pillow and she let out an enormous sigh.
"This tension in your back, it is like a great burden you must carry all day."
"Uh-hm..."
"You have spasm in your left longisimus dorsi," Aloe said, caressing Applejack's sides in a most unladylike manner. The probing hoof paused and rolled at a knot of muscle on her mid back. "We press here..."
Aloe's stabbed a hoof into Applejack's back and twisted. Applejack felt her entire body go limp. She realised she was drooling on the pillow but she couldn't stop, it was... it was heaven. With a great deal of careful attention she was able to turn her head to look at Rarity; her unicorn friend looked as if she had been lulled to sleep by Lotus Blossom's careful ministrations but she was aware enough to give Applejack a lazy wink.
"Marvelous isn't it," she sighed.
Applejack couldn't even nod her agreement. Her eyes were pulling closed and the warm feeling in her back had spread right across her shoulders and down to her back legs, an area to which Aloe was currently applying her attention. After some time and perhaps a short nap, though she wasn't sure, Applejack realised that Aloe had abandoned her work and left, probably to attend to some new patron. Applejack didn't care. She'd never felt so relaxed in her life and she was quite prepared to stay on this comfortable little table all day.
Slowly, oh so slowly, Applejack felt her senses returning. Somepony was standing nearby whispering urgently to Rarity. She could hear her friend's refined voice, and then–
"Darling! So nice to see you!"
Applejack was pulled from her near-slumber by the yelled greeting. She raised her head, shocked, suddenly fully awake. A dark-haired unicorn stood before her.
"You?"
"Hello," Sable said, an odd smile tugging at her lips. She tilted her head and drew a little closer to Applejack, at once reluctant and eager, though it made no sense why she'd be that. "I... I came to... you appeared somewhat reluctant to interact with me earlier. I am sorry if my actions offended you in some way."
"Oh... I should be the one who's sorry. Y'all caught me at a bad time an' I guess I took it out on the wrong pony."
They stared at each other in the awkward silence, neither wanting to speak lest they say something else to offend. After a few moments of thought Applejack slid from her bench and stood before Sable, trying to close the metaphorical distance between them somehow. She smiled. Sable returned the gesture.
"We got off on the wrong hoof, I guess. Maybe we could start again?"
"I would like that, Applejack. I am Sable."
Applejack took the proffered hoof and shook it with great formality. "Applejack. I work on a farm."
"Yes, I was aware! I have always held a great interest in rural pursuits," Sable replied, far too cheerily. Did she even have a middle gear? "I would dearly like to see your farm!"
"Well, I guess I could. Rarity?"
"Oh darling, by all means entertain Twilight's guest," Rarity purred. She stretched out, cat-like, as Lotus continued to work on her back. "Mmm, and feel free to join me any time you like, Sable. Lotus and Aloe here are absolute miracle workers."
"I would again be honoured, Rarity," Sable replied with a formal bow. Rarity's eyes went wide as dinner plates but she remained mercifully silent. Possibly because she had stuffed both her hooves in her mouth. A muffled squeak escaped around them shortly after.
"I do hope Rarity shall recover her senses," Sable said as the pair made their way through the foyer. Applejack grabbed her hat from a waiting attendant as they passed and slapped it on her head.
"She'll be fine, she's just a mite overexcitable what with y'all bein' some high falutin' Canterlot princess."
"P-princess? I am n-not—"
"Sable, everyone from Canterlot is a princess as far as Rarity's concerned."
Applejack went to open the door but found it snatched away in the grip of a deep blue aura. She glanced at Sable. The unicorn gave her a half shrug and motioned Applejack to step outside, before following shortly after. As they walked across the grassy gardens around the spa Applejack pointed to her home, stood atop a large hill overlooking the town.
"That there is where we're headin'. It's quite a walk."
"I shall be fine."
As they set off Applejack noticed her forelegs felt a little freer, as if some great weight had actually been lifted from her shoulders. It felt like one of those metaphor thingies Twilight liked talking about, but she wasn't too sure of the details so she decided to just enjoy the feeling while it lasted. Maybe more visits to that spa were in order.
"Applejack, I must confess, I was worried I had angered you in some way."
"Angered? Why you ain't seen me in a real deal angry yet, darlin'. I just had a few bad times with your... with Canterlot types. I admit I was leery seein' as you seemed so cold earlier, but I reckon I probably didn't help matters none. Besides, y'all are Twilight's friend an' I suppose she don't pick bad'uns."
"She does not," Sable replied, giving Applejack another of those odd grins. "She has written to myself and my sister many times of your adventures together. I find them most entertaining!"
"Entertainin' ain't how I'd put it," Applejack replied.
"I have offended you again."
"Whut? No!" Applejack cast about for some way to explain herself. She found herself staring at a tree. That wouldn't work. "Y'all are just seein' things from th'outside. I can see what we do makes a good story, I ain't gonna deny I've made a lotta hay outta it myself, but—well, when y'all have faced down monsters and dragons and hydras an' Night Mare Moon you kinda see the world different y'know? Entertainin' for me is buckin mah trees all day an' not havin' to worry about the world fallin' over on me agin."
They were close to the edge of town, the last few buildings petering out before a large meadow. It was a richer area, most of the houses large and well-appointed with enormous gardens lined by hedges that Applejack considered to be far too pruned and primped to be really healthy. She turned to Stable and found her companion had stopped a few strides back, looking around as if lost. Applejack turned back to the unicorn mare and tried to look her in the eye.
"What's the matter, Sable? Y'all look like you saw a ghost."
"I... No. It is nothing to be concerned about, Applejack." Sable trotted forward along the path, smiling once again as she rejoined Applejack. "We are free of the past, are we not?"
"I guess..."
They continued the trip in silence, Applejack not quite able to bring herself to say anything else to this odd little 'princess' walking by her side. Sable seemed content to just walk, taking in the sights and making the occasional detour to nose at a tree or a flower; once even to chase a butterfly, giggling all the while. Perhaps this was normal behaviour for a city pony in the wilds, Applejack couldn't rightly tell, though she remembered that Twilight had been absolutely fascinated once she'd had a chance to look around. Every new sound and colour and shape had been another detail to put in her never-ending supply of notebooks and, for a while, she'd become the most avid botanist Applejack had ever seen. In fact Twilight had been the only botanist Applejack had ever seen. She hadn't even known botany existed until then.
The descent into her memories of Twilight passed the time quite nicely and they were soon at the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres.
"Here y'are. Home sweet home," Applejack said, pushing the gate to one side and ushering Sable through. They walked up a dusty path to the farm house, Applejack in the lead and pointing out the sights. Orchards as far as the eye could see, laden with fruit and now mostly quiet, their workers lost in the distance. They passed by a large red barn, the oldest building in Ponyville, her grandmother had always insisted, though Applejack suspected it had been rebuilt at least once in that time.
"And this here is the family home," Applejack finished. She tapped the lapped planking of the Apple farmhouse with a hoof and smiled. "Mah great grandpappy built this place from nothing but dirt an' a dream."
"It appears he also used a great deal of wood," Sable said. She looked at Applejack such with an intensely thoughtful expression that the farmer couldn't help but burst out laughing. Sable joined in a moment later, a little nervous, but taking the joke.
"Come on," Applejack said, finally choking back her chuckles. "I'll show you around some more."
They passed Big Mac on the way to the orchards and paused for an introduction. Sable seemed quite taken with the stallion, which wasn't in the least bit surprising; Applejack still experienced occasional spurts of jealousy at the way her brother could so effortlessly attract the attentions of the opposite sex, and often as much frustration at how little attention he paid to them. Not that she was playing matchmaker, and certainly not with Sable. Wouldn't be fair to Mac to foist such a strange little mare on him. A brief discussion of the harvest preparations and they left Macintosh lazing beneath his tree and moved out into the orchards.
The trees were her favourite place, Applejack explained to an attentive Sable. Not least because they were her livelihood, but also because they were so peaceful. They anchored her life and gave her a purpose beyond merely existing.
"I think, perhaps, we share a commonality," Sable said. They had been walking in near silence for a while, Applejack inspecting the odd tree as they passed, Sable observing in a remote way. "I have spent my entire life with the stars and the moon. I know... I feel as if I know many of them personally. Their motions, their lives..."
"Stars have lives? I thought they was all just giant balls of gas burning billions of miles away. That's what I learned in school anyhow," Applejack added, frowning.
"A learned pony of my acquaintance once observed that such is not what a star is, merely what it is made of." Sable's magic reached out and plucked an apple from a nearby tree. Applejack near bit her tongue in half trying not to shout at her to stop, but it was only one apple. "Life is more than merely existence and substance. It is growth and change. This apple, for instance, lives because it becomes something more than it was before."
"If I'm lucky that one'll be part of next year's mulch."
Sable stared at the apple, frowning, then at the other apples in the trees. "It appears to be the same as the others."
"Oh-hoho, a wise old dam told me once that things ain't alus what they looks like on th'outside." She heard Sable choke and wondered if she'd said something wrong, but when she turned the unicorn was looking at her with curious intensity. Applejack grinned. "Granny ain't got all her hearin' but she sure does have all her marbles."
She thought for a moment, gauging strength and quality of fruit and wood, then kicked out at the tree behind her. A gentle tap echoed through the deserted orchard and a moment later a single apple bounced off Sable's head and landed on the floor in front of her.
"Y'all ain't no earth pony so I reckon you can't tell the differences between this'n and that you got there, but I can." Applejack picked up the fallen apple and buffed it against her chest. She held it up to the light and shook her head appreciatively. "This here's ready for harvest. That one you got there should have stayed up another week, let it mellow a little and get used to the idea, plus it... well. On the outside they look the same 'ceptin maybe one's got a bit more bulk to it but inside, right deep down where it matters, they're completely different."
"I believe I understand..."
"I reckon you don't, not yet, but you're a smart'un." Applejack returned the apple to the ground and stared at it. Maybe she'd just leave it there. A moment later, Sable set her apple down on the ground and let it free of her magic. It rolled against its companion like a rosy-cheeked drunkard against a lamppost. "You'd prob'ly figure it out if you wanted. An' if I had time to show you."
"I did not realise I was intruding on your time, I shall—"
"You ain't! Not today anyhow, I guess I'm just getting a little melancho... melon... I ain't happy, okay? I had a worker quit, another laid up in hospital, them idiots in Cloudsdale scheduled a huge storm over this way in less than two weeks. I got too many apples, I ain't got enough time to bring em all in, an' if I ain't got em thinned out proper when that wind is up, I could lose... ah could lose everythin'!"
"Oh," was all Sable said. She stared at her hooves and then turned to walk a short distance. Applejack shook her head.
"I'm sorry 'bout dumpin' all that on y'all, Sable, I just ain't used to failin'. Ceptin' a couple, none of mah family can git here in time, none of mah friends can really buck worth a damn 'cept Rainbow Dash, an' she's the poor filly stuck creatin' that storm I'm so worried about."
When she looked up Sable was returning, eyes dancing and a spring in her step. She looked down at the apples and then up at the tree. "What if I helped?"
"You? Sugarcube, y'can't harvest apples with magic, it does somethin' to em... an' y'all ain't no earth pony neither."
"I am not as tubby as you might believe, Applejack."
Applejack's ears flopped back against her head. "Y'heard that huh?"
"I did," Sable replied. She tilted her head to one side but the smile remained. "I realise I appear small but it is, as you said, just how I am. And, while you may not wish me to use my magic, neither can a unicorn grow anything from seed as an earth pony could, surely an extra pair of hooves must be useful to you?"
Applejack rubbed the back of her head as she thought over the offer. On the one hand she'd be stuck teaching a newbie how to buck. On the other... "Aw hey, I guess it can't hurt none to try at least, right?"
"Yes!" Sable leapt into the air, ecstasy filling her face. She landed with a thump and gave Applejack a huge hug. "The fun that shall be had by all! We shall work wonders, Applejack and you shall save your farm!"
"Mah farm ain't... aw shoot." Applejack returned the hug as briefly as possible and made her escape from Sable's grasping hooves. "Y'all gotta know right now, I don't tolerate slackin' in my workers. If you're serious I expect you here before the sun and you ain't leavin' until she's set again."
"That is a-a very long day," Sable said, her voice subdued. "But I shall do so."
"If it makes y'all feel better, I give a long lunch."
"Wonderful! I shall see you on the morrow, Applejack." Sable turned and practically skipped out of the orchard. "I cannot wait to tell Twilight Sparkle!"
A light breeze swayed the trees as Sable cantered over the crest of the nearest hill and away to the main gate, but even that slight threat to her crop couldn't keep a smile from Applejack's face. She watched for a while and then turned at the sound of familiar hoofbeats behind her.
"Hey Mac, how do you feel about trainin' up a new fieldworker?"
"I ain't doin' your job, AJ," Big Mac replied, his passive face working its way around yet another stalk of grass. He glanced in the direction Sable had run. "Strange cookie that'un."
"You ain't wrong there, Mac. That Twilight sure knows how to pick em."
Big Mac grinned and looked down at his sister. "Yup!"
The door of the library burst open, waking Twilight from her quiet doze in the corner as Luna burst into the room. She seemed happy. Too happy, though Twilight had to confess a relative lack of knowledge of the moods of the princess of the night. Nor could she accuse her friend of unwarranted happiness, when that was exactly why she had come here in the first place.
She settled for dropping her book on the table and shuffling into a more comfortable position.
"I take it you enjoyed your walk?"
"My walk? Oh yes!" Luna skipped across the floor – that was unusual in itself – and flopped down on a chair next to Twilight with a resounding thump, grinning all the time. "I walked all the way to the spa without anypony noticing me at all! Then I walked to your friend Applejack's farm... it has been such a long time since I have had the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of a country walk, Twilight. It was wonderful."
The book Twilight had been reading floated up to Luna and flipped open as she perused it without even asking. Twilight briefly considered demanding it back, but there wasn't much to be gained by it; she'd been asleep anyway.
"Would you like some tea, Sable? I made some earlier but you'd already left."
"I am fine..." The book slapped shut. Luna stared at the cover and frowned. "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
Luna shifted on her seat as if something was discomforting her. She continued to stare at the book, frowning, as if trying to discern the meaning of the cover, though it was nothing more than a basic stellar reference guide.
"I will not be able to spend much time with you tonight. I have promised your friend Applejack that I would help with her farm work tomorrow."
"Oh well that—wait, you did what?"
"I said—"
"I heard what you said!" Twilight snatched the book from Sable's magic and laid it on the table. This was almost too much. From being at odds with Applejack to working on her farm? Was there some memo Twilight had missed? Talk about the magic of friendship... oh horseapples, why didn't I say that out loud?
"L-Sable, I'm not trying to be picky, but do you even know what's involved in bucking apples?"
Luna's ears swivelled back and forth. She frowned. "I have worked on farms before, Twilight Sparkle."
"That was over a thousand years ago! Oh Celestia, that sounds so weird to say out loud," Twilight said, stifling a giggle. The mood broke as Luna chuckled along with her and they were soon laughing as if there had never been any argument.
A hoof rested on Twilight's shoulder as they calmed down and Luna gave her a gentle push, a friendly motion that Twilight found so very reassuring.
"I'm glad you found a way to reach out to Applejack," she said.
"She perceived I was hostile to her choice of profession. In truth I was intimidated. I have been intimidated in my long life on very few occasions, Twilight. Of those moments, two involved the Elements of Harmony."
Luna and Twilight stood by mutual consent and trekked up the stairs to Twilight's room. Here a telescope was already perched by the window, peering up at the sky, but it was quite small and all too close to Twilight's bed. She squeezed past the royal flank and urgently guided Luna up another flight of stairs to her rather optimistically named observation deck.
"I hope you don't mind, I set up some of your equipment here."
A small collection of very expensive scopes and related equipment was set up on the deck, along with two padded stools, a writing desk and a very large stack of parchment. As a final touch, Twilight levitated a thermos and a pair of cups from one of the boxes.
"Twilight, this is wonderful!"
And to think I was worried she'd be mad, Twilight thought. She allowed herself a little giggle inside and seated herself next to Luna, who had already busied herself with one of her scopes, a smaller one, almost a child's toy in comparison to the others, all rolled brass and fiddly screws that only a unicorn's magic could adjust.
"So, what are we looking at first?"
"They are still rather low on the horizon, but..." Luna took her eye away from the scope and moved aside for Twilight. The younger unicorn settled down and peered though the scope at the night sky. A pair of bright stars stood out against the night sky... no, not stars. Twilight leaned back and rubbed her eye as a distraction from the sudden thumping in her chest. Was it really...?
"A conjunction? There aren't any due!"
"Not just any conjuction, Twilight. They are Erato and Pistis."
"But... but that isn't supposed to happen for over thirty years!"
Luna shifted her weight and nodded, her face screwed up in thought and... apology? She was apologising? "I am afraid, when I returned, there were a few... issues. Some minor adjustments. This was the result."
"B-but Lu—Sable this is amazing! I can't wait to show this to our friends!"
"I felt certain you would wish to do so, Twilight."
"Can we—Can I—Oh I don't know where to start," Twilight cried. She peeked past the scope at the distant twin planets, still hugging the horizon and couldn't help but giggle at the sight. How had she not seen them before now? They even seemed brighter than usual. "I'd expected a little bit of cataloguing or some stories about how you designed the night sky, but this..."
Luna smiled. Their little spat from earlier was already a distant memory for Twilight now, with her eyes fixed on something far more important than an ephemeral worry about her friends. Nevertheless she tore herself away from the scope and turned to Luna. The princess smiled again and bowed her head just a little.
"I believe I shall retire, Twilight," she said. Twilight felt something rise up in her chest but she pushed it down and ignored it.
"I suppose I can't convince you tonight?"
"Nay, little one. I made a promise. I must keep it, as I shall keep yours." Luna walked away, but then paused at the head of the stairs and looked back at Twilight. She nodded at the pile of parchment. "I would appreciate some notes on the differences between your charts and my sky, Twilight Sparkle."
She turned again and was gone from sight. Twilight stared at the stairs for a while, not sure of what to do, then turned to the scope again. She had a copy of a basic conjunction schedules and a star chart with her already, but she might possibly benefit from a more detailed copy... no. This was a preliminary study, not a detailed one. Twilight flicked open the schedule and made a note of when and where the conjunction of Erato and Pistis was meant to take place. The position was roughly correct, but thirty years early? Her quill scratched against parchment and Twilight was amongst the heavens in every way she wished.
Of the many things Applejack loved about her work, the very earliest light of dawn was amongst her favourites. When most ponies spoke of waking at dawn or the first light of day they usually meant the first visible appearance of the sun over the horizon but Applejack knew better. Celestia's sun was just the light-show finale to an event that began much, much earlier, with the very first pale light of the so-called false dawn, that transformed the sky from vivid, living black to a milky blue-white, speckled with none but the brightest stars.
The moon had long since set and the sky was brightening noticeably as Applejack made her way to the main gate. No shadows touched the dew-soaked ground; pale light fell from every angle and none, bright enough to see the world and nothing more.
A passing fieldworker nodded to Applejack and she returned the greeting with smile and a cheerful 'howdy!' without slowing.
As she rounded a final corner and the gate came into view Applejack paused. She had believed that Sable would consider 'dawn' to be the rising sun and had been prepared to wait the extra hour, yet here the dusky Unicorn was, waiting patiently by the gate, occasionally cropping sweet wildflowers from a tall patch by the road. Applejack forced herself forward and into Sable's line of sight; The unicorn's face lit up with a broad half-moon smile and she bounded to the gate.
"Applejack!"
"Boy howdy, y'all are earlier than I hoped," Applejack said in greeting. Sable's eyebrows rose further up her face that Applejack thought possible. She seemed perplexed.
"Am I here too soon? I can come back later."
"No sugarcube, y'all are right on time. I was... shoot, forget it. Come on."
Applejack kicked the gate open and led Sable back to the main yard here a dozen or so workers were gathering in a ragged group under the constant harangue of Granny Smith. She left Sable at the edge of the group and stepped up onto the deck beside her grandmother, surveying her herd of workers in the slowly rising light. Stallions predominated, as they always did in such laborious work, but there were plenty of young mares too, hopeful faces eager for any employment they could find. What they had found was Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack tilted her hat back and cleared her throat.
"Now ah'm sure y'all have heard by now that Flannel quit last week an' took off without any word why. Well I don't care why. Anypony that'll quit on his friends without even a word ain't worth carin' about." A quick glance around the crowd to see who reacted to that. Some down-turned mouths, but they didn't argue, and enough nodded agreement that she didn't have to worry about it. "Y'also probably know about the little tet ah tet between Ginger an' her pitchfork, which happened cause she was tryin' to rush to please me an' not payin' attention to herself. I want you to all remember, I ain't gonna be happy if all y'all break your legs tryin' to make me happy. I'd have a short harvest an' all my workers in one piece if I had mah druthers."
The little crowd regarded her silently. Her regulars had heard something like this from her before and she knew it probably bored some of them, but Applejack knew she'd never be able to stop telling some variation of it. If only she'd listened to herself that one year...
"Now some of y'all are new hires this year, some of y'all have kept comin' back every year fer years, an' I know it's not jus' because of Granny Smith's pretty face." That one drew a few laughs, even though she'd probably said exactly the same joke last year, and the year before that.
"Anythin' that ain't familiar, just ask fer help. All y'all have been here a few weeks so you know the deal with apple work by now... ceptin' you, Sable."
Applejack pointed at the unicorn, who had managed to sneak to the back of the crowd by this point. As one they turned to look at her; she quailed under the sudden attention.
"Now folks, this here is miss Sable Moonshine, a friend of mine who has kindly offered to help out for a little while because we're so short. I know we don't normally get unicorns on the farm an' I know the rep they have amongst some folks but that ain't a fair one, an' if I hear even a whiff of tribalist nonsense off've any one of y'all I'll buck your hiney clear over the Everfree, harvest or no."
She waited, knowing she'd get no protest from these ponies, though a tiny flicker of resentment passed across the face of one stallion at the front of the group. A solid worker, Applejack knew, who'd been coming to the farm for years. By now the crowd's attention was back on her and Sable had somehow been pulled into the body of the group. Good. Let her get used to being surrounded by 'stinky earth ponies', maybe it'd knock a little reality into her–
And what was that about tribalists, Applejack?
"Cause she's new, I'll be takin' Sable out to the Coxes. After that she'll be workin' with Me an' Spritzer over the west orchard. The rest of you, y'all know what I want, y'all know what you're doin'," she said, and they seemed to take that as a signal to disperse. Applejack raised her voice over the hubbub. "Make sure y'all git the heaviest trees first, I don't want another one down, an' see Mac if y'all still need a hint where you're meant to be! Sable!"
The unicorn turned at Applejack's final shout, blinking and nervy, trying to look small and insignificant but only managing to look lost. Applejack felt an unreasonable desire to put a comforting leg around her the way she used to do with Apple Bloom when she was upset, but it quickly passed.
"Y'all okay?"
"I am well, Applejack. I appear to have difficulty in close proximity to so many ponies."
A brief hot flush flashed across Applejack's shoulders. Maybe she should have asked before dumping her in with everypony like that.
"Don't like crowds huh? Well don't worry, we'll be out in the trees soon, y'all can relax then."
Applejack took Sable toward the orchards. The Coxes was one of the oldest orchards on the farm, tiny compared to the huge and productive red and golden delicious trees on the west and north. They didn't travel well, and they didn't produce much of a yield but, for all that they were a very popular fruit.
"Y'all ever bucked apples before?"
"It is not an occupation I have previously undertaken," Sable said, her voice studiously neutral. She looked around the orchard as they walked in, staring at the trees as Applejack had done yesterday, but it was obvious that she couldn't yet discern which were ready for harvest.
"Not that one sugarcube."
Applejack lead Sable away from a tree she had been examining and toward another, where several baskets had already been laid out the day before. Applejack spied a tall stack of baskets a little deeper into the orchard and smiled. Efficiency, preparation, that's where it was at.
"Now, your standard applebuck. Y'all need sturdy legs for this," she said, casting a critical eye over Sable's backside. Her chubby build hid a surprisingly athletic frame. When Applejack looked up she found Sable blushing furiously. "What's wrong with ya now?"
"It is not... I am not used to being appraised so," Sable replied. Her blush deepened and she turned away. "I understand that other ponies may sometimes look at our posterior, it is only natural, but never so openly! We do not do consider such things polite—at home."
"Well y'all ain't at your castle now, princess," Applejack replied. She turned slightly and held out her back leg. "Now take a look, see how I developed that there femoral bicep, I think is the fancy term? Ya got somethin' similar goin' on which makes me think y'all might work out more than I thought."
She lowered her leg, ignoring the fact that Sable had barely paid attention to it and positioned herself next to the tree.
"So. Applebuckin' looks simple but ya gotta know a few things. First, your tree has to be ready. You ain't used to that part so I've had somepony mark up the trees y'all gonna be buckin' this mornin'." Applejack pointed at a small wooden stack pressed into the earth beneath the nearest tree. "Stick to those an' you'll be fine. Now when you're at your tree ya gotta make sure you're under the lean. See how this one's all leanin' over to the side here?"
Sable nodded, though again she was staring off into some distant place. Applejack sighed and carried on.
"Every tree leans over just a bit. You git yoursel' under the lean so you can git more force against it. Then you gotta—Sable are y'all even listenin?"
Sable jumped as if stung and looked at Applejack with wide eyes. At least her blushing had stopped. "I am sorry. I must have lost my concentration."
"First day jitters," Applejack said, trying to put as much kindness into the words as she could. It wasn't too hard. Sable did really seem quite nice, just a bit flighty. "Where was I?"
"Leaning?"
"So you were listenin'!" Applejack glanced up at her tree and shuffled around it half a step. "When the tree leans t'wards you it works harder to fight back against your buck. Ya gotta make that tree do your work for ya."
"So it is not merely the application of brute force?"
"No it ain't, an' I'm tryin' to explain that it ain't! Behind the lean, I said, right?"
"Yes..." Sable's expression spoke of her doubt. She turned to examine the tree.
"Okay then. Y'also gotta find the sweet spot. Every tree has this little spot that'll shake it all up like a storm wind. Twilight said it's called a resonance node or somethin' but I ain't much on the fancy science stuff. This one—" Applejack raised her rear leg and tapped it against the tree. A single apple dropped from its branch and bounced, once again, from Sable's head. She glared at the wayward fruit. "Is right there. See how the bark is all mussed and such?"
"I believe I do!"
"You get a feel for 'em after a while."
Applejack reared up on her forelegs and let fly, striking the tree with a loud thock. A torrent of apples showered into the baskets around her, not a single one missing its target. Applejack nodded as she surveyed her first crop of the season.
"And there you go. Now your turn."
"Applejack, I am not sure if—"
"I said GIT!"
Sable squeaked and bounded to the spot Applejack had just vacated. She blinked and looked at the farmer, her eyes wide and blinking.
Applejack wouldn't admit she enjoyed tormenting newbies. It wasn't enjoyment. She took pride in passing on her knowledge to new hires and watching their skills improve under her careful ministrations. If it meant shouting at them occasionally, well... she didn't enjoy it. That would have been cruel and tyrannical. She smiled beatifically at Sable.
"Remember, Sable, I said no slackin'. Y'all work for me today, that means you do as I say until Luna's moon is peekin' at us, or you go home right now."
"My... um... yes. Of course."
"Now, I'm goin' easy on ya, cause you're a friend of Twilight," Applejack continued. She stepped around Sable and shuffled her over slightly to line her up with the tree. "And 'cause you ain't never done this before, and 'cause you offered so nicely, but I can't baby you through it all day. Okay, 'member what I said?"
"Behind the lean, find the sweet spot..." Sable reached out her rear leg and pressed it against the tree. Applejack saw the tree shiver fractionally and wondered if that was some specific reaction to a unicorn's touch. Probably just the wind, she thought, putting it from her mind.
"Okay. Brace your forelegs... Little wider. And kick."
The tree shook dramatically as Sable bucked at it with all her strength and for a moment Applejack was impressed. Just for a moment. Sable's expectant, cheery examination of the baskets was quickly replaced with a look of anguish. They both looked up at the apples still resting in their branches.
"I'll give ya this much, Sable, that's a mighty fine pair of legs you got."
Luna stared at Applejack, mouth working as she tried to come up with a suitable retort. The earth pony meant well, surely she did, but it was not exactly the help she required in dealing with this task. Applejack had made it look so easy! Just tense, buck...
THOCK
The tree shook again. A moment later single apple bounced off Luna's head.
"This is becoming a habit," she muttered darkly. Applejack laughed, probably taking it to be a joke. Luna grit her teeth and tried to smile.
"It'll come, y'all got the technique mostly right, I guess you're just learnin' your way into it." She leaned down close to Luna's face and lowered her voice. "Try aimin' a little lower. Now like I said, I gotta go help Mac. Breakfast break is at nine, I'll either see you then or at lunch."
Luna lifted her eyes to the heavens as Applejack departed. The sky was brighter but her sister's sun was still half an hour away from its rising, which meant she had perhaps three hours until this 'breakfast break' Applejack had promised. Perhaps once she had humiliated herself here she could take the opportunity to sneak out while Applejack was busy with her other charges.
No, we are not going to give up this easily, Luna. We are the princess, the embodiment of the moon and stars, beloved of our little ponies. We shall prevail.
The tree leaned over her like a taunting nightmare, laden with the bitter fruit of despair. She glared at it, willing the apples to fall of their own accord, but they stubbornly remained attached to their parent. Perhaps she could use her magic—but no, Applejack had informed her that magic did some unspecified thing to the apples when they were picked.
Luna leaned forward to examine an apple in the nearest basket, then peered up at the tree again. She recalled the apple she'd picked the previous day, the one Applejack had declared only good enough for mulch, and wondered. It had appeared to be a perfectly healthy fruit. A magical aura sprung up and gently plucked an apple from the tree to bring it before Luna's face. She sniffed at it and smelled a perfectly ordinary Orange Pippin, ripened to perfection. Its skin was a little russetted but otherwise unblemished. Luna took a bite.
She spat out the fruit and almost immediately felt a dry heave clutch at her throat and stomach. It was indescribably, disgustingly horrendous, burning her mouth like acid with a flavour that was reminiscent of... of...
Once, a very long time ago, Luna had been required to eat raw meat during the formal conclusion of a treaty with the Griffons. A mere morsel of flesh, torn from some animal they had slaughtered in their honour not an hour before. It had been a test, of her spirit, of the will for peace in Equestria. Luna had been sick for days afterwards and until today it had been the worst tasting meal of her life.
Luna tossed the apple away and tried to suppress her nausea, first by ignoring it, then eventually by resorting to an inhibitor spell, which seemed to do the trick. She stared up at the tree again and sighed.
"No magic," she said to the orchard at large. As if it would answer, as if it would explain. How could she not know what caused that? Perhaps Celestia would know – or Twilight, she would have a book somewhere on the subject, surely?
The sky was definitely brighter now, the sun surely well on its way to rising and her time, suddenly so precious, was slipping away. Luna glared at her tree, her nemesis beneath his bushy crown, then turned and delivered another kick.
THOCK
Occasionally, in the course of her duties, she dealt with a bureaucrat or functionary with the approximate density and flexibility of this tree, but they would usually at least respond to a kick in the face. What was the secret?
THOCK
Perhaps it was the angle of her hooves? Luna was sure she aiming right at the 'sweet spot' Applejack had indicated. Was it the presence of her magic, or perhaps the fact that she was the princess that prevented her success?
THOCK!
"We are becoming vexed," she growled. Did only earth ponies possess the necessary magic? But that didn't make sense. Luna embodied the magics of all three races.
THOCK
"We are the princess of the night, regent of the moon! We shepherd the very stars of the sky! We shall not admit defeat to a mere sapling!"
THOCK!
"Thrice-damned nest of the hesperides, thy torment shall be infinite and unending! We shall summon the very depths of tartarus upon thee!"
THOCK
"Thy bark peel, thy fruit rot on thy branches! Break thou, boughs of mortal wood and perish thee within the pits of flaming hades! We command thee, release thy burden!"
THOCK
As she bucked Luna placed her fore-hooves on the wet mush left over from her earlier apple experiment. She slipped, forelegs splaying just enough that her rear hooves struck the tree a little lower than she had aimed previously. The shower of apples that fell about Luna was so dense that she almost couldn't see through it and she instinctively ducked, crouching on the floor like a lost foal in a thunderstorm.
Only moments passed before she came to her senses and remembered there was nothing to fear from mere fruit. She struggled to her feet and looked about; every basket was full to brimming and the floor was littered with yet more apples, possibly more than should have been allowed to fall, but she didn't care.
"I did it..."
She glanced over her shoulder at the tree and smirked at the deep impression her hooves had left in the bark. Perhaps in future she should pay more attention to the precise location of these 'sweet spots'. Luna shook off the burning feeling in her legs and stepped away from the tree to better examine her handiwork. Heat roared in her chest, fire in her limbs and her eyes flashed with triumph. She had beaten the tormentor and forced it bear her brand!
"Huzzah! Success has been achieved!"
The moment was ruined somewhat by the sticky wet feeling spreading onto her scalp. A spittle of apple juice ran down the bridge of her snout. Luna squinted her eyes up and found an apple impaled on her horn. She shook her head to dislodge it and sighed at the injustice of the world.
But she'd done it, nothing could take that from her now. Luna trotted over to a nearby water trough and ducked her head beneath the tepid surface, sluicing water down her mane and face. She wiped her horn on her side and looked up at the rest of the orchard, heart beating firmly in her chest and the familiar heat of well-earned pride in her stomach.
She skipped breakfast. Though Luna enjoyed food and had often engaged great feasts in the distant past, as a functional immortal she didn't strictly need to eat anything and could easily go for days without, and today she was more than happy to go without. She had a mission: Applejack's Apples would be bucked from the heavens themselves and she, Luna, would be the one to do it!
The sun was climbing high to noon, cutting shadows short and blazing against the burdened backs of Applejack's fieldworkers. The orchards echoed to the steady thunk of applebucking, the sounds bouncing back and forth in odd rhythms that never quite merged yet never quite stood apart, punctuated by the occasional rumble of a heavy crop tumbling to the ground.
It was good, Applejack thought. Good enough anyway. She stepped to one side of the path to allow an apple-laden cart space to crawl past and gave the haulier and cheery greeting before walking on.
The first day of harvest was always deceptively bountiful as the easiest crops were tumbled. A less-experienced farmer might believe the worst of their days were behind them, their future a pile of crisp, firm fruitflesh and leisurely strolls between remaining trees. Applejack was a nothing if not experienced. She could see the signs already; most of the apples they were harvesting today would be sold immediately, mostly on the market in Ponyville, because they were on the very edge of ripe perfection. Too perfect was never a good thing, and that was the problem. There were too many that were too perfect.
It had dawned on Applejack, as she had walked the orchards that very morning and examined the crop, that many more of the trees were readying themselves for harvest together than she had planned for, which meant much of the early crop would either have to be sold short in bulk to a merchant for immediate transport or she'd have to lay out extra to have another clamp cellar enchanted. More cost, more money from an already tight budget, and it was clear they'd still lose a significant amount of the crop when that scheduled storm arrived. She'd have to sound out a few merchants and get a price for the storage.
In the normal scheme of things that would have been where her problems ended and began. Today had presented an additional and potential rather worrying issue that Applejack just couldn't put aside. The possibility of Sable's help had alleviated some of Applejack's worry about the shortage of workers, but in her turn the young unicorn had presented her own, extra set of problems.
"So you're sayin' she didn't show up for breakfast at all?"
"Aye, Jack."
Applejack pursed her lips and refused to speak for a moment. She dearly loved her Bittish cousin and she was an excellent apple bucker, but Apple Spritzer's habitual nickname always set her teeth on edge.
"She were on t'coxes? Them ain't so 'ard as all that. Tha's got work t'make th'bloody things stay in t'bloody tree at 'ome."
It also didn't help that her accent was... interesting. Applejack nodded and tried to see the truth of Spritzer's statement, but the nagging fear that she'd made a mistake letting an untrained unicorn mare – who might or might not be a noble – buck apples, even a relatively easy crop, was starting to wear at her mind.
"Spritzer, y'all know I couldn't say no to help. She seemed so—"
"Soft hearted idiot, tha needs ponies wi' proper legs for t'buckin and tha knows it! Honestly Jack, tha let a unicorn—"
"Remember what I said, Spritzer. Just 'cause y'all are family don't change none of that."
"Jack, tha couldn't buck me over t'Everfree if tha'ad a bloody steam engine strapped to tha legs." Apple Spritzer's grin faded under Applejack's frosty glare. She stared at the ground for a moment, ears twitching uncertainly. "Aye. Well, lets not test it."
The coxes seemed quiet when they reached them. Applejack stared at the orchard, uncertain of whether she wanted to enter and find... what? She wasn't even sure what she was worried about. Had Sable gone home, was she passed out, had she done something stupid like harvest everything with her magic? Celestia have mercy if she'd done that, because Applejack certainly wouldn't...
"Tha's reet nervy, Jack. She trouble?"
"She's a friend of Twilight," Applejack replied, unable to keep the doubt from her voice.
"T'scary one wi' t'books? Sounds trouble to me!"
Applejack ignored the comment and stepped forward to the orchard, dread hovering in her chest until she noticed the first round of baskets.
"Well would you look at that..."
"Eris, thy fruit I claim and thy defeat assure for none are so fair as I!"
THOCK
Spritzer and Applejack glanced at each other in mutually shared incomprehension as they made their way between the trees. Beneath every tree Applejack had marked lay a ring of baskets filled to overflowing, with many spilled on the grass at first but becoming neater as they moved deeper into the orchard. Sable's voice echoed through the trees in an aggressive sing-song as she worked.
"Thy hold upon thy hostages cease, blackguard!"
THOCK
"I am the scythe, I am the black of night, I tak—Applejack!?"
Sable stepped away from her tree, blushing through her dark coat and looking every way but at the two ponies now approaching her. "I did not expect you so soon!"
"Sable, it's past noon. Y'all missed breakfast."
"Oh. I suppose I was rather lost in the experience."
"The experience..."
Sable nodded, returning to her tree. She gave it an almighty buck and a shower of apples cascaded down around them. "The joy of simple labour, the feel of the impact—"
THOCK
"–of hooves against wood that yields but slightly yet relieves itself of its great burden at your command. The burning bright heat of physicality that enervates the soul and frees the mind! I feel connected, Applejack, a thing I have not felt for ce—for a very long time!"
"Burning... physicality," Applejack mumbled. She looked around while Sable danced happily around her latest conquest. There didn't seem to be any peculiar weeds growing in the orchard, or perhaps there were simple non left. Then again, the baskets were full, the trees were still alive and the moon hadn't dropped on her head. "Sounds like something Twilight would say. I guess ya did somethin' right, anyhow. Good work, Sable."
"Thank you Applejack, you are a great heart!"
"By 'eck Jack, she's reet fancy this one. I like er! Can we keep 'er?"
"Spritzer..."
"Aye?"
"Go get your lunch."
"Aye..."
"Now that," Applejack said once Spritzer was lost amongst the trees. "Was my beloved cousin Apple Spritzer. She's Bittish... an' I guess that explains just about everythin'. Y'all got any cousins, Sable?"
"I understand I have many, but I have not met them."
Applejack nodded and took a final look around the orchard. By her own exacting standards it was not quite perfect. There were apples that should have fallen still clinging to the trees and apples in the baskets that should have stayed up, but she wouldn't complain. The sorters might... still Sable had done a good job, good enough that, if she were any other pony, she'd be apprenticed and living in one of the worker cottages already.
"I'm impressed, Sable. I truly am. Y'all could try and be neater but I ain't complainin'."
Another blush touched Sable's cheeks and she turned away to fiddle with the handle of a nearby basket. Applejack found herself watching the unicorn's movements with different eyes; her tubby appearance was almost an illusion now she came to examine it closely. Puppy fat hiding a lithe athleticism that wouldn't look out of place on a pegasus and that might even give Rainbow Dash a run for her money. Applejack realised she was staring. She coughed loudly, turning to hide her face.
"So... y'all hungry? I usually call lunch around now."
"Oh I would be honoured to dine with your workers!"
Might not be so honoured afterwards, Applejack thought. She grinned as she considered how the others might react to this fancy-mouthed unicorn amongst them. They were as welcoming for sure as the rest of Ponyville, but Applejack knew their collective interests in the written word didn't extend farther than the back page of the Daily Nightlife. The conversations could be interesting.
"Applejack, may I inquire what we shall be served at this luncheon?"
"Well... you like apples, Sable?"
Lunch was usually a fairly peaceful affair at Sweet Apple Acres, in part due to the general nature of the workers Applejack allowed on her farm but mostly due to the reliable availability of high quality food. As long as you liked apples. If you didn't like apples you either made your own food or you starved.
That was the choice facing Apple Spritzer, unique amongst the very extended Apple clan for a single reason, one that would have caused multi-generational family feuds in less enlightened days.
She didn't like apples.
All right, that wasn't entirely true. She liked apples as long as they were in their natural state or lost in the frothy goodness of Sweet Apple Acres cider, which she considered to be a natural state anyway. Anything in between – baked, fried, boiled, mashed, stewed or grilled – left her cold and occasionally nauseous.
She stood before a table piled high with apple-based foods of every kind, far too many for her to even think about listing, and she doubted she could even name most of them. She knew they would be baked to perfection, prepared with the finest ingredients and all the love and care an Apple could provide. She just couldn't bring herself to eat them. Spritzer made her way down the table to a small bowl of plain ordinary apples and piled several onto her plate. As she backed away she bumped into the rear of a stallion whose name she could never remember, but who she recalled from her time at the farm as a hard worker and reasonably honest.
Spritzer excused herself and turned. The Stallion nodded, returning to his own conversation.
"I'm not saying I'm against them being here, but not here here. They only cause problems."
"I dunno," another stallion said, much deeper voice. Bright... something? And who only caused problems? Spritzer, no stranger to the expression of odd prejudices herself, danced carefully around the group and settled herself at the dining table right behind them. Not to listen in of course. That would be rude. "She looked keen enough."
"She didn't even look like she'd done a day of work in her entire life," the first stallion said. His voice seemed to have taken on a sharper edge. Oh that was right. Narrow. He'd never mentioned any other name except Narrow.
"The boss seems to think she's okay. Can't argue with—"
"And if the boss said it was okay to jump in Ghastly Gorge would you do it?"
"Well... no, but—"
"She's a unicorn, Brightshanks. They don't belong on a farm. Hell they don't belong in Ponyville, let em all go back to Canterlot and prance around in their silly castles having soirees and eatin' horsey do overs."
"Hors d'oeuvres," Spritzer said. The two stallions turned to her. She put down the apple she'd been nibbling at and turned to stare Narrow in the face. "It's fancy for tha's askin for't kick in th'gob if tha keeps it up."
"Well what do you care," Narrow growled. He turned full-face to Spritzer, head lowered and ears just twitching backward. "You ain't exactly friendly with em!"
"Aye, tis true, but I ain't one to 'old judgement agin' t'pony that'll put hoof to t'tree and work for a livin' neither. That Sable? She's born for buckin'. She were wasted sittin' on 'er arse in t'city."
"Like I care what some dandy Bit thinks about bucking apples."
"Jow thi fat yed tha numper! This dandy 'as been workin' apple trees longer than thi's been alive an' I know a good bucker when I see em even if they 'ave got t'horn. She's a nat'ral!"
"She's a unicorn. They call us mud ponies! Like we're some sort of slave! They can all—"
"When I want tha's opinion I'll pull t'chain!"
"Why don't you and her go roll in the hay like you so obviously want you pinhead worshipping c—"
"Now I know I did not just hear that."
Narrow froze at the sound of Applejack's voice, ears twitching flat against his head. Shoulders tensed, nostrils flaring, he very slowly turned to face his boss, glaring from beneath his brow the entire time. His tail twitched as his eyes came to rest on Sable and he let out a snort.
"Eyes on me, Narrow," Applejack growled.
"Boss..."
"Narrow, what did I say this mornin'? What did I ask y'all to do?"
"Boss, it's just... it's just kidding around, right?"
Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Really."
"Well... yeah, it's just a joke, yeah? Friendly jokes, we're all friends! Just farmyard humour!"
"I see. Anythin' else you think want to say, Narrow? Anythin' specific to somepony?"
The stallion glanced between Sable and Applejack, ears turning this way and that as he tried to think. "I... I..."
"Git off mah farm."
Narrow looked around the group for support, any sort of friendly face. His companion, Brightshanks, stared at the ground and refused to look him in the face. Finally he turned to Spritzer. She glared back at him.
"Tha should learn to keep tha gob shut," she said, turning back to her apples. She turned back a moment later, curious to the end of it.
With no options left Narrow had turned back to Applejack, crouching now, the huge stallion almost crawling in the dirt as he tried to make himself look contrite. Spritzer knew Applejack had a soft-spot for ponies who tried to make amends, but she'd also made a promise.
"Boss, please, I need this work."
"An' I need workers," Applejack replied. Narrow's eyes widened and he began to raise himself. "But you ain't gonna be one of 'em."
"But... but you can't just run me off—"
"Apple Bloom, git mah whip!"
"Boss!"
"Don't you boss me, you ungrateful sack of manure!" Applejack's ears folded back as she turned to look at the crowd. More than a few stepped back as her eyes fell on them; every face was a mask of shock. "I asked one thing, one tiny, single thing outta all you folk an' you, Narrow, you blew it! I don't care what you do inside your stupid fat head, Narrow, as long as I don't have to hear about it, as long as I don't have to see mah friends hurt by your idiot mouth! Now git your butt off mah farm or so help me I will skin you alive and use your hide as a tent!"
Applejack stomped up to the porch and watched, eyes shaded beneath her hat, as the defeated Narrow crawl away through the crowd. Every pony had their eyes fixed on her. They'd seen Applejack angry, they'd seen her clam up in silent disapproval when mistakes were made but none could ever remember anything like this. Spritzer certainly hadn't seen it coming. She watched Applejack scan the crowd, looking for something, then saw her gaze come to rest on Sable. The unicorn refused to look at anything but her hooves. She was embarrassed, ashamed. Why was she ashamed?
As for Applejack, there was a coldness in her eyes that Spritzer had only seen twice before. Once, when Applejack had put down a coyote that had managed to crush its back legs under a fallen tree. The second when Spritzer had lied to her cousin and been found out. She couldn't even remember what it was she'd said now, and she knew Applejack had forgotten it too, because that's what she did, as long as you apologised and made right. As long as you meant it.
Spritzer turned to the path Narrow had taken, back to the workers' cottages, probably to retrieve his belongings. She knew he didn't have much there; no itinerant had much to their name but they valued it like little else, except work. When she looked back she found Applejack giving her a cool look that Spritzer couldn't read. She bit into an apple and returned the stare until Applejack suddenly turned away and stalked into the shady interior of the farm house.
Some spell broke and the crowd began to mill around once more, retrieving lunch in a subdued but tense peace. All but Sable. Spritzer took her plate of apples and meandered over to the unicorn, alone in a corner of the yard and staring at nothing. She sat down next to Sable and continued to eat.
"Trouble at t'farm."
Sable's confusion overcame her melancholy. She looked at Spritzer as if she didn't know what sort of creature she was. "Excuse me?"
"Family motto," Spritzer said, with a what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "of the Apple-Longstarts of Flankashire, from which I so happily descend. Qui luctant pro zanias spiritus laxi evellere—"
"Who fight to clear the weeds of lax spirit," Sable translated. "It is not about trouble."
"Aye, aye, tha's a scholic an' no two ways," Spritzer said with a wink. "A bit o' pretension never did 'urt, but we all figured it really said 'trouble at t'farm' on account as that's all we ever 'ad. Y'see, weeds is trouble. Y'ave to pick t'weeds and toss 'em out to get t'best crop."
"I did not wish to see anypony lose their livelihood merely for not liking me."
"Tha's no right settin thiself over like tha's to blame for it, lass. Narrow made 'is own trouble on account of he's a tit."
Sable seated herself, eyes back on her forehooves. She took a deep breath and seemed about to speak, but instead looked up at the farmhouse door, eyes burning with anguish. Spritzer carefully nudged an apple toward the unicorn and was satisfied when Sable grasped it a moment later and began to eat.
"Tha's worked a farm afore?"
"I had an... an uncle, a long time ago, for whom I did some menial work. It was not like this."
"Every farm 'as its share o'peculiars, lass. Take young Jack there. You're seein' a side of 'er that tha friends down in t'town probably never get. Tha's got to be 'ard if tha's workin a farm as young as she is, but 'ard don't mean 'eartless. She see'd Narrow off this year, but if he 'as the clogs t'come back in t'next 'arvest an' he's contrite as all that, she'll put 'im up again and say nout about it. But he 'as to be proper contrite like, 'as to be sorry, an he has to be 'onest about it too. Jack, t'soft-hearted idiot'll forgive a demon of tartarus itself if it says sorry an' tries to make good. That's 'ow she is."
"She has a great heart."
"Great 'earts feel great pain when thi's 'urt, lass."
Sable stared at the floor, silent, and Spritzer chewed on another apple as she thought about the afternoon ahead. The rest of the work crew were already close to finishing their food; the prospect of a long bout of awkward silence as they ate and the realisation that they were now even shorter of help combined to be a very powerful motivator to return to the orchards. Add to that the thought of Applejack's sudden turn of mood and there was little reason to be near the farmhouse.
"I should not have come," Sable said. She stood, but didn't seem to know where she should go next and merely wandered back and forth for a while before sitting again, facing Spritzer. "I have made Applejack's problem worse by my presence."
"Aye. Well tha's in t'pit now. Well as to keep diggin'."
Sable frowned, but before she could question the wisdom of Spritzer's words the farmhouse door crashed open and Applejack stalked out, eyes fixed on some distant point, ignoring everything about her. She stopped as she reached the pair, frowning, and then suddenly bowed her head.
"I screwed up again," she said. "Another worker gone and what have I got to show for it but a bunch of cowed seasonals, a friend who looks like she's about to go jump off the clock tower an' a cousin who will insist on callin' me Jack while she eats mah entire crop."
"Now Jack, it's hardly t'entire crop—"
"Spritzer, finish your lunch and be quiet. I'm tryin' to make a point here!"
"Aye..."
Spritzer's eyes twinkled. Applejack set off again with a huff, tail flicking back and forth in time with her ears, leaving Sable and Spritzer in the corner. Without a word they both stood at the same time and cantered to catch up with 'boss'. After a short silence, Sable nosed close to Applejack's head.
"If you wish that I leave, I am willing—"
"Nope. I need that west orchard thinned by tonight. I haven't marked trees for ya but they're easier to spot." Applejack glanced over her shoulder at Spritzer, who nodded slightly, then turned her attention to Sable. "It ain't your fault."
"Thank you, Applejack."
"Great 'eart, she says." Spritzer smiled as Applejack shot a frown in her direction. "Aye, Jack?"
Curiosity rose and fell behind Applejacks eyes, but they were soon at the east orchard. Baskets were laid out around the heaviest trees already, those that hadn't already been bucked earlier in the day, and a cart stood close by awaiting its cargo. Here and there lay apples already shed from the trees, still fresh, but already adding a hint of cloying sweetness to the still air of the orchard.
Applejack turned to face the others with an uncharacteristic, fatalist grin. Let's get to work, it said. Let's pretend we're not going to lose half the harvest because of the actions of a selfish pony who couldn't apologise for breaking a promise. Let's just keep going.
Aye, trouble at t'farm, Spritzer thought, shaking her head. Never ends.
The rest of Luna's day was filled with little but the rumble of apples falling from trees. Golden Delicious they were called and Luna had no doubt that they were indeed a delicious treat. But, golden? They were more a yellow-green, and a rather worrying shade at that, reminiscent of the colour her dear nephew Blueblood had turned the night he had found himself eating 'carnival fare', as he had put it.
And, like Blueblood, those apples had stubbornly refused to do as they were told. Luna had become quite adept at bucking as the day wore on, and what she lacked in accuracy was more than compensated in strength for, though Applejack had correctly stated that the apples couldn't be harvested with magic, Luna had found there was no barrier to the use of a little magical energy to bolster her legs.
The apples had fallen, but at a much slower pace. Compared to the Coxes these trees held on to their fruity burden with a grip that was almost unbelievable; even Atlas and Heracles would have had difficulty with them. Luna soon found Applejack and Spritzer each clearing two trees to every one she bucked. She persevered, however, and soon lost herself in the repetition of her temporary profession.
In fact it was only when she heard a shrill whistle echoing between the trees that Luna realised the sun had almost set. In a blind panic she reached out to the moon, only to find Celestia's power wrapped around it. The aura reflected something resembling an amused smirk toward Luna, followed by a gentle push of reassurance and peace. She smiled back, even knowing Celestia wouldn't see it, and turned to watch the moon rise in the east.
"Goodnight, sister," she whispered as a little yellow filly came bounding up to her, blowing on a comically oversized whistle for all she was worth. Luna smiled at the little one and then returned her gaze to the moon.
"Who're you talkin' to?" The filly looked up at Luna with wide eyes and suddenly gasped. "Hey, I didn't know unicorns could buck apples!"
"Nor did I until today, little one," Luna said. She lowered her head to be closer to the filly. "What is the purpose of the whistle?"
"Oh this? I have to run around the orchards an' blow it real hard to let everypony know they can stop workin', just in case they don't see the big ol' sun settin'. Some ponies are silly like that, y'know?"
Luna smiled and gave the filly a brief nuzzle on her mane before bringing herself upright again. She looked around the orchard but there was no sign of Applejack. "May I ask, are you Applejack's young sister?"
"Yup! I'm Apple Bloom!"
"And I am Sable Moonshine," Luna said. She held out a hoof to the youngster. Apple Bloom stared at it like she'd never seen one before and then grinned up at Luna again. "I see. Do you know where Applejack is?"
"Oh yeah, she's down at the barn with Big Mac! Want me to take y'all there?"
"I would like that, Apple Bloom."
The little Apple beamed bright as the moon and bounced away into the darkness, leaving Luna to trail after her. She lost sight of Apple Bloom almost instantly in the dying light. Rather than blunder around, Luna conjured a tiny globe of werelight over the tip of her horn and cantered to keep up with her new guide.
Apple Bloom slowed and turned to look at Luna when she saw the light. She stared in awe at the rapidly shifting shadows cast by the trees around them, then again at the light over Luna's head. "That's awesome!"
"It is rather 'cool'," Luna replied. In fact, as spells went, it was almost so rudimentary that even the the weakest magic users could learn it with little difficulty but she wasn't about to disabuse Apple Bloom's fascination with the effect.
The walk to the barn wasn't particularly long, but Luna's legs were stiff from bucking and she soon found herself tiring. Her back legs especially were having difficulty cooperating with her demands for movement.
Luna extinguished the werelight as she stepped into the warmer, friendlier glow of lanterns around the barn's main door. Apple Bloom bounced on through the doors, bright voice calling loudly for her sister and loudly exclaiming on the awesomeness of unicorn magic and fancy lights. A moment later Applejack stepped out of the barn. Her worn face lit up as she spied Luna.
"Hey there, trouble." She trotted over to Luna and glanced over her shoulder at the wide-open barn. Apple Bloom was bouncing around Big Mac and Spritzer, loudly describing the light Luna had conjured yet again. "Y'all seem to have caught her fancy. I think she might want to be a unicorn hersel'."
"She did seem very impressed. It was but a simple trick."
"Little fillies are like that sometimes," Applejack replied. "Ya did good work today, Sable. Not the fastest maybe, but I saw the dedication. I'm sorry to see you go."
"Thank you again, Applejack. I enjoyed the work."
"I bet you did..." Applejack shuffled her hoof. The smile was gone now, replaced with a carefully neutral look. "Now. I reckon we should talk about your pay."
Luna blinked. Payment? Well she supposed it was work, after all, but the last time she had done anything remotely laborious Equestria had still operated on a barter system. She couldn't quite link hard work to the idea of getting paid, as such... Applejack took her hesitation to be... well, Luna wasn't sure, but the farm pony's face seemed to harden a little.
"A-applejack, please, I did not do this for payment!" She glanced at the ground, suddenly aware of all the little lies she'd told Applejack since they'd met. Now she was about to add another one, though it was almost true this time. "My family is wealthy and I am well cared for. I cannot take your money."
Applejack's face softened again and the smile was back. She put a foreleg over Luna's neck and gave her a half hug. "I appreciate it, Sable. I really do, but I can't let ya leave without somethin' to show for it."
They were walking. Luna realised she was being guided into the barn and that Big Mac and Applebloom had left some time ago, leaving just Apple Spritzer for company. Applejack's foreleg left her shoulders and the cow pony walked over to a large trapdoor off to one side. She glanced at Luna, as if willing her to secrecy, then heaved at the trapdoor, which swung open to reveal a short staircase leading underground. Applejack and Apple Spritzer disappeared into the tunnel without a backward glance. After taking a few tired moments to consider whether they were initiating her into some sort of secret cult, which was admittedly a rather silly thought, Luna followed.
At the foot of the stairs, a musty, stone-clad passage stretched away ahead of her. Dim light from the barn revealed a short run of neatly cut paving that sloped gently away from Luna before it was lost in the gloom. She could hear the echo of Applejack and Spritzer's hooves on stone some distance away.
"Applejack?"
Her voice echoed queerly in the dark tunnel, reflecting back a voice that was nothing like her own. She hadn't quite thought about the effects of the glamour on it; she hadn't thought about a lot of things. Luna cantered on and down and quickly spotted a dim light at the far end of the tunnel, issuing from a door set in a stout wooden frame.
Beyond that, a room, quite large, with a vaulted ceiling just high enough for a large pony to walk under. Barrels lined the back wall and the air was heavy with the scent of overripe apples and aged dust. At the far end of the barrels Luna found Applejack and Spritzer poking at a small, open crate. Pottery chimed in gentle rhythm as Applejack moved the crate away from the wall.
"There y'are," Applejack said, turning to her guest. She patted the crate and beckoned Luna closer to look at it. "How d'ya like them apples?"
Luna peered into the crate. A dozen large, earthenware bottles with swing stoppers stared back in greeting. She glanced at Applejack and raised her eyebrows, trying to understand the joke.
"I do not see any apples, Applejack."
"For t'scholic sort she can be reet dense," Spritzer muttered. But she was smiling, so it probably wasn't an insult. Probably. She grasped one of the bottles gently in her mouth and lifted it out of the crate, holding it up for Luna's appreciation.
"That, Sable, is the Apple Family's very finest Applesnap," Applejack said as Spritzer yanked the stopper from her bottle. The sweet, heady aroma of raw apple spirit filled the barn, conjuring images of summer heat and tall grass. Luna sniffed with cautious wonder and then glanced at the barrels lining the wall.
"Takes at least two years to make right," Applejack continued, a hint of pride entering her voice. "I got some laid down in this here cellar older'n Apple Bloom."
Luna jumped as she found the bottle pressed into her hooves. She looked at Spritzer; the earth pony mare winked at her. "Ge'it down thi lass. Put 'airs on tha chest it will!"
Luna looked down at her front. "But—"
"Jack, much as I'd like to partake, I think I'll hit t'hay. Try not to break 'er 'ead?"
Spritzer winked at Luna as she passed by the pair, whistling a cheery tune that echoed down the underground passage long after she'd left the room. As the tune faded, Luna found her gaze shifting between the bottle in front of her and Applejack. She did recall events from her distant past of a similar nature but most of those had been amongst a pegasus clan, and the spirit had been rather less... fruity. In addition, she was quite sure fire had been involved at some point, though her memories of the time were hazy. Without thinking she raised the bottle to her lips and took a swig.
I yes, there was the fire... A substantial amount of the liquor sprayed across the barn as Luna choked and spluttered on the burning liquid. She carefully returned the bottle to the floor, ignoring Applejack's stifled chuckle, and tried to wipe her mouth and cover her cough all at the same time.
"I guess I should've warned ya," Applejack said. She shuffled over closer to Luna, took the bottle from her unresisting hooves and raised it to her own lips. "Now that's good apples!"
"Applejack...?"
"I said y'all should get somethin' for today. I figure what better for y'all than a little moonshine?" Applejack pushed the bottle back toward Luna and grinned. "Don't worry, Twilight couldn't hold her liquor either, first time I had her down here. Poor Macintosh had to see the whole thing."
"What 'thing' was that?"
"Ya never heard Twilight sing when she's on the wagon?" Applejack grinned and nudged the bottle a little closer to Luna. "I guess not. You'd remember somethin' like that for sure."
Applejack nudged the Applesnap again and then seemed to give up, snatching the bottle back for another swig. Luna, not wanting to disappoint her host, retrieved the bottle and took an equally large swallow of the fiery brew. She choked, but this time managed to hold the drink down. Applejack's broad grin felt like the highest praise she'd received all day.
"It is a very interesting flavour," she wheezed.
"When y'all get past the feelin' like you're drinking molten lead, ya mean?" Luna nodded, prompting another smile. "Few more years an' it'll be smooth as honey. Or it'll make great paint stripper."
"Apples truly are a versatile fruit."
Luna could feel a prickling warmth spreading in her chest and across her back where her wings were supposed to be, and was suddenly very glad that the spells creating her glamour were self-sustaining.
"Apples is as apples does I guess," Applejack replied. "An' I ain't just talkin' about apples. I think."
"I understand, Applejack. You are expressing a deeply held belief that your friends and family are much more than they appear at first glance and that they are capable of great and diverse feats of spirit and body in unanticipated circumstances."
Silence. Luna briefly wondered if she'd somehow exposed herself but a discreet check of her form put paid to that. When she looked, she found Applejack giving her a worried smile and tried to match it with a cheery grin. Applejack raised her eyebrows and shook her head slightly.
"I ain't never heard it put so fancy before." She took another pull at the bottle. If the alcohol were affecting her she didn't show any sign just yet. "I mean, I ain't really thought about it. I guess I just meant that we ain't just fruit, if y'all see what I'm sayin'?"
"I believe we are in accord," Luna replied.
"Whut?"
Lost for words, Luna quicky retrieved the bottle and took another drink, more to distract herself and Applejack from the sudden conundrum than for the flavour of it. It was a terrible idea. She could feel the Applesnap working its insidious magic on her and there was little she could do about it.
"Y'know, in all the hubbub I never got to ask about where ya came from."
"Canterlot," Luna said quickly.
"I know that," Applejack shot back. She stood up and trotted around Luna to examine one of the aged barrels. "I mean, all I know is, you're an astromonitor, y'all got them university brains an' y'all are friends with Twilight. And ya buck apples pretty good," she added with a wry grin.
"I am not sure what to say, Applejack."
"Family, Sable. Where y'all came from is family." Applejack turned to the next barrel and gently tapped the wood, ears turning this way and that. She pressed one against the barrel and tapped it again. "You mentioned a sister."
Luna paused, then nodded, her mind racing as she tried to think through the haze of alcohol. "She is the eldest of us."
"You two close?"
"Yes, but we fought... recently."
"Family," Applejack replied. She sat down again, apparently satisfied with whatever her examination of the barrel had told her, and gently pulled the liquor bottle from Luna's gasp. "I fight with Apple Bloom so often it's a wonder she ain't up an' left already."
"I do not believe she would do so."
"Y'all ain't seen her for more than a few minutes!"
"I will not pretend I am a good judge of character, Applejack," Luna said. She placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder; the farmer's ears perked up around another grin. "However I am certain that she would never do anything that would harm you. Some sisters simply cannot but love."
"But how do ya know?"
Though aware of her own temperamental nature, Luna was nevertheless surprised by the sudden change of Applejack's mood. The farmer sought reassurance for something. There was a pain behind her eyes that Luna could almost fathom. Almost, but not quite.
"She appears to take after you, Applejack. She is forthright, honest, and a hard worker."
"Takin' after me is what I'm afraid of," Applejack replied, ears hanging despondently. She took another tug at the Applesnap and sighed. "So... ya lookit the stars for a livin', huh?"
"I am an astronomer," Luna said. Another lie. This was starting to get uncomfortable. She had grown unused to being anyone but the moon. Even without that, she felt a strange discomfort in lying to this bluff and honest farm pony. Any other pony she would have been able to brush off... she pushed the thought from her mind and tried to drown it with more liquor. "It is more of a vocation."
"I likes 'em," Applejack said after some time. "The stars, I mean. Sometimes, when I was little, me an' Mac would go an' lie up on the roof, starin' at them stars and tellin' stories about em. Seen some right pretty things since Princess Luna came back too. An' I knows me a few constellations... but I bet you know 'em all by heart."
"Yes. The night sky is where I truly live."
"An' you're sister lives in the sun, right?" Applejack 's reply was accompanied by an incautious wink. Had she figured out the secret? Luna panicked and felt her non-existent wings trying to flare, muscles in her shoulders pulling in ways that felt alien and uncomfortable. She grit her teeth and tried to bring the phantom limbs under control.
"Y'all okay sugarcube?"
Luna found herself cowering on the floor. How odd. She looked up at the vaults and Applejack's concerned face hanging over her like a bright orange harvest moon. A few moments more, Applejack glanced up at the roof as alcohol-slowed comprehension dawned on her face. She crouched down and wrapped a foreleg around Luna's neck.
"I'm sorry, I shoulda guessed a pony like yoursel' would've been uncomfortable underground." Luna bit her lip; she couldn't respond. At least Applejack was telling the lies for her this time. "Lets get y'all outside."
Still, like all the best lies there was a smattering of truth to it. Not for nothing was Canterlot built to such colossal scale, so high in the mountains, so open and airy. Enough unicorns shared the Princesses' latent claustrophobia to put a sheen of truth to the lie and so Luna found herself going along with it, for now, because she really didn't have much of a choice.
Already Applejack had ushered her out of the cellar and into refreshing cool of the night. Luna felt her body relax. Perhaps it had been the truth after all? She couldn't tell, her mind was clouded, but the sky at least was clear as Applejack led her away from the barn. But not to the farmhouse, nor to the road back to town.
"Where are we going?"
Applejack didn't answer. Somehow, around helping Luna to the surface, she had acquired a saddlebag and a few smaller bottles of the Applesnap. Dark trees closed in as Applejack led them onward through orchards, the scent of crushed leaves and apples filling Luna's nostrils. Alien. Familiar. Memories of the day blended with those of aeons, dragging Luna back to times she had almost forgotten. Endless summer nights amongst the trees, chill streams, the hot stink of sun-baked loam and leaf litter churned to divots as she chased... who? Friend? Lover? She couldn't remember.
In what seemed like no time they reached the edge of the trees. Luna found herself on a bluff overlooking a broad valley, filled from side to side with more apple trees than seemed possible. Above it all the moon hung in the sky, broad and bright, its face still clear as Luna had left it the day she had returned. She should probably do something about that but it had looked so... so pure and right. Unsullied by the mistakes of her past.
"Ain't that a pretty sight?"
Did she mean the orchard or the stars? Luna knew Applejack would be rightly proud of her family's achievements and all the work they had done, but that didn't seem quite like the sort of thing she'd boast about to a near-stranger. On the other hand why would she be telling a pony she thought of as an astronomer how pretty the stars were? Though... they were pretty. She'd made sure of that when she got back.
"It is beautiful," she offered, not committing herself to either option. Applejack seemed to catch a little of her hesitancy but she didn't offer any reproach, unless a bottle of Applesnap was considered an insult amongst modern earth ponies. Luna accepted the drink and took a deep draught.
"Woah there girl!" Applejack tugged the bottle back from Luna's grasp and set it down on the floor. "This ain't some fruity soft drink!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Ain't no need to be sorry sugarcube, I like it when people 'preciate ma wares, but not all at once!"
"No, I—"
"Y'all are tired an' had a bad turn, that's all."
Luna flinched as Applejack's hoof rubbed across her back. The earth pony paused for a second, then gently withdrew her foreleg.
"Sable, you are stressin' out about somethin' and it ain't just bein' underground for a few minutes."
"I am fine!"
"If y'all say so."
A cork popped. Applejack took a slug from her bottle and settled down on the grass, eyes fixed on the horizon. She glanced at Luna once or twice and then resumed her vigil.
"Y'know, sometimes, when the work ain't so much, I come an' sit out here to watch the sunrise. Always done it. Gave me time to think." Applejack pushed back her hat as she continued speaking. "When I was a filly I was tired of bucking apples when every other pony seemed to be livin' the good ol' life. I used to think maybe there wuz more to life than just apples, maybe somethin' on the other side of the sun, an' one day I figured I'd go find out. So I ran away, went to Manehatten an' spent some time with mah cousins there. Oranges."
She spat the word as if it were the gravest insult she could hurl. Luna almost couldn't stop herself giggling, but she soon stifled the laugh and tried to look concerned. "I am sorry, Applejack. Did you find what you sought?"
"Yup." Applejack grinned and raised her bottle to the orchards. "Right where I started."
"That is wonderful!"
"Yeah, s'great, but ya see why I worry about Apple Bloom now? She's getting' near that age. I don't want her to feel like she's trapped or nothin' but I couldn't stand the thought of her getting' all antsy for some other life an' me losin' her like... well, I couldn't stand it."
"To lose family is a terrible thing," Luna replied, fixing her eyes on the flawless moon. Yes, she'd definitely have to do something about that once she got back to the palace. Perhaps a nice new pattern of craters and a few maria to set off all that grey. Had she really spent a thousand years trapped in that empty world? Alone?
"Sable?"
Tears stung her eyes as she looked away from the moon. Luna wiped a furious hoof at her face and tried to hide her state but her companion had already figured out something was wrong.
"I am sorry," Luna said again. She blinked away another tear... wasn't this what she had wanted? Someone to talk to without being treated like a princess? Someone to ease her soul, but that would mean telling... no. That would never do. "It would be insensitive to burden you with my problems, Applejack. I should go."
"No. Y'all listened to me grouse, I'll listen to you. Fair's fair." She tilted her head, eyes searching Luna's face for something. "I mean, if ya want to, that is."
Perhaps she could leave out a few details... Luna lay down on the grass, snuffling at the scent of warm earth and casting her mind back. "It is difficult to discuss without context. We are... my sister and I are both influential in Canterlot society."
"Oh. That's your problem?"
"It is simply what is," Luna replied, noting Applejack's reaction to her words. So quickly she had been ready to judge, but just as quick to accept. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad. "But it means I can have no true friends, merely hangers-on and seekers of favour. My vocation, my love for the stars, simply 'seals the deal' as I think you might put it. In truth, Applejack, I am lonely. I have no memory of any parents. I have only my sister, yet even she... as I said, a time ago we fought and I wronged her in ways that still hurt to think about. I do not believe she fully trusts me, even now."
She felt Applejack's gentle touch on her back again and this time didn't flinch. The air had chilled but the ground beneath her was warm, and she could feel the heat radiating from Applejack's body nearby, mixing with the fire of the alcohol in her belly. Memories of other lives filled her head, betraying her thoughts. Memories from before... Tears forced their way out of her eyes again.
"I was so close to losing her. I thought she—when we fought, I was afraid, Applejack. I was so terribly afraid that I'd be alone forever. I love my sister, b-but right at that moment I hated her. I hated how my love for her and my fear of losing her gave her so much power over me. I wanted to destroy it, to drive her away so I wouldn't feel afraid any more, but then I would have been truly alone. I do not wish to be alone, Applejack." Luna raised her head to look at Applejack and saw just a hint of wetness in her eyes. This wasn't right! But it felt right to finally talk, even in such a truncated way. "I—Forgive me, I have burdened—"
"Ain't nothin' to forgive," Applejack said through a slightly strained smile. She lay down next to Luna and looked up at the stars. "I can't guess what ya did an I ain't expectin' y'all to tell me neither, but ya can't keep somethin' like that bottled up inside an' expect to stay sane for long. At least ya got a chance to turn 'round and try it agin. Some folk don't get that."
Luna buried her muzzle in her forelegs and closed her eyes. She felt strangely light and warm, and she was fairly sure it wasn't just a result of all the Applesnap she'd consumed tonight.
"Thank you, Applejack. You have a—"
"Great heart, yeah, I know." Applejack grinned and held out her bottle. After a few moments Luna realised what was happening and quickly bumped her own against it with a loud clunk. For a brief, glorious moment she was nothing more than Sable Moonshine and friend, looking up at the stars. Luna lay for a while, supping at her drink. She wasn't sure how much she'd had but she was certain she'd regret it in the morning.
"Applejack?"
"Yo..."
Luna laid her head on one side and stared up at the stars. "Applejack, tell me one of your stories."
"Mah—oh! Yeah... I got a few. Um... they're mostly fer little foals an' stuff. I usually started with one of them constellations." Applejack looked around the sky and then pointed at a patch of stars. "How 'bout that one there?"
"Ippomeda."
"That what that one is? Me an Mac, we called it Buckin' Butch cause it looks like a pony buckin' at a tree if you squint at it right. The way I heard it, big old Butch wuz the first pony to ever figure out how to harvest apples. One day he saw a big ol' crow up in a crab apple tree peckin' away at the fruit and he says 'hey crow, that there thing tasty?' and the crow, why he jus' looks back at Butch an yells that his momma done real bad things..."
Luna rolled onto her side as the story continued, content to let Applejack's eager telling of the tale wash over her mind. Her companion had her eyes fixed on the sky, pointing to this star and that as characters or places were introduced to the story, until the firmament was transformed into a tale of adventure and excitement to rival the greatest epics of history, climaxing in a grand test of spirit beneath the branches of a great, holy apple tree at the top of a hill.
The tale ended with the successful hero bringing the gift of apple husbandry and apple pastries to his eager compatriots, getting the filly of his dreams and a nice little farm on which to end his days; exactly the sort of ending that would appeal to a dedicated apple farmer. Luna thought to enquire to the fate of the crow, but her question was swallowed in a yawn so large that she couldn't even begin to stifle it.
"Sounds like y'all are gonna sleep well tonight," Applejack said. She drew herself to her feet, tottering barely at all despite the quantity of drink she'd consumed. "I guess I shoulda cut it short."
"No, it was fun! An extremely entertaining tale! I—" Luna hiccuped. She covered her mouth and tried not to giggle. "That was very, very silly."
After a few attempts Luna managed to stand, though her legs felt like they wanted to walk in different directions.
"This Applesnapple loses its appeal after a few hours, Apple—" She hiccuped again. This is becoming tedious, some part of her mind declared. Another much happier part demanded silence so that a third part could concentrate on moving her legs in the correct order. "Applejack, I may need some help home."
"I figured. Come on."
Leaning against each other, accompanied by Luna's uncontrollable giggles, the pair made their way back through the gloomy orchard.
Twilight tapped a quill against a blank sheet of parchment and stared at the sky. The deck on top of her library was hardly equivalent of the great Royal Observatory in Canterlot but it had a few perks, such as a nearby supply of tea, no need to trek half a mile to the library every time you needed a new reference volume and a complete absence of postgrads taking up more than their allotted time on the main scope or the programmable orrery. Unfortunately it also had one rather large and obvious lack. Twilight glanced over at the other, empty seat on the deck and sighed.
Still, waste not, want not. Her target for the night should be in view by now. Twilight leaned toward the scope; her impromptu stellar research had uncovered a rather interesting change in the behaviour of a comet that seemed to have completely reversed its orbit since Luna's return, though she'd need several more nights of observations to confirm that it wasn't merely a different, unknown object that just happened to have very similar orbital parameters. Perhaps she could get the naming rights... she made a quick note of a few possible names and returned to her observations.
Some time and many scribbled notes later she pulled herself from the 'scope and glanced at a little travel clock on the floor beside her. It was late. Extremely late. Twilight looked over her shoulder at the library's warm and oh so very inviting interior. Had Luna returned while she was deep in her observations? It didn't seem too likely, Twilight was sure she would have heard the door, and she was equally sure Luna would have at least come up to say goodnight. Surely.
Quill and parchment fell to the table and Twilight heaved herself from her comfortable chair, pausing a moment to stretch a crick from her back. She trotted over to the balcony rail and stared down at the darkened streets of Ponyville, watching for any signs of... of anything, really, but all she found were shadows. Twilight snuffed and bit her lip and, stars forgotten, turned to go inside. As she reached the door a snatch of song echoed across the deserted streets. Twilight's ears spun at the sound and she quickly returned to the rail, peering around. After a moment she could hear a distantly stentorian voice booming across the rooftops.
"A' the air and mountain free I ran
By forest glen and river
To see at last the fairest one
The lady—Applejack you must keep up!"
"I can't help it if I don't know the lyra... leer... dangit, them word things! Why I don't even know the story!"
Laughter echoed through the deserted streets. Twilight could only press her face to her hooves at the thought of what her two friends had been up to that night. She waited until they were in sight, singing meaningless nonsense by now and swaying back and forth as they made their way toward the library. Luna had a bottle of some sort suspended from an aura before their faces. Every now and then she'd offer it up to Applejack's eager mouth, before taking a swig of her own.
"It is very simple, Applejack! The tale is of the young swain's pursuit of his beloved atop a great mountain!"
"I wanted to sing Pink Lady o' Mine but noooooooo..."
This is my Princess, Twilight thought, shaking her head. And she'd never seen Applejack in such a state even when she'd been up to sample the farmer's wares. Twilight decided not to remember that night, preferring to focus on the immediate problems, such as a drunken princess pounding at her door.
"Twilight Sparkle, we are sleepy and require a bed!"
"Shhh!"
"Thou shush thyself, Erytheia!"
"N-no you! Wait, what?"
"Twilight!"
"Shhh!"
The drunken debate continued as Twilight made her way downstairs, grumbling all the while. This was not what she'd expected in the least. Kept up all night, left alone when she thought she'd be getting days and days with the Princess all to herself, drunken friends waking up the entire town... she knew she was being needlessly bitter but it wasn't fair.
"Y'all gotta be quiet, Sable! We might get arrested!"
"I shall not be arrested! I am a prin—princess!"
"Princess? I don't care if—if y'all are Celestia her almighty self! I ain't gettin'—"
Twilight yanked the door open and glared at the pair of silly ponies swaying on her doorstop. They stared back, wide-eyed and as legless as they come. Luna, seemingly unable to focus on Twilight without tipping over, turned her head to one side and held a hoof up over one eye.
"Twilight!"
"Shhh!"
"S-sable, what in the name of Celestia are you doing? It's nearly midnight!"
Swaying, blinking, Luna glanced at Applejack and then looked back at Twilight with narrow eyes. "We were singing?"
Twilight could only sigh. She ushered both ponies inside the library, took a quick look around to be sure they hadn't been spotted, and slammed the door. When she turned back to her friends they were leaning against each other, giggling like the fate of the world depended on their laughter. Given the hangover Luna was sure to experience tomorrow, perhaps it did. Twilight glared at Applejack.
"How could you let this happen?"
"I ain't lettin' noth—nothin' happen, Twilight. Y'alls just partynoid."
"Applejack! Sable was supposed to work for you and then come home, not... not gallivant off to guzzle moonshine—"
Both ponies burst out laughing again. Twilight rolled her eyes and stalked off to the far side of the library to wait for a calmer moment before talking. Moonshine. She'd walked right into that one, hadn't she?
Unsteady hooves clomped across the floor. Twilight looked up into Luna's wavering eyes and her bemused smile and found she couldn't be angry. Not really. In the background she could see Applejack meandering unsteadily around the room, a grin fixed on her face as she pawed at Twilight's carefully sorted books.
"Applejack..."
"Yo!"
"I'm sorry for shouting at you."
Applejack turned around and grinned. "S'okay darlin', I ain't one to—to hold no grudge! Anyhow I better git before I do something stupid..."
"I..."
Twilight pursed her lips and waited for the door to close before turning back to Luna. The princess was slumped on a couch, staring at the ceiling with a vacant expression. Occasionally her stomach would squeeze as she tried to hold back a hiccup.
"Twilight, why is your library rotating at such great speed?"
"You're drunk."
"This I know, Twilight Sparkle. I am very sorry."
An acerbic reply rose up and caught in Twilight's throat. She wanted to yell, maybe punch something but she'd never be able to forgive herself for whatever damage she might cause, and she was pretty sure Luna could more than match any shouting she might do. Twilight slowly paced the circumference of the main reading room, pausing a moment to neaten up some of the books Applejack had scuffed at, before returning to Luna.
"I know you weren't going to have time to spend with me tonight, but..."
But what? There was nothing she could say that wouldn't sound like she was whining about how Luna was choosing to spend her free time. It occurred to Twilight that antagonising the sister of the country's absolute ruler might not go down very well.
"Did... did you enjoy your day?"
"Oh yes! We worked all day and then Applejack introduced me to her Applesnap grotto!" Luna sat up but then swayed, closing her eyes. "By the great titans, the stars have followed me inside..."
"I should be so lucky," Twilight grumbled. She stalked upstairs to the kitchen and retrieved a large bowl, fairly certain that it would be needed at some point during the night. When she returned to the reading room Luna was lying on her back, legs all in the air, and snoring heavily. The scene reminded her of Spike after a ruby bender; she couldn't help but smile at the sight.
A purple aura wrapped around Luna and scooted her into the air ahead of Twilight. Even in her truncated form she was... light probably wasn't the best way to describe it, but there was something almost insubstantial about the princess, as if she both more and less than she appeared to be. Twilight found herself making a mental record of the sensations as she walked her charge up the stairs, her magic unconsciously probing to examine form and structure.
Luna snorted and rolled over in the aura, rear legs twitching fitfully. She muttered something about apples and then fell into a deeper sleep, no longer snoring. As carefully as her magic allowed, Twilight laid the princess on her bed and tucked her in, before retreating to tidy up and ready herself for sleep.
Yet, once settled, she found sleep would not come. Twilight rucked and fiddled at her sheets and turned every way she could but found no comfort. The room felt... too warm, confining, like a cage or a pit. Twilight huddled up next to her pillow and turned to stare out of the window at the night sky. Erato and Pistis were framed ahead of her, still far and dim enough to be mistaken for unusually bright stars, though her trained eye could see the conjunction advancing every day. In less than a week they would burn bright as the moon itself.
Sleep remained elusive. Twilight wondered if a little light reading would help but she doubted it, somehow. The muggy room was driving her out and there was only one thing outside worth the effort. It was probably fortuitous; she hadn't completed her observations of the comet earlier and it would still be visible for a few hours and she'd also be able to make more notes on the conjunction. If nothing else, having Luna point it out had given her a lot to do this week. She might never have spotted it in time otherwise.
She briefly considered waking Spike but decided he'd probably just grump at her. Twilight slid from her bed and trapped to the kitchen for a thermos of coffee, then retreated up to the observation deck. Her notes were still laid on on the table, a half-formed thought scribbled at the top of the page. She stared at the words, unable to remember what she had been trying to record. Any thoughts she'd had earlier in the evening were lost in the morass of conflicted feelings hammering around her brain. Twilight flopped into her chair and tossed the parchment to one side, selecting a fresh sheet to begin her work anew.
The stars wheeled, sedate and unconstrained by the fates and worries of life below. The moon set. At some point Twilight realised she had fallen asleep, for she suddenly found herself in the early light of dawn, quill pen resting on her foreleg, a stain of black ink spread and dried in her fur. The scope pointed skyward to stare at pale emptiness. Everywhere was silent. Twilight blinked weary eyes and stumbled from her chair, shivering in the early morning chill. She stumped downstairs to the bedroom, which had transformed from cloying to comfortingly warm in her absence. Luna was still asleep, twisted around her pillow like a snake and drooling on the sheets. Probably already nursing the mother of all hangovers.
"Spike." Twilight kicked at her assistant's basket. "Wake up."
"Wuh? Twi—" Spike yawned and stretched. "Whtime izzit?"
"Time you made breakfast."
"Is the sun up yet?"
"The sun's always up somewhere, Spike. I'm going to take a shower. I want a nice breakfast for all three of us when I'm done."
She heard Spike mutter something profane as he stomped off to the kitchen. Twilight didn't care, she was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but the library wouldn't take care of itself and she'd have to take care of Luna on top of that. Princesses were so hard to manage! Coming and going on their own schedule, never doing what they were supposed to do. It was so frustrating.
The bathroom had mercifully yet to suffer the ministrations of Luna, Princess of Overkill, giving Twilight the opportunity to enjoy her shower free of the need to undertake a crash-course in plumbing or tile repair. She crawled into the tub and sat under a steaming-hot stream of water until the night chill had been thoroughly driven from her body and leaving her, if not refreshed, then at least no longer a shivering wreck.
Should have taken a blanket. Should have stayed in bed.
"Should have had somepony spending some time with me," she groused as she scrubbed at her body with a towel.
Luna, out of her bed and seated at their shared table, refused to speak to or even look at Twilight when she emerged from the bathroom, evidently preferring to keep her eyes tight shut against the brightening morning sun. Twilight enjoyed a tiny inner cackle at the princess's state, only to immediately regret such vindictive behaviour, even if it was entirely on the inside. She quietly seated herself at the table.
Spike arrived a moment later, breakfast things clattering on an enormous tray held over his head He dropped the entire thing on the table to the sound of tinkling china and jangling cutlery, every noise sending another wince of pain across Luna's face.
"Little dragon, prithee cease thy clamour!"
"But—"
Luna's eyes snapped open and turned to Spike bearing considerable malice. "We require silence!"
"Spike," Twilight said, gently as she could. "Leave it. I'll take care of everything, you just... just go away for a bit, okay?"
Reeling between fear of Luna's glare and the comfort of Twilight's voice, Spike slowly backed away from the table, a small bowl of food grasped in his claws. He gave Luna a final look, then nodded to Twilight and retreated from the bedroom.
With her assistant safely removed from Luna's wrath, Twilight began sorting the breakfast. She wrapped everything in a temporary sound-deadening spell as she worked, carefully laying the dishes with exacting precision, giving Luna a few slices of very heavily buttered toast and herself a small pile of pancakes. Finally Twilight poured a cup of strong, black tea and placed it before the princess.
She waited. The light of the sun moved fractionally, time passing as Luna sat and suffered in her silence. Finally the princess seemed to break down, head shaking, just the hint of a smile touching her lips.
"Such exquisite tortures we would have visited on no pony, even in our darkest hours," she murmured. Luna sniffed at the steam rising from her tea and lifted her head just a fraction. "Thank you, Twilight. I fear I would have acted rashly toward your assistant."
"He's a tough little guy, he'd have got over it."
"A dragon hoards more than gems, Twilight Sparkle." Luna sipped at her tea. An almost palpable look of relief washed across her face. "It has been some time since I drank like that. Normally it is Celestia that imbibes to excess. Applejack's moonshine is a surprisingly potent beverage."
"I guess Applejack told you about my first visit, too," Twilight replied, shifting uncomfortably on her seat. She wondered why she'd raised the subject and quickly tucked into her pancakes for an excuse to not answer any potential questions.
"Indeed. This 'Applesnap' does appear to provoke much singing."
A nod, a grimace. Twilight didn't want to remember that part, though at least she'd sung something Applejack could join in with. She swallowed her mouthful and washed it down with some tea.
"What was the song you sang? I've never heard it before."
"I..." Luna's eyes stared into space as she recalled the previous night's festivities. She smiled. "Fair Selene Upon The Mount. It was a Unicorn ballad from the classical era, though I believe it fell out of favour during my absence. The first time I heard the song was at a wedding—"
Luna's smile faltered and she blinked as if not sure where she was. Her eyes danced back and forth as if searching until they came to rest on the toast before her. Luna lifted it to her mouth and chewed at the crust, once again staring off into nowhere.
"It was so very long ago... and so very cold," Luna said quietly, her smile returning. "Winter weddings were considered auspicious in Unicorn society at the time. I remember the frost on Star's back, the way everyone's flanks steamed in the snow. The priest's robes. That stupid hat... I kept it for centuries afterwards, heaven knows how it lasted as long as it did."
The smile was almost gone now, replaced with an odd melancholy, her tea long forgotten.
"They would sing the song to the moon, it was still sacred to unicorns even in that era. If they'd known who was among them that day... The groom would take the part of the adventurer and the bride would be Selene upon a small mount in the centre of a bower. He would circle the bower to each of the witnesses in turn, acting out each cycle of the story and taking a token of their blessing for the union. At the conclusion, the adventurer would climb the mount to join with his beloved, whilst the witnesses remained to be sure no false claims were made."
"That sounds wonderful," Twilight sighed, imagining the snow-shrouded grandeur of the event. This was more like it! Maybe not astronomy, but Luna relating tales from the ancient past was just as good! She could compile them into a neat set of notes for her potential thesis on the perception of friendship through the centuries. There were strange holes in the histories of the Classical era, probably a result of the–
"Wait... w-what did you mean by false claims?"
"Exactly that which I said, Twilight. For the marriage ceremony to be complete its consummation had to be witnessed. I have to confess I was a little uncomfortable with the idea at first, but one tends to lose oneself in the moment..."
She couldn't remember how to work her mouth. Twilight could feel her jaw hanging but she literally had no idea how to close it, as if the nerves connecting it to the rest of her were just gone. She tried to speak; a gargled choke was all that emerged. Luna leaned forward and gently pressed Twilight's mouth closed with her hoof.
"They were older times, Twilight Sparkle. More dangerous times, when the guarantee of issue was important."
"B-but you... and he... in front of everyp—you're talking about your own marr—you were married?"
Luna nodded as she sipped her tea.
"Does... did Princess Celestia..."
"She knew, but whether she truly understood..." Luna closed her eyes again and rubbed her temple. She leaned back and sighed. "Oh, there was a time when I could drink and not feel this way in upon waking. Perhaps I shall spend the day at rest."
"How could you get married? You're the princess!" The sight of Luna's grimace made Twilight realise she'd been shouting. She twisted her hoof on the table and looked away. "I'm sorry..."
"It is well, Twilight, I accept your interest and understand your confusion. Indeed, I am a princess – though Star never knew that. As I explained, there was a time when I would live amongst ponies. Like this," she said, indicating her current form. Twilight tilted her head, trying to tame her racing confusion. Yet it must have been obvious, for Luna smiled and nodded. "I know what you're thinking."
"You seemed so loud..."
"I have a carrying voice," Luna replied, just a hint of reproach in her voice. She looked away, frowned and sipped her tea. "I see why Celestia drinks this all the time. Good tea seems to be a rather potent restorative."
"If you don't want to talk about this you could just say so."
"Oh but I do, Twilight, I do..." Luna shook her head and then seemed to regret the action. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply of the steam rising from her tea. "I owe you a great debt of gratitude, Twilight, and I have been remiss in honouring that debt. However I sincerely do require rest."
Another piece of toast floated up and away from the table as Luna stood. She paced the short distance to her bed and lay down, tea to one side, toast to the other, eyes closed. After a moment a book floated from the wall and dropped on the bed in front of her.
It felt like a dismissal. A relatively carefree life in Ponyville meant that Twilight had almost forgotten the ways of the court and the often brusque habit of the nobility to tune out things they didn't want to pay attention to, but it seemed Sable was playing that part of her role quite admirably. Twilight was sure she'd never behaved that way... well almost never. She huffed and finished off her breakfast as quickly as she could before clearing everything into a neat pile on the tray. Spike could deal with it later.
And that just left the day ahead. The library wouldn't take care of itself, Twilight reasoned, though she knew she'd probably scare most of her customers away given her current mood. Perhaps she could hide it behind a frantic re-arrangement of the shelving. That always helped... and they were a little out of order again. In all the 'excitement' she'd forgotten to arrange her weekly reshelving session.
"Twilight..."
She turned. Luna was looking at her with an odd, almost hungry expression. "Yes?"
"I wish to speak to Spike shortly. I was... overbearing."
"Of course," Twilight replied, a little more formally than she'd wanted.
"I would also like to read any notes you made regarding your observations of the conjunction," Luna continued, returning to her book. My book! "It would be useful for our observations tonight."
"Tonight... oh! Yes, of course! I left them on the desk."
"Thank you, Twilight."
I'm so easily bought, Twilight's cynicism griped as she trotted downstairs to the library. She considered trying to maintain her bad mood – she was still feeling a little put-out by Luna's behaviour the previous night – but it was a half-hearted sort of affair and she knew it would only get in the way of her daily tasks.
A small pile of unsorted books waited for her by the reading table but Spike was nowhere to be seen. Not that it mattered, he was probably hiding in the supply closet; she'd see to him later. Twilight set about sorting the books while she assembled a mental checklist of tasks for the day, yet her mind was soon rolling back over the conversation at breakfast. It was hard to reconcile this aspect of Luna with the lost and frankly bizarre behaviour she'd displayed on Nightmare Night, or the aloof confidence she'd displayed at other times.
Twilight levitated a pile of books as she walked to the shelves, still deep in thought. Luna, married? It must have been a long time ago, given the way she'd talked about specific Unicorn rituals, perhaps when the three races had still lived almost separate lives within Equestria. Had she had children? Had she done it before or since?
A knock at the door abruptly tore Twilight from her thoughts. She groaned as she found she'd been shelving cookery books in the history section. Another, more urgent knock at the door forced Twilight to abandon her charges in a neat pile by the shelves.
A remotely familiar earth pony waited as Twilight drew back the door. She gave the library behind Twilight a dour look and then turned slightly. "Jack, get thiself over 'ere."
"Jack?" Twilight spotted the stranger's cutie mark of an apple wrapped in the thorny stem of a red rose. "Oh, you mean Applejack!"
"She's in t'shade," the stranger said, grinning mischievously. She turned and shouted under the branches of the library. "Drank a bit much las' night didn't thi!"
"Spritzer, ya ain't helpin'..."
"Aye, but it's fun," Spritzer replied, giving Twilight a cheeky wink. "Tha better hurry Jack. I'll be down at t'market. Mebbe thi've got a cart o' t'seasonals in today."
The strangely-accented Spritzer turned to leave, but then paused and leaned close to Twilight. "Be kind."
She cantered away just as Applejack hauled herself out of the leafy shade beside Twilight's door. The farmer was a wreck, glassy eyes ringed by dark circles, lidded against the morning sun. She winced at the sound of Twilight's indrawn breath.
"Applejack, what happened?"
"Mah applesnap happened," Applejack replied. Her ears were laid back as far as they'd go and her jaw was tight but the earth pony seemed unwilling to acknowledge her very obvious headache. "I deserve it. Stayed up too late an' didn't bring Sable back when I shoulda."
"No, Applejack, that's not fair at all. Sable—"
"Twilight, I'm gonna say this quick, an' then I'm gonna find me some sorta ice bucket for ma head, cause I gotta get back to work." Applejack took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
"But last night—"
"I ain't talkin' about last night!"
"Applejack, come inside." Twilight opened the door wider and stepped back but Applejack refused to move. "Please?"
She knew she was making those big eyes that used to get her treats back in the palace. They'd always worked; they seemed to work now too. Applejack scowled but dragged herself into the library, sighing with relief as she escaped the bright sunlight. She crawled over to the couch and collapsed into it, barely moving even when Twilight sat on the floor next to her.
"I can help ease the pain a little," she said, horn glowing as an analgesia spell collected within it. "It'll take a moment. And don't say you deserve the hangover."
Applejack had opened her mouth to speak. She closed it again and nodded slightly before closing her eyes.
"Sable tells me she had a lot of fun yesterday."
"I guess? She worked hard." The lines on Applejack's face softened as the spell took hold, soothing and easing her pain. She took a deep breath and nodded again. "I meant to say I was sorry for the day before. I was rude. Neither of you deserved that."
"Surely you've already spoken to Sable about that?"
"I have, I wanted to apologise to you as well. Y'all had to watch me mistreat your friend and that ain't fair." The aura dissipated, power draining from Twilight's horn as the spell completed its work. Applejack lifted herself upright, twisting her head this way and that. "Well how 'bout that..."
"It'll hold the pain off until the worst has passed."
"That'll make the day easier. You're a lifesaver, Twilight."
Applejack pulled herself from the couch and trotted back to the door, followed closely by Twilight. Half way outside she paused and turned back to her friend, giving Twilight another good look at her face. It was pretty obvious she'd been drinking more after she got home. Twilight thought to ask but she knew the farmer would likely refuse to explain in her current mood.
"Listen... I know Sable's probably restin' up right now but you let her know, I really 'preciated her help yesterday."
"Sure," Twilight said, putting on her best smile. "I'll mention it."
"Thanks again, Twilight." Applejack rubbed the back of her head and grinned. "For everythin'."
"No problem," Twilight replied after the door had clicked shut. "Any time..."
She turned back to the library, thoughts racing. There were books to sort but her heart wasn't in it, lost in the morass of questions without answers and unknown variables that her life had rapidly become. Who would have thought inviting a millennia-old immortal to stay the night would become so confusing? But she had to put it from her mind, there would be no answers from Luna yet and she had work to do.
Twilight groaned as she took in the sight of her half-sorted stacks. They were a complete mess. It was incredible how far they could slip in just a single day and she wasn't even sure she'd had that many visitors yesterday. Quite apart from her own brief oversight, the reference section was completely out of order, there were philosophy books all over the history section and someone had moved her ancient religion texts to comedy fiction. Again.
Evening. The sun had set, the moon was yet to rise... Luna watched the horizon with steady eyes and an unsteady heart as her moon slowly crept into view. It felt so fragile, so delicate, as if Celestia's power could shatter it to a thousand pieces. As if that were possible. The first night she had watched her sister raise the moon had been interesting. The second, touching and comforting. Tonight, Luna felt only a sense of loss. The moon rose without her. It rose despite her. The feeling was uncomfortable as it was unfamiliar and she couldn't help brush her consciousness against the remote sphere and Celestia's aura surrounding it.
Her response was another wash of peace and comfort and that same impression of a smile, tinged with curiosity this time. Luna withdrew to herself and continued to watch her moon rise. With a jolt that shook her entire body she realised this was what she had sought. This was different. She took a breath and closed her eyes, revelling in the experience.
"Sable?"
Luna gasped. Somehow Twilight had managed to sneak up on her. The moon was entirely visible now, had been for a good half hour if she were any judge. Time was such a peculiar thing. Luna turned to the young mage with a warm smile and bowed her head.
"Twilight. Shall we begin?"
They moved to the 'scope, Twilight almost bouncing with eagerness as she set up the equipment. Tonight would only be a relatively calm observation of the sky, some more study of the upcoming conjunction and a few other points of interest. Luna wasn't sure they'd be able to face anything more exciting without the risk of an explosion.
"I took great enjoyment in your notes," she said, more as a way to distract Twilight than anything else. The young unicorn slowed, a thoughtful expression forming on her face. "They were most informative. I had not realised quite how out of place some of the planets had become."
"I..." Twilight sat down, eyes wide. "Princess, Sable I mean, wouldn't you already know about it?"
"Would I?"
"But..."
Luna poured herself a cup of coffee and made herself comfortable in one of the chairs Twilight had laid out. They had been shipped from Canterlot and were probably more expensive than many of the smaller buildings in Ponyville, but she wouldn't tell her companion that. "Would you know if two of your books, out of your entire library, were on the wrong shelf, had you been away for a year?"
"Of course!"
Luna opened her mouth to continue, then paused as the reply finally found her brain. This hadn't quite gone how she'd expected. "Dewsnap's Decimal system. How frustrating for my point."
"I'm sorry, I should have–"
"Twilight, please, do not apologise for your knowledge. The stars do not have a sorting system. Much of what I do is instinctive rather than learned and much more relies on influence than direct control. When I returned, my powers were unleashed in ways that were difficult to predict. A thousand years of pent-up influence suddenly released. The only surprise is that so much remained unchanged."
Their gazes both were drawn to the vast dome of the sky, wheeling slowly overhead. Luna found that she kept turning back to the constellation Ipp. From a certain angle it did somewhat resemble a pony, if you looked at it through the eyes of a foal. Or a lush, Luna thought, grinning. She traced the visible elements of the story Applejack had told, or at least what she could remember of it. The tale was familiar enough that she could fill in most of the details.
Twilight had commandeered the second scope and was focussed on some minor detail of the sky. A quick glance confirmed she was aimed at one of the primordial planets, those that pre-dated Luna's own contribution to the skies by some margin. She watched the largest, quite bright at this time of year. The Unicorns had once elevated him to godhood with the epithet Father of Lights.
"Our two friends have a little while before they're visible."
Twilight remained glued to the eyepiece of her scope, peering intently at the object of her attention. 'Our two friends'. She had taken to naming the conjunction in her notes.
"So why did you do it?" Twilight turned from the 'scope and looked at Luna with wide, curious eyes. "Marry this 'Star'?"
"I loved him," Luna replied. She took a sip of her drink, waiting for more questions. When none came, she placed the cup gently by her side and turned to Twilight. "Is that surprising?"
"You probably know my default answer by now."
"He didn't know I was a princess, Twilight. To the very day Star died, I was Moonbeam Dancer, his loving wife and his closest, dearest friend."
"You pretended to be his friend?"
"I pretended nothing! I lived with that stallion for forty nine years. I watched him grow and brighten, and become a great leader. I watched him fade and fall and I saw his spirit leave him, and I mourned his death. I loved him for an entire lifetime."
"But... why?"
Luna stood and paced to the rail, looking out at the quiet streets of Ponyville. For a moment she was back on Canter Peak, a thousand years prior, overlooking the cities of Mane Valley at slumber beneath the night sky, as the two sisters exercised the same conversation.
"It is my nature," she said, knowing Twilight would not find this even remotely satisfying an answer. Luna turned back to face Celestia's charge. "When I say I am the moon, it is no idle metaphor. I must wax, and I must wane. I must live and I must grow, suffer life, feel the touch of death, mourn loss and fade away to be reborn. I embrace this path, Twilight, because it is who I must be."
"But that doesn't explain anything! The last time we met you were–"
"Loud? Awkward?" She waited for the shock to fade from Twilight's face. The young mare slowly nodded. "You find it difficult to reconcile the view you formed of me with my claim to have lived entire lifetimes as another pony."
"It does seem a little far-fetched."
"When we first met, I had spent several centuries within the court of Canterlot. Its habits and mannerisms became so ingrained that I have trouble discarding them even now. It was a life I had lived for far too long."
Luna glanced across at the horizon, judging the time before their two friends would put in an appearance and finding it satisfactory. She settled back into her chair, facing Twilight as she poured them both a fresh drink.
"Like a phoenix," Twilight suddenly exclaimed. She turned to Luna with an excited grin. "You're like Philomena?"
"Celestia once tried to compare me to the phoenix but it is not– I am not like that, exactly. A phoenix does not change when it appears to die, but merely returns to the beginning of its life. I am... different. Even now I am not the same pony you met on Nightmare Night, nor was I then the same pony whom you rescued from the Nightmare. I cannot truly explain my nature, Twilight, any more than you could explain the inner joy of exercising magic to an earth pony. However, if you desire, I shall try and explain its outcomes."
Starlight shone in Twilight's eyes as she stared at Luna. For a while the young mage was silent, searching Luna's face, deep in thought. She took a breath. "Go on."
Luna mirrored the nod, inclining her head. "I cannot remember when we first arose. I recall some images, vague feelings, but my first strong memories are of an argument with Celestia over this very topic. We were yet to reign, however we already commanded some respect and honour amongst the three races of ponies and we were of some importance. They recognised our control over the sun and the moon and welcomed it, as a mediation of their conflict.
"I had felt... a desire. A need to leave, to seek out a place where none knew me. I did not take a disguise that first time. I lived in a small unicorn village in the mountains. It had no name that I recall. While I was there I... aged. I grew old, Twilight. It was an incredible feeling, to grow old. I did not understand what happened at first, and I was terribly afraid."
She paused a moment, waiting for a reaction from Twilight. When none came, Luna closed her eyes and resumed speaking, allowing her mind to slip back to those early memories, still so strong even after all the years laid across them. A breeze blew across her back and for just a moment she was amongst those mountains, deep in a forest of pine and birch, ancient trees sunk deep in brittle snow.
"Thirty years I spent in that place, though I remember little of it. Thirty years of life, and then I... faded. It was as if I slept. When I awoke, I was a filly, and Celestia was right there, giving me the most bitter talking to I had ever heard. I felt invigorated as I had not in years. My powers were immense and I could feel they would continue to grow for some time. I tried to explain to my sister that this appeared to be my nature, that it was something I had been unable to resist, but she didn't listen. It took my transformation into an adult form to even silence her for a moment. I learned then that my form was as malleable as the clouds.
"Thereafter I spent a century with Celestia. She came to terms with my excursion, as she called it, assuming it wouldn't happen again, that it was something I just had to get out of my system. Together we achieved much, shaping the world in ways many would have thought impossible. We established the first true peace between the three races, forged the first alliance against the encroaching threat of the Griffins. And then... I felt the call once again. I tried to ignore it for a few days but it was irresistible, I was driven to complete frenzy and simply left.
"I became a Pegasus and lived in Nephaeleos. I even joined the militia. Pegasi at that time did not marry, but I spent many years attached to a stallion named Hyperbolus and bore him several foals. He died in battle against the Griffin tribes. I mourned his death, but saw our offspring grow to become great warriors in their own right.
"On my return, I learned Celestia had taken a lover as well. They had been happy together, but he had become old. He had been little more than a foal when I left. She loved him like no other, but I could see the growing anguish in Celestia's heart as his death approached. She knew she could do nothing to change his fate. We may be immortal, but it is not something we can pass on, nor could we extend the life of a mortal but for a few days no matter how hard we tried.
"She ran away when his time came. I heard him calling for her but she was gone, hiding. Celestia could not face the death of one she had loved so much, nor could I find her to convince her otherwise. In his last moments I took her form, secretly, to comfort him into the shadow."
Luna fell silent as she tried to order her thoughts. She had not intended to reveal quite this much to her sister's student but the elation she had felt at this odd confession was liberating. Almost addictive. How Twilight would react – how Celestia would react if Twilight spoke to her about it – she had no idea. When Luna looked up, the young mage was staring at the deck, but her mind's eye was clearly looking elsewhere. Her eyes were moist.
"Twilight, if you wish not to hear–"
"No. I wanted to know, right?" Twilight looked up at Luna. The princess felt her heart leap at the trust in Twilight's eyes. Such love for her mentor, for Celestia, even now.
"Very well. When Celestia returned, she didn't even look at his body. She commanded him buried in a place of honour at the shrine of Adara, but refused to attend the funeral. After that, she began to withdraw from close interaction with other ponies. Only I, as her sister, had any close relationship with her. Eventually she began to take on students, protégés, to serve the essential need for companionship in a controllable way but she never again took a lover, nor allowed herself to feel such intimacy with any pony."
Twilight shook her head. "The Princess has lovers. Sometimes I heard her talking about them–"
"She had bed warmers, Twilight. Saddle blankets. She may have been fond of them, perhaps even had feelings for them, but she always ended with them before she became too attached."
"Oh..."
"Perhaps it is unfair to call them that. She found their companionship comforting."
Luna reached forward and touched Twilight's forehoof with her own. The simple contact seemed to strengthen Twilight. She took a breath and looked up at Luna, attentive once again.
"Much of the subsequent history you know. The kingdoms were joined in a federation, governed from Silva Libera, eventually unified as the Principality of Equestria. Our land became whole and our ponies became free and equal before the undying sun. I lived out hundreds of lives, each one bringing me close to our ponies and showing me the wonder and joy of the world. I already had a reputation for eccentricity and my long absences were easily dismissed by the court as wanderlust. Sometimes I did visit far and distant lands, returning with news of many new wonders, for that in itself was a life lived. For a while, it was perfect.
"But as my duties grew, my absences grew harder to explain. I could no longer move freely as I once had. The court we had established became... constant. It served Celestia's needs, not mine. I was forced to deny my very nature in the service of our ponies and so I turned to the only companions I had left. My stars, my moon. I grew to resent the ponies frolicking in Celestia's day, living the lives I no longer could experience. I became isolated and alone, and jealous of my sister's apparent supremacy, and finally there came a day when I felt the call, but could not answer. In my frenzy I tried to overturn everything I had helped create. You are familiar with the end of that tale."
Luna waited, knowing that another question haunted Twilight. She could see it in her eyes. What about me? That was the most dangerous part of her tale and perhaps a good reason never to have raised the subject. But it felt right... someone had to know, even if it was but for a short lifetime; the secret had to be shared.
"She takes students for their entire lives."
The statement was without reproach, powered by curiosity more than anything. "Yes."
"I-if... why? If she's so scared of losing us?"
"Nopony was meant to be alone. Not even the sun is truly alone." Luna turned to the horizon. The first of the two planets had begun to climb, a glimmering pinprick of light far brighter than anything around it. So many companions she had created for the sun. Had she been trying to somehow appease Celestia's own isolation? "She allows herself no true love for any pony but you, Twilight Sparkle. You are her catharsis."
"Well, no pressure then." Twilight's voice was bright, her sudden cheer betraying the fragility of a mind under serious strain. Luna placed a gentle hoof on Twilight's shoulder. The young unicorn turned to the touch, staring as if she had no idea what she saw.
"Ease your mind, Twilight," Luna said. Her horn glowed soft as the moonlight, releasing the barest hint of a spell into Twilight's psyche. It was not a controlling spell or a command, merely a suggestion to her innermost being. The unicorn relaxed almost right away, eyes closing as she took a deep breath.
"Thank you," she whispered. Luna let out the breath she'd been holding. She had not known how Twilight would react to the spell once she recognised its effects.
"I did not wish you to be burdened so, Twilight Sparkle. Please consider it as the apology it was meant to be."
Twilight nodded, blinking away a stray tear. She turned back to her telescope. "I'm glad you didn't use something cliché like Misaki's Memory Mangle."
"Despite what you may believe, Twilight, I do prefer subtlety. I also did not relish the thought of repeating this conversation tomorrow night."
A huff. It might have been the start of a laugh, she couldn't be sure. The spell was still working at Twilight's mind, teasing out a slender thread of tranquillity and acceptance, accelerating a process that would take place naturally over many days or weeks and compressing it to moments. Used sparingly it would allow a recipient to come to terms with profound anguish in a truncated, yet nearly natural way. In a more potent form, it was a magic that had eased more than a few of Luna's closest friends into the shadow, allowing them a final taste of peace as they departed.
Of course, the hangover Twilight would experience tomorrow might make her wish she could join them.
"Looks like our two friends have put in their appearance."
The observation shook Luna from her reverie. Twilight was already making notes, observing the general features of the conjunction in her inimitable penmareship.
"They appear much brighter."
"Almost half as bright as the moon if my measurements are correct." Twilight lowered her parchment to the table. She took a breath. "I never realised how lonely she is."
"She is not as lonely as you may think, Twilight. She has you, after all."
A smile touched Twilight's lips as she took up her notes once again. After jotting a final comment she began to adjust her 'scope. "I was going to ask where these two came from, but after tonight I'm almost afraid to find out."
"Oh, there is little to tell," Luna said. She turned her own telescope on the pair, making a careful note of their position in the sky. "They are based on pegasus tribal mythologies. I'm afraid I was showing off a little when I created them, though the mythology itself is very interesting."
"I'd like to hear about it some time."
"Perhaps in a few nights," Luna replied. She stared up at the two planets, their near-imperceptible motions now clearly visible to her sensibility. How bright they burned... she tore her eyes away from the sight and looked around the sky, briefly pausing as she found Ippomeda. "Twilight, your notes mentioned a comet. I would like to see it if I may."
"O-of course! It's well up in the sky by now, let me find it again..."
The young mage busied herself with her telescope, pointing it at a wildly high angle while she babbled on about the possibility of a completely new comet. Of course Luna knew exactly where the comet was and that it was indeed new, not the fanciful 'reversed orbit' Twilight had hypothesised, but she wouldn't tell her that. There was a distinct satisfaction in having another guide Luna around the stars she knew so well. The pleasure of knowing at least one pony loved her sky...
Luna's eyes strayed to Ippomeda again. A smile touched her lips as she returned her attention to Twilight, but for that moment her mind was filled once more with Bucking Butch and his quest for the perfect fruit, and the stars shining bright in Applejack's eyes as she told the tale.
The following morning found Luna at a loss. Twilight had remained in bed, declaring that she was too tired to wake and refusing breakfast, even going so far as to yell at Spike when he tried to convince her to eat. Not that Luna herself had any particular leg to stand on in regard to mistreating the poor little dragon, though she had at least apologised. Eventually.
It was an understandable reaction to the previous night. The emotional chariot-ride coupled with Luna's calming magic had left Twilight exhausted by the time they slept. It was a surprise she even spoke at all. Nevertheless, without her 'study buddy', Luna had little to do with her time and less idea of how to go about filling it. She moped around the library for most of the morning, reading through books almost at random, and even found herself shelving and organising at one point, to Spike's great amusement.
She had to admit, there was a certain academic pleasure to be found in making sure everything was just so, though Luna had some trouble understanding the lengths to which Twilight would go in pursuit of her perfectionist dream. After an hour she gave up and returned to their notes of the previous night.
So much of what she and Twilight had written made little sense in the light of day. Hypothetical orbital parameters mingled with musings on the inspiration behind early stellar mythologies and a paean to the state of the telescopic art. That one was Twilight's. She'd been in a very buoyant mood as the night wore on. It would still take some time for Twilight to come to terms with what Luna had told her, but she would do it with a clear head. At least, she would once the hangover had cleared up.
The thought had finally brought Luna back to Twilight's bedroom. Twilight was snoozing, her face peaceful and open. Luna stood over her friend for a few minutes, watching her gentle sleep, seeking reassurance that she was well. The attention seemed to disturb Twilight; she squeezed her eyes tight and then inched them open to give Luna a bleary look.
"Good morning," Luna whispered. For some reason that made Twilight giggle.
"I'm fairly certain it's lunch time," Twilight replied, keeping her voice similarly quiet. She pulled herself higher on the pillow. Her smile was stiff and brittle, but genuine. "I'm hungry, but I can't face the thought of food right now."
"It's a side-effect of the spell. I am very sorry I had to do that, Twilight."
"No... it helped. I was almost ready to write to Princess Celestia and demand some sort of, I don't know, reckoning. Maybe tell her off for not trusting me..."
"She trusts you, Twilight Sparkle."
"I understand that, now," Twilight replied. She looked down at her sheets and rubbed her head with both forehooves. "That's the weird thing. I understand. I feel like I've had an entire month's worth of introspection crammed into my head overnight."
Twilight looked up at Luna and grinned. "You're going to have to teach me that spell."
"It is quite simple... but you cannot use it on your own mind, Twilight. The effects are unpredictable."
"Oh... well, it still seems useful to know."
Luna nodded, unsure of how to phrase her reply. She put the thought aside for later and filled the empty moment by levitating a jug of water from the table to refill Twilight's glass. "If you have no other plans for the day, Twilight, I believe I shall take a few hours to explore around Ponyville. It was rather dark last time."
"Oh I have plans, but they revolve around this bed and a good book." Twilight lifted a copy of Daring Do and the Platinum Crown from beneath her pillow and laid it on the bed beside her. Luna examined the cover.
"Platinum Crown? Is it some form of historical romance?"
"Actually... it's more of a teenage adventure story."
"I see... but to reference an object of such import, perhaps it is educational!"
Twilight glanced down at the novel and then gave Luna a most inscrutable look. "Yes. Yes it is."
And then Luna found herself shooed from the room, Twilight declaring that she must rest or else pass out from the strain, which made little sense as she had seemed quite relaxed.
No matter. Luna was no stranger to the need for solitude and Twilight appeared to be in good spirits. The moon princess made her way through the library with unbecoming haste, barely pausing even at the sight of Spike re-arranging her handiwork of the previous hour, and was soon out in the bright sun again.
Celestia's Sun. The heat felt good on her back and her eyes were filled with the riot of colour and life that daylight laid over the landscape. While she loved her night, it could become monotonous to wander a landscape of greys and blues and blacks. She had introduced a few night-flowering plants but even they had quickly reverted to form, almost universally white or silvery-blue. Beautiful in their way yet, to the eyes she now saw with, lacking something.
Luna trotted through the town with her head held high and a broad grin on her face. Nopony noticed her, just as they had ignored her on the first day. None accosted her with sweets or leapt to cover puddles with their cloaks, or flung their bodies to the floor to grovel at her hooves...
She slowed a little. The thought of candy had brought on an unaccustomed pang of hunger, accompanied by the realisation that she hadn't eaten since the previous evening. Though her body was capable of surviving indefinitely without any form of sustenance she was still a pony and, to be frank, she enjoyed food. Luna looked about the street she wandered, looking for sign of a confectioner, or perhaps this 'Sugarcube Corner' she had heard so much about from Twilight. None was apparent. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure what street she was even on and it occurred to Luna that she was not as well-versed with the layout of the town as she had initially thought.
Determined to find something, Luna walked on for a little while. Up ahead she could hear the sound of a busy crowd, punctuated by an occasionally yelled catchphrase. She turned a corner to find herself outside Ponyville's vast market square, filled with every sort of stall imaginable. As might be expected in such an agricultural town the majority of the market sold fruit, vegetables and other raw foods, but there were a few odd little stalls here and there selling trinkets and nicknacks – even one selling the strange and exotic foods of the Hindi though, sadly, lacking some of the more flavoursome spices Luna had found so fascinating the last time she had visited the Hind homelands.
A cry echoed across the market on the wings of a familiar voice, snapping Luna from her contemplation of an excellently made, if somewhat expensive Balushahi. She dropped her bits on the stall and quickly finished the treat before turning to look for the source of the voice. In the distance she saw a large herd, surrounding a stall and a pony in a familiar hat.
"Apples, git your apples! Fresh apples!"
The cry echoed across a tumultuous crowd, possibly the largest Applejack had seen for some time. Trade was good enough to justify having both Apple Bloom and Spritzer backing her up, though she would have preferred to keep the latter working on the farm–
"Geeethapples! Freeeeethamorn! Eeeeeeeyapoun! "
–for reasons that had become painfully obvious as the morning wore on. On the other hand, if she'd brought Big Mac, that would have left Spritzer effectively in charge of the farm and for some reason that just hadn't sat well with her. Applejack ignored the odd cadence of her cousin's hawking style and tried to concentrate on her latest customer, a pegasus stallion of unusual size.
"So that's... that's everythin'?"
The Pegasus fluttered his miniscule wings and nodded, eyeing the three large bags Applejack laid on the stall before him. He tugged a purse from his jogging shorts.
"Forty eight bits."
"Worth it!"
"Yeah?"
The pegasus paused in counting out his money to give Applejack a carefully blank look before resuming. Applejack looked out over the milling crowd while she waited and tried to guess which might be her next customers. There were a few faces she knew, a few regulars whose needs she could already anticipate and it always paid to have a few special orders set aside in preparation.
A familiar black and blue shape bounced into sight at the periphery of the crowd, moving this way and that without making much progress. Applejack took her customer's payment and wished the recalcitrant meathead a good day as she stashed the money in the kitty.
"Spritzer, I'm takin' a few minutes. Watch the place."
"Aye Jack..."
"Applejaaaack!" Apple Bloom bounced into view, eyes wide and pleading. "I'm supposed to watch when you're away!"
"I know, sugarcube, but cause Spritzer's here, I got a better job for ya." Applejack crouched down next to her sister and winked. "I need somepony who can keep her in line, so that means you're the boss till I get back, okay?"
The young filly looked dubious. "I'm the boss?"
Applejack stood up and winked at Apple Bloom again as she moved around the cart. She paused a moment behind Spritzer.
"Behave."
"Tha's t'boss," Spritzer replied as Applejack walked away. She took a breath to resume her hawking when Applebloom's voice piped up from behind the cart.
"That ain't right, I'm the boss now, an' I say y'ain't sellin' them apples right. Y'all gotta shout apples, not earwigglemeep! Apples!"
"Jack!"
"Buy some apples!"
If nothing else the commotion would guarantee the crowd remained, which would result in more sales. Applejack reminded herself that she did sincerely love her cousin and that it was love, and not petty revenge for her loud, loud voice the previous morning, that drove Applejack's harmless little pranks. Besides, Bloom needed to learn a little more responsibility and Spritzer, stubborn as a mule and rude as a clapboard privy, was the perfect education for any aspiring leader of ponies.
Crowds tended to part when Applejack walked through them, like a river around a large rock, perhaps because of the way she refused to stop walking when other ponies were in the way. Applejack was soon out of the madding herd and walking the edge to where she'd last seen the object of her quest. A pale blue mane bobbed uncertainly as Sable tried to see over the crowd.
"Hey there, princess."
Sable turned at the sound of her voice. Her face lit up. "Applejack!"
She trotted over and away from the crowd, a look of relief washing over her eyes as she moved. Applejack walked along with her until they were under the shade of a nearby tree.
"Still got a thing about crowds?"
"Oh yes. It is something I did not expect."
"The crowd?" Applejack glanced at the ponies filtering through the market. As she'd guessed, the antics of Spritzer and Bloom were drawing an even larger herd than usual.
Sable stared at her hooves and shook her head. "The reaction."
"Don't worry about it, sugarcube, we can't help the way we're made." For some reason that seemed to amuse Sable, though Applejack couldn't see the joke. It didn't matter, at least the unicorn wasn't moping any more. "Twilight not with ya?"
"After last night she was very tired and elected to remain in bed with a good book," Sable replied. She grinned and stared at the densely packed market stalls with veiled but visible curiosity. "I felt like a walk and I am rather hungry, so I thought I might solve both problems at once. This is a very interesting market."
"Oh, yeah, interestin'..." Applejack glanced back at her cart and the press of ponies crushed up against it. Apple Bloom and Spritzer were doing a roaring trade. At the sight of so many apples piled high her stomach growled, a reminder that she hadn't eaten since dawn. "Gotta admit I'm a mite peckish. Wait here, I'll get us some lunch."
Without a second thought Applejack plunged back into the herd, eyes set on the cart. After a few steps she felt something brush against her flank, which wasn't unusual in a crowd this dense. But then the pressure remained, warm and firm and far too close. Applejack ground her hooves into the dirt and looked over her shoulder.
Sable was pressed against her, eyes closed and jaw set against the crowd. She took a nervous step forward, never moving from Applejack's side.
"Sable, what the hay?" She briefly thought about abandoning the unicorn back at the edge of the crowd, but something about her stance said that might be a bad idea. Besides, with the way she was pressed against Applejack's side and with ponies closed in all around, there wasn't much opportunity to turn back. "If I'd known you'd do this I would have gone around the outside."
"It is well, Applejack. I must overcome my fears if I am to live."
"Right..."
"Humour me, please," Sable replied. She opened her eyes, swallowed and took a nervous step forward. With a frustrated snort Applejack led the unicorn on through the herd.
Sable remained uncomfortably close to Applejack as they walked. She could feel the unicorn's body vibrating against her side and began to wonder just how bad her fear of crowds must really be. It hadn't seemed so bad while they were at the farm.
She'd ask about it later.
"Hey Applejack, hi miss Moonshine!" Apple Bloom leaned across the stall to greet her sister with a cursory nuzzle, but her eye was on Sable. "Gee, ya look terrible, did somethin' happen?"
"Never mind that, Bloom, just gimme a dozen Winesaps."
"Seven bits."
Applejack raised her eyebrows. She looked up at her little sister and grinned. "Apple Bloom, I only said you were boss until I got back."
"I don't seen ya behind the cart, sis. Seven bits." Apple Bloom held out her hoof and tried to hide a cheeky grin under a serious frown. Applejack rolled her eyes and thought to play along until she remembered the unicorn at her side.
"Ain't got time for this, Bloom."
"Aw come on, AJ, how can I be the boss if mah customers think they can just walk off without payin'? I already gave you a discount!" Apple Bloom glanced down at Sable, who had by now pressed herself between Applejack and the stall cart. She seemed to be calming down. "Is miss Moonshine sick?"
"I am well, little Apple Bloom, I am simply not used to crowds." She looked up at Apple Bloom and smiled. "I shall pay for the apples."
Sable's horn glowed and she levitated seven coins from somewhere on her person – Applejack was always just a little jealous at the way unicorns could hide small items around their bodies; some sort of magic, Applejack guess. Not that jealous, though. She could keep plenty in her hat.
The coins rattled on the stall's counter. Apple Bloom hesitated for a moment, but a quick nod from Applejack set her to enthusiastic packing of their order. As the young filly placed the bag before them, Applejack shot her sister a quick 'we'll talk later' stare before taking the bag of apples and slinging it over her back. She lead Sable around the back of the stall and into the relatively empty space beyond, pausing just long enough to snatch back the money Sable had paid.
"I'm behind the cart," she snapped before Apple Bloom could protest. "Now sell some more apples. I'm goin' for lunch."
By some unspoken consent the pair walked out into the relatively open space behind the cart, headed away from the crowd and toward a small area of parkland. Sable let out a sigh and they both slowed to a gentle walk over the soft grass.
"So what the hay was that all about?"
"Forgive me. I am unused to such fear, Applejack, and I am afraid I acted rashly." Sable looked about the park, eventually settling her eyes on a small river bow. She took a step toward it and then turned back to Applejack. Any sign of her previous fear was gone. "You seemed strong. Perhaps I hoped some of it would rub off on me."
"Well ya sure did plenty of rubbin'," Applejack muttered, but she couldn't help laughing all the same. This friend of Twilight seemed to be so completely out of it sometimes, it was almost like the night Luna had been in town. "I only let you along because I couldn't leave ya behind in that mess."
"Thank you, Applejack. I am very sorry to cause you such concern."
"You're a strange'un, y'know that?"
"It has been said," Sable replied, lowering her head just a fraction. "I do hope I am not imposing on you now."
"Naw... I'm hungry, you're hungry, an' it gets me away from Spritzer for a bit."
They made their way to a low picnic table beneath a broad-limbed cherry tree, surrounded by equally low wooden seats. Applejack tossed the bag of apples on the table and pulled one out to savour while Sable made herself comfortable.
"Y'all enjoyin' your science stuff?"
"Oh yes! It... it is highly engaging." Applejack wondered if she should ask about that dot dot dot pause but thought better of it, reasoning that these science nerds always did talk a bit funny at the best of times. She watched as Sable plucked an apple from the bag with her magic, turning it this way and that, and then bit into it with a thoughtful expression.
"Like it?"
"Ohm hmmf," Sable replied, having forgotten her manners completely. She took another bite and had soon devoured the whole apple with impressive speed. Applejack thought about slowing her down, but it might have sent the wrong signal, so she contented herself with her own food.
"These are not the apples we harvested together," Sable observed as she lifted another with her magic. "Their skin is green, but they are still red on top! It is truly remarkable!"
"That's cause it's a Winesap. Not many ponies pay attention to that sorta thing," Applejack replied. She held up her apple, turning it so that the bite was to one side. "They just see a red apple, or a green apple, don't care whether it's a Winesap or a Golden D or Paula Red or a Maiden's Blush. You could tell em that they're holdin' a Golden Russet and they'd just look at ya and complain that the skin's all knobbly. Not that they'd be eatin' one."
"I see there is a great deal to learn about apples."
"Oh you'd prob'ly pick it up here an' there, though most of mah seasonals don't know diddly about apples,'cept they fall outta trees." Applejack tossed her apple up in the air and deftly caught it with her hoof. "Ain't a problem as long as they do their job."
They fell silent together. For a while nothing but the gentle tinkle of the river and the distant hum of the market intruded, punctuated by an occasional distant call of a trader. After finishing her second apple, Sable picked up a third and peered at it closely. She held it out on her hoof and tossed it in the air, then tried to catch it again. The apple bounced of the tip of her hoof and flipped over onto the table.
"How vexing," she murmured. Applejack grinned and picked up the apple. Out of habit she took a moment to examine it for bruises until she noticed Sable watching her actions with intent eyes.
"Can't do everythin' right first time, princess," she said, tossing the apple back to Sable. The unicorn caught it with her magic, a sly grin creeping across her muzzle. She glanced back at the market as she continued to eat.
"I take it your farm work has eased?"
So casually to the thing she'd not wanted to think about today. Applejack shook her head and tried to keep her ears from falling. "I managed to replace Narrow and Flannel, but it ain't eased up, an' I still got Ginger's medical bills to pay. I'm just out here sellin' some loose stock. Gotta keep the bits comin' just to stay afloat right now."
"Oh. I am–"
"If you say you're sorry one more time, Sable, I swear I'll do something I regret."
Sable put a hoof over her mouth and giggled. "I truly am, but I shall try not to be so in future if you prefer."
"Right..."
Applejack sat back, holding back the sigh she so dearly wanted to let out. She stared up at the few tiny clouds scudding across the sky and shook her head. She gave herself a single idle moment and all her worries began to pile up in her mind again, sucking away any of the joy she'd felt. She lowered her eyes to Sable, who had resumed her attempts to toss and catch her apple. Every time she failed she caught it with her magic.
The look of concentration on her face reminded Applejack of Apple Bloom when she was trying to complete a really hard piece of homework, right down to the way her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth.
"I probably shouldn't ask, but–"
"Applejack, I would love to work on your farm again!"
"I was goin' to ask why you were in the market."
"Oh."
Applejack waited for Sable to toss her apple again. She caught it out of the air with a deft clop of her hooves and pulled it closed to her chest.
"My apple!"
"I'll give it back, just– I won't deny I could use the help, but I thought y'all were spendin' time with Twilight an' her telescopes."
"I am here for quite some time, Applejack. I shall spend a great deal of time with Twilight, but I came here to escape my life in Canterlot for a short while, and to make friends, if I could. I wish to spend time with you and your other friends also."
"Y'all wanna spend time with me?" Sable lowered her eyes and nodded. Was she blushing? It was hard to tell under that dark fur but Applejack could definitely see a faint flush on the dark mare's cheeks. Oh boy. "Sable, I don't know what y'all are thinkin–"
"You are a great heart, Applejack. I have been unaccustomed to such friendship for a very long time." Sable stirred her hoof around the table surface, refusing to meet Applejack's gaze for the moment. "You allowed me to experience your way of life despite your doubts. You are so honest and open, you gave me your trust though you had no reason to do so, and I wish to repay that debt. As I truly enjoyed my time in your orchards, I would work with you again, if you would allow it."
Applejack's jaw worked as she mulled over what she'd just heard. Perhaps she'd been spending a little too much time around Rarity and her gossipy magazines. The whole stress of work thing hadn't helped her judgement much either. With what she hoped was a gentle smile, Applejack passed her purloined fruit back to Sable and nodded.
"Sure, what the hay, I can always use a good bucker."
"Thank you, Applejack. I shall do you proud." Sable rolled her apple across the table between her forehooves for a few moments. "I would make one more request, if I may."
"Shoot."
"Twilight and I are undertaking some night-time observation tonight in order to find a suitable vantage for a group presentation we wish to make, and I would be pleased if you could join us for a little while. You showed me a very different way to view my stars... I believe Twilight would enjoy it."
She finally looked up and into Applejack's eyes. Something about her face made it clear that there was no way Applejack could refuse this request. The farmer lowered her own gaze and found herself toying with another apple; she quickly set about eating it to hide her embarrassment at such a foalish display.
"I can't stay out too late, I got chores an' things tomorrow mornin' before sun-up."
"It will not be long. I am sure Twilight would appreciate sharing this activity with you as well."
"Oh does she ever," Applejack said with a broad grin. "I remember when she showed us that meteor shower a ways back, that was pretty impressive, but I ain't normally got time for fiddly things like telescopes an stuff. Lookin' at a single bit of the sky through a tube kinda takes the fun outta the whole thing."
"But you shall come?"
"Sure! But like I said, I can't stay out too late. Speakin' of late..." Applejack gave the distant town clock a meaningful look and stood up. She'd spent far more time on this lunch than she'd planned. "I gotta get back to the stall before that pair put me outta business."
"Very well, Applejack. Thank you for the meal and the company. I shall see you this evening." Sable's eyes danced as she gathered up the remaining food. She bowed to Applejack, finishing with an overly formal flourish, and then cantered away, head held high and food floating behind her in a deep blue aura.
Applejack paused for a moment to watch Sable, then slowly turned back to the market. She was almost half way back to her stall when she realised what she'd signed herself up for. With a groan at the injustice of a world that could trick her into spending a night listening to Twilight's science-babble, Applejack slouched back to her work.
Twilight looked around the expansive main reading room of the library and found, to her continued disappointment, a lack off any Princesses of the Night. She looked down at her checklist and sighed.
"Not check. Spike, did Sable say where she was going at all?"
"She told me the same thing she told you, Twilight." Spike clambered down from atop the high shelves, another star catalogue gripped in his paws and a bright red flush on his face from the exertion of so much climbing. "She wanted to go for a walk."
He dropped the book on the pile with the others and wiped his brow.
"And you've asked me that every five minutes for the last hour."
"Oh. Well, I just—I really hoped she'd be back by now. We need to prepare for this trip."
"The sun hasn't even set."
"It has to be perfect!"
The yell managed to echo around the room despite every wall being lined with several inches of high quality acid-free paper and parchment, and the echo bounced back and forth for far longer than seemed strictly necessary too. Spike shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears, held up a hand for Twilight's silence and tapped the pile of books.
"You know you checked off the books before I was done collecting them, right?"
"Spike, don't be silly! I knew that you'd have them all ready when we wanted to—oh, very clever." Twilight packed the books into a carry-case and added it to the slowly growing pile of equipment. "I know what you're trying to prove, Spike, but books are always where you want them to be. Ponies can wander off and do all sorts of things that you don't expect, like getting married or spending a fortune on a new dress that they just have to show off to everypony—"
The door crashed open and Luna pranced in, grinning from ear to ear. "Twilight, I have invited Applejack to our viewing this evening!"
"–or that," Twilight concluded, as Luna circled the library. She looked ridiculously pleased with herself. "I thought we were going to invite the others when the conjunction reached its primary phase."
Luna paused and stared up at the ceiling. Her smile faded, but then returned with a vengeance. "It is all right Twilight, I simply wished for Applejack to share her love of the stars with you."
"Her wha—Applejack? Really?" Twilight rubbed the side of her head as she returned to stockpiling equipment and supplies for their brief foray. "You think you know a mare."
Three ponies. That meant she didn't have enough coffee and they'd need an extra seat. Twilight lifted up her checklist and glowered as she erased the items she'd checked off. At least now she had a Sable, but now she'd have to add an item for Applejack as well, though... that would already be ticked too, so it wasn't a problem. Not exactly.
"When did Applejack take an interest in astronomy?"
"She has been enamoured with my sky since she was a filly," Luna replied. She opened up one of the telescope cases and busied herself examining the contents. "She and her brother Macintosh would tell one another stories using my stars as their starting point. She even relayed to me one of their tales. It was highly entertaining!" Luna paused to tap her chin. "Though somewhat rustic."
"Ahh let me guess, it featured a great many feats of apple-related heroism and an orchard?"
"Yes! Much of it was foalsplay, but they independently named nearly all of Ptunia's forty-eight constellations and crafted an entire family mythology around them. Few have viewed my stars so personally, Twilight." Luna turned from her telescope and pressed a hoof against her chest. When she spoke next her words were accompanied by a warm smile. "It was most touching. She is a great heart."
"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it," Twilight replied, her mind still concentrating on her checklist. She might have to start a new one. First item: study old checklist to find out what went wrong.
"You are extremely lucky to have a friend such as she, Twilight. Applejack is so carefree and unconstrained by the meaningless complexities of life. When we worked together that day she bore her responsibilities without rancour or complaint and she freely shared her time with me despite the sacrifices she had to endure. I would dearly like to spent more time at her side."
"Uh-huh." Twilight wondered if she'd have to prepare more coffee or if the flask she'd provided would be enough to split three ways, and then considered the possibility that Applejack might be bringing snacks or drinks of her own. So many unknowns from a single unplanned event! She had to find some way of accounting for these things. She could anticipate a certain number of known unknowns, but it was the unknown unknowns that kept biting her on the butt. "Spike, make sure to pack extra parchment and quills."
Silence crawled through the room after Spike had scampered away to the supply cupboard. For a while Twilight continued scratching at her lists, trying to create something that didn't require a complete overhaul every time somepony decided to invite a friend until the near-complete silence finally burrowed deep enough into her subconscious to finally become noticeable. She looked up at Luna; the Princess was staring at her telescope but her thoughts were clearly focused elsewhere.
"Sable? Are you okay?"
"What—oh, Twilight. Forgive me, I appear to have lost myself in idle fantasy. Had you asked something of me?"
"Oh. No, no I was just, ah, checking my checklist." Twilight held up the scratty parchment and gave Luna an awkward grin. "It—it needs a little revision."
Luna smiled in return, but it was clear her mind was still on something else given the way she had opened and shut the same case five times while they were talking. As the last few minutes of their conversation finally began to filter through Twilight's list-addled brain and into her consciousness, the quill and parchment she held aloft fluttered in Twilight's faltering magic.
"Did you just say you want to spendmore time with Applejack? As in working?"
"Of course!"
"But—"
Sable held up a hoof almost directly in front of Twilight's face. The simple gesture brooked no argument, made as it was with all the authority and poise of a pony used to instant obedience. It was all Twilight could do not to fling herself to the floor in a grovelling bow.
"Twilight, we have discussed this. I came to you first as we share many interests in common and I have previously enjoyed your company, but you and your pursuits are not the sole reason I am here. I wish to once again experience life amongst ponies as their equal, which requires that I come to know them and spend time with as many of them as possible." A smile crept to Luna's muzzle and she turned away to her telescope again. "If you wish to knowwhy Applejack would be one of those ponies... she inspires me. Her life is the complete opposite of that which I have lived in recent years and I wish to experience more of it. I have not felt so connected to this earth than as these last few days as I do when I am working at her side."
"I—"
"Much as you have shown me that my stars are no longer ignored, Twilight Sparkle. Together the two of you have brought me closer to contemporary life far sooner than I had ever thought possible! For this I cannot even begin to thank you."
So easily bought, Twilight's mind growled. Yet it was hard to remain upset in the face of Luna's boundless enthusiasm; the unicorn she now was bounced gleefully around the library as she helped Twilight finalise their packing, declaring constantly her optimistic expectations for how she would befriend more ponies and learn from them.
The pile of equipment was soon loaded into a large truck and readied for their journey. Twilight ushered Spike out of the room with the promise of treats if he behaved himself alone for the night. She returned to find Luna perusing a history book.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
"I merely wished to refresh my memory."
Luna turned a page, her eyes never leaving the book as she replied. Now she had found something to entertain her Luna's enthusiasm had damped down quite significantly and along with the relative peace all of Twilight's earlier worries had started to sneak back, gnawing and nibbling at the edges of her mind and reminding Twilight of how little time she might end up having with her new friend. Not to mention how much of that time would be taken up by Applejack.
The Princess tilted her head as she continued to peruse the text. Her eyes paused on a page about the fall of the Pegasus city-states and widened a fraction as she read. "It is interesting to find what history considers important when you have personally witnessed the events in question."
"I wouldn't know about that."
"Perhaps one day you shall," Luna replied with a mysterious smile, just as there was a knock at the door.
For a moment Twilight thought about simply ignoring the visitor until they went away, just in case they did something to spoil her evening, like invite the Wonderbolts to fly around in front of her telescope, or maybe set fire to the moon. Unfortunately it wasn't quite late enough to be able to say she was asleep, nor could she pretend to be out considering all the lights burning in the library. Sighing, Twilight forced a broad smile to her face and turned toward the door.
"Twilight, y'all in there?"
Of course it would be Applejack. Who else would it be at this time of day when she was about to go out and have fun? Twilight pushed her ire down into the pit of her stomach and opened the door. Silhouetted in the fading light of the evening, Applejack stood and grinned awkwardly back, rubbing a hoof against her leg. The bulging saddlebag slung over her back clinked ominously as she moved.
"Hello Applejack."
"Hey Twilight, I came to—uh, Sable said—"
"Applejack! You are here!" Luna bounced up to the door, grinning broadly, her history book abandoned at the foot of a shelf much to Twilight's chagrin. Against her better judgement she tried to ignore the misplaced tome and returned to smiling at her friend. It was very difficult against the tightness of her jaw, but she managed it well enough that even Applejack was apparently fooled.
"I guess I am at that." Applejack smiled and relaxed under Luna's friendly nuzzle. She glanced at Twilight a little uncertainly, before looking past the pair to the pile of astronomy equipment. "That there what y'all are takin' tonight?"
"Yep."
"Spike said we are making a meal of it, but I did not see anything other than snacks," Luna added.
"Well, I can't rightly say I know better 'bout this than you two." Applejack pushed her hat back and scratched her head. "But y'all thought about how you're getting that big ol' truck out this tiny door?"
Luna and Twilight looked at each other, then at the door and finally at the cart. It was strange how certain ponies could just so casually spot something so profoundly, frustratingly obvious and point it out in the most annoyingly innocent way possible. Twilight put her head in her hoof and sighed, only glad that Rainbow Dash wasn't here or she wouldn't have lived it down for weeks.
Luna's foalish giggle didn't help matters.
The next half hour was spent carefully manoeuvring their equipment out of the library and onto the truck. On any other night Twilight might have had Spike carry it, but she knew that many of the items they were carrying were probably worth more than a significant portion of the entire library's contents – not counting the extremely rare books she kept in her personal collection, of course – which meant she had to keep an extra careful eye on everything.
Strangely it was Applejack who took the most care with their equipment. Luna simply flung boxes and cases around with her magic as if they were lumps of rock, whilst Applejack displayed a disconcerting gentleness that didn't quite fit with the brash and heavy-hoofed image Twilight held of her farm pony friend.
The pair talked away as they worked, Luna quizzing Applejack extensively about apple cultivation and Applejack responding with the sort of arcana that would baffle even the most learned of unicorns. It certainly baffled Twilight.
With the cart finally loaded and Spike safely tucked into his basket for the night, the trio sat down for a moment's rest whilst Twilight contemplated her checklist again. It was almost in order, almost complete, just one final item to tick off.
"Location," she muttered, glancing at the horizon and the last limb of the sun as it slowly fell behind the trees. "So. I thought we should head up to the Saddles. There's a fairly good view of the sky out there and not much incident light from the town."
"Ain't that all the way out near the Everfree Forest?"
"Well, yeah," Twilight replied, rubbing a hoof against her foreleg. Just a half hour and already Applejack was dismantling her carefully prepared evening. "It's isolated and gives us a good view of the southern and eastern sky."
"Everfree forest, isolated and dark ain't the sort of things I'd want to hear in the same sentence, Twi." Applejack ran a hoof through her mane and shook her head, becoming every inch the staid and unadventurous voice of caution Twilight had feared she'd be.
"It's perfectly safe."
"Y'know Ginger said exactly the same thing right before she fell in that there hay baler? She's just lucky the dang thing weren't workin' properly."
She nodded once, as if the point had been made and then sat down with another ominous rattle of earthenware. The annoying thing was, she had a point. Twilight had been so set on finding a good isolated spot that she hadn't really considered the possible dangers. Oh she'd been quite sure that the area wasn't that close to the Everfree and she wasn't aware of any dangerous creatures sneaking out there during the day. As far as she knew the only possible 'danger' in the daylight was an early morning encounter with Lyra on her way to the meditation spot she maintained out there, but at night things might be very different.
With a sound not unlike a collapsing rockpile, Applejack cleared her throat and stared at Twilight for a while before glancing up at the sky. Obviously she'd been expecting some sort of response from Twilight, but the unicorn had no idea what to say.
"If ya want a view east, why not come out to Sweet Apple Acres? There's a spot—" Applejack pushed her hat back and turned to Luna with a broad grin. "Sable, you remember that place I took ya?"
"I remember that it was swaying a great deal," Luna replied. She eyed Applejack's saddlebags with renewed interest before turning pleading eyes toward Twilight.
"Am I going to regret this?"
"Enope! I swear on this here hat of mine it'll be the best place for seein' stars, Twilight." Applejack glanced at her saddlebags and grinned. She took off her hat and held it across her chest. "One way or the other."
Luna's face hadn't changed. If anything her eyes had only grown wider and more desperate as she stared at Twilight with the sort of longing look that must have taken centuries to master. Twilight flopped forward on her belly and cast her breath into the musty grass. Even if it hadn't been her Princess she just didn't have the will to resist a face like that.
"Fine. We'll go see this mysterious swaying spectacle." She pushed herself back onto her haunches and glared at Applejack and Luna in turn. "But you promise me you don't do anything stupid. Especially you."
Applejack reeled from the accusing hoof pointed straight at her, but she was grinning all the same. She must have thought it was a joke. As far as Twilight was concerned the whole night had become one great big cosmic joke at her expense.
"Come on now Twi, would I do anythin' like that? I got responsibilities!"
It wasn't a lie. Not exactly. There was a time when Twilight had thought Applejack was incapable of lying, that her apparently simplistic and up-front demeanour translated into a scrupulous truthfulness. In a way it was true. Applejack didn't lie. Not exactly lie. She left out details, mixed up tales and tall stories, told the parts she thought ponies needed to hear or exaggerated what she thought was important, but she never lied. She wasn't lying now either.
Not exactly.
Twilight bowed her head, admitting defeat. Had any other pony suggested the idea she would have leapt at it, so why did it suddenly become a problem with Applejack was the one to bring it up?
"We'd better get going or we'll miss everything."
"What exactly are y'all lookin at anyway," Applejack asked as they set off toward the farm. She soon joined Luna in tugging the truck, much to the latter's obvious relief. The disguised princess gave Applejack a heartfelt smile and bowed her head to explain.
"As I said at lunch, we plan to make a presentation of certain planetary phenomena and we hoped to find a suitable vantage to do so." Luna shifted her posture as she hauled at the truck and soon the pair fell into a comfortable rhythm trailing Twilight by a few steps. The unicorn slowed her pace, the better to listen to her two friends talk.
"This ain't exactly my purview if ya know what I mean. Does it really make that much of a difference where y'all sit?"
"Why of course!" A grin plastered across Luna's face as she spoke, her eyes rising to the stars again. "The night sky is easily lost behind even the faintest of earthly lights. These stars are not like the sun, who alone will dominate the whole sky and hide everything behind her glory. The stars wish to share their sky with one another and with the moon, but this means that none can ever be that much brighter than the others lest she come to dominate the whole. The others will hide away when such a brighter light is near. Only when we are alone can my stars show their true nature to us."
"Your stars?"
Twilight stumbled at the skeptical note in Applejack's voice. She held her breath as she waited for Luna's reply.
"Well—that is I—"
"Don't sweat it none sugarcube," Applejack said, her voice quiet. She touched her cheek to Luna's and smiled. "It's clear y'all are sure as sugar into you're whole astroomy thing and ya just got a mite excited. Just don't let Princess Luna hear that sorta talk about the stars bein' yours, she might clap you in irons or teleport you to the sun or somethin' and then where would we all be?"
"I doubt that'll happen," Twilight replied. She slowed again to let the cart catch up to her despite the temptation to just run off ahead and escape the—the... she had no idea. They'd barely had a conversation, it wasn't like Applejack was doing anything wrong just by talking. Even if it was a conversation that Twilight should have been having.
"Well that's true. Princess Luna's a lot nicer'n ya would have thought from the stories everypony tells about her."
The truck shuddered as Luna's gait faltered. She coughed and looked away from the path for a moment. "Stories?"
"Oh, just foals talk. Like sayin' she can sneak into your dreams an' steal your soul and stuff? Folk'll come up with all sorts of tales about things they don't rightly understand."
Twilight realised she was holding her breath and let it out as a gentle sigh. This, she reasoned to herself, was why bringing Applejack along was a bad idea. The farm pony had absolutely no sense of propriety sometimes. Wait, wasn't that more Rarity's line? Come to think of it, what was Twilight's line these days? 'Friendship is magic' didn't seem to apply and in any case it seemed a bit stale. Great, another problem to solve.
She shook her head to try and clear the thoughts away. "They're just silly stories from silly ponies."
"Exactly," Applejack replied, casting a small frown at Luna. As Applejack saw her, Sable was staring off toward the horizon with a distant gaze, seemingly lost in the view and also lost to the conversation in general. The farmer gave Luna a gentle nudge to try and draw her out of the melancholy. "Hey, so I thought I might team you up with Pixie and Nickajack on the south orchard tomorrow. Ain't quite so heavy that way. Or mebbe—"
Luna's head snapped around. "Maybe? Applejack, if you no longer feel I am of any use—"
"Sable, you start that agin..."
Luna recoiled and blinked. Her mouth had formed a small 'o' that snapped shut. "I am sorry, Applejack."
"Don't sweat it none sugarcube. Y'see I was just thinkin' about how Ginger was one of my markers." Applejack's mouth turned down a fraction as she spoke. "An' that doggone son of a mule Narrow was another. I've been stuck markin' with Spritzer 'cause those replacements we hired is about as new at the job as you are."
Applejack glanced at Twilight as if seeking permission to go on, to which Twilight could only respond with a shallow nod. As if it'd make any difference. She sidled up alongside Luna as the conversation continued and tried to pay attention.
"They ain't up to much 'cept kickin things and lookin' pretty. I swear Spritzer picks em for their docks 'cause they ain't got more than half a brain between 'em, wouldn't know an apple if it landed on their dang head."
"Whereas I have ample experience in that particular field," Luna replied with a half smirk. The apple farmer choked back a laugh.
"Ain't that the truth!" Applejack rolled her neck until it cracked. The sound seemed unnaturally loud in the still night air as it echoed back and forth amongst the trees. "Anyway, I couldn't help notice ya'll are pretty observant, kinda like Twilight here when she ain't—uh... kinda like Twilight here."
"I certainly am able to observe that Twilight appears less than enamoured with your implied criticism of her more errant behaviours," Luna said, her expression solemn as could be. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't see the slightly confused glaze that crept across Applejack's as she tried to parse the sentence, nor could she see the death glare Twilight shot at the two mares.
"That ain't exactly what I—"
"It is well, Applejack! I am sure all three of us appreciate a jest spoken in good humour."
"A good joke, sure," Twilight grumbled. Luna slowly turned her head to look at Twilight, confusion narrowing her eyes until she looked away again. Maybe she just didn't realise what she'd said? Maybe Twilight was taking things too personally. Maybe Applejack shouldn't be implying that she was crazy.
But had she been implying that? Or was Twilight just inferring from an innocent statement? Luna had said she—but then Luna could have been needlessly inferring as well, extrapolating meaning where non existed and frankly it was easy to assume that no meaning existed in anything Applejack said be—Now now Twilight, you're just being mean for the sake of mean this time.
"Twi, mind the gate!"
"What—"
Twilight heard the crunch of breaking wood at the same time as a sharp pain shot through her horn and into her skull. She clamped her jaw against a reflexive screech. Iead of her, just at the edge of her vision she could see her horn embedded in a thick gatepost, deep enough to cleave a slight crack in the grain. She tugged her head back to free herself and was rewarded with another sharp pain that shot to the base of her skull.
Her pained yelp drew the others closer. Applejack's face swam into her vision, upside down and radiating concern.
"You all right?"
"I've been better," Twilight managed between gritted teeth. She didn't even consider trying to pull herself free this time. "Lu—"
"Twilight, do not speak."
"I think she's stuck." Applejack's face receded and was replaced with Luna. Through Sable's eyes she gave Twilight a knowing look and just the hint of a grin whilst her magic probed gently at the wood.
"Indeed, you do appear to be rather firmly embedded, Twilight Sparkle," she said. The timbre of Luna's magic shifted subtly as she altered the focus of her spell. "It is the lot of the unicorn to always remain aware of her life's direction, lest she place her horn places it was not meant to be."
"Quoting Starswirl isn't getting me out of—" Twilight hissed as the wood suddenly released its grip on her horn, sending another jolt of pain into her head. She flopped backward onto her haunches and gripped her skull with both hooves as a pained moan escaped her mouth. "That really hurt!"
"I am sorry that you were inconvenienced, Twilight," Luna said as she backed away.
"No I mean it really hurt," Twilight shot back. She gently tapped her horn and winced at another sharp stab of pain in her skull. "I think might have sprained it."
She saw Applejack glance at Luna and then raise a hoof. "Y'all can do that?"
"Yes! Ow..." Twilight lowered her head and tried not to think about anything sharp. She felt a warmth before her and saw the shadow of Luna's truncated form lingering before her. A gentle hoof lifted her chin.
"Forgive me Twilight, I did not wish to make light of your injury." Luna smiled. Her head turned briefly as she looked toward Applejack but Twilight could already see the skein of magic curling around her horn again. "It seems she has partially dislocated her medial fornicoma. We call it a sprain because the sensation is somewhat similar, though it can be much more dangerous if left untreated."
A frown crossed Applejack's face, the one she tended to get when Twilight was trying to explain even the most basic of magical concepts. After a few moments the frown faded. "Ya want me to get some bandages or, I dunno, a sling maybe?"
"It is well, Applejack. All that is required is a little of my own spellcraft."
"Right, right."
Luna's amused eyes returned to Twilight as her magic began to probe at the injury. "And you were worried I or Applejack would do something silly. You ought to be more careful, Twilight."
"Yeah well that gate post just came out of nowhere," Twilight mumbled. She sighed gently as Luna's magic worked into her flesh and soul, filling up familiar pathways with an entirely unfamiliar power. As the spell expanded she could sense the immense pool of power Luna was holding back and briefly wondered if other unicorns reacted to her own strength the same way. Then she heard a voice.
We spoke not of your accident, Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight gasped. The voice was certainly Luna's; not the one she spoke with as Sable, but her own. It sounded immense, seeming to come at Twilight from every direction at once and impossible to ignore.
In your anger you all but spoke our name and would have revealed our nature to Applejack. You would not have done so had you accepted our friendship toward her without rancour or resentment. It ill behooves you to treat her so harshly.
There was a strange echo to Luna's voice as it flowed around her mind; Twilight had a sense that it was somehow linked to the ebb and flow of Luna's magic as it worked deeper into her body. The magic was alien, a tangled web of light threaded with what Twilight's mind could only interpret as strands of dark emptiness. Without thinking she pushed her mind toward the threads, trying to discern their structure.
The power she sought began to wane like a flow of water constricted by a valve.
Twilight, you must relax! We cannot complete this magic if you are attempting to analyse it.
Twilight's head bobbed, almost a nod. She pawed at the ground, letting herself fall into the flow of the magic until even that tiny, analytical part of her mind was lost in the experience. A relieved moan escaped her lips as the pain receded.
And then, as gently as it had begun, the spell ended. For Twilight it was like waking from a dream. She had no idea when she'd closed her eyes but now opening them was the last thing she wanted to do. Twilight let her mind drift in a fuzzy emptiness for a while, but that same small part refused to let her relax for very long. There were still traces of Luna's magic teasing at her perception, hinting at the structure of the spell she had just endured, tiny strands clinging to her consciousness like cobwebs.
It was no good. With her mind winding itself into problem-solving mode, the last vestiges of her blissful rest were burned away like mist in the morning sun. Twilight let out a contented sigh and opened her eyes.
Applejack stared back at her. The farmer had seated herself just inside the gate, in the shadows of a gnarled old tree spotted with shrunken-looking crab apples and incongruous blossoms; she looked as if she'd been watching Twilight for some time. The slightest crease of a frown had formed on her forehead. Without warning she stood and returned to the cart, where she began fussing with the equipment in some apparently futile attempt to distract herself. Futile because every now and then she would turn to look at Twilight, still frowning, before looking away again.
Luna stepped across Twilight's vision, cutting off her view of Applejack and everything else.
"Do you feel better, Twilight?"
"Oh." Twilight gingerly tapped her horn and then ran a simple spell through it. "Oh much better! That magic—"
"Shall be explained another day," Luna replied, her expression solemn, though her eyes twinkled at Twilight's eagerness to learn. "For now I must speak to Applejack of our work tomorrow."
"O-okay."
Twilight watched Luna and Applejack as they convened at the cart, returning to whatever topic had animated their conversation until now. Any last dregs of Twilight's relaxation were gone, washed away by the fierce beat of her heart and the buzzing sensation in her legs that all but forced her to dance on the spot. The urge to move became irresistible and she soon found herself tramping back and forth as the pair talked. Finally they resumed their journey, hauling the cart between them. As Twilight cantered through the gate to follow she heard Luna's raucous laughter echoing back along the path.
Her legs locked. For a moment Twilight considered simply abandoning the night and going home to a well-deserved rest, but the thought of Luna and Applejack enjoying her special night would have made it impossible for her to relax anyway. With a frustrated growl she kicked out at the tree. The ancient trunk shuddered under the blow, sending a cascade of bright white blossoms over Twilight's head that in any other moment she might have found beautiful, but which now became nothing but a cruel mockery of the night sky she loved. Adding injury to the insult a single apple dislodged from the tree and bounced off her head with a quiet pok. She glared at the bitter fruit as it rolled to a halt before her. Kicking it wouldn't achieve anything, she told herself. It was only a piece of fruit.
The crab apple was sent flying into the shade of the orchard by a well-placed hoof. Grumbling under her breath, Twilight set off at a trot to catch her companions before they were equally lost amongst the trees.
The moon had crested the horizon and was hauling slowly into the sky by the time the trio reached Applejack's 'thinking spot', a name she'd had to pull out of nowhere when Twilight had demanded the information for her notes. Apparently it was important, although Celestia knew why. The place was the place. It didn't need a name.
"A personal place is named in our heart," Sable had said out of earshot of their friend, which had felt like an agreement and that was good enough for Applejack.
They were unpacking equipment, most of which seemed to Applejack to be expensively pointless and needlessly complicated. Both unicorns had assured her everything here was necessary but she couldn't quite see how. Why'd they need two telescopes anyway? And why the expensive seats when a blanket and a pillow would be just fine?
Sable hadn't laughed at the questions but the amusement in her replies had been obvious, so Applejack just left it at that. No point making herself look dumb. She hauled one of the larger boxes onto her back and carried it over to the crest of the escarpment, where Twilight had seated herself with a little stack of parchment and a flask of coffee.
The scarp stood proud of a little knot of wildlings, their branches heavy with lush golden fruit that Applejack occasionally took as a nice late-summer treat. From her vantage, even in the dark, Applejack could see the weight of the year's crop in the sluggishly exaggerated motions of the cultivated orchard below. She shook her head yet again at the ridiculous nature of her worries, the irony of having too many apples, but at the same time she felt an odd little tingle in her chest at the thought of the extra help that meant she'd be getting.
Twilight didn't acknowledge her approach at first, seemingly lost in the night sky above. Applejack scuffed her hoof in the dirt and waited a moment before speaking.
"So. Where do y'all want this one?"
The unicorn jumped and squeaked at the sound of Applejack's voice. As Twilight turned Applejack was sure she saw the fleeting traces of a frown on her friend's face, but the expression was gone before it could properly register. Perhaps it had been a trick of the light.
Twilight tapped her chin and peered at the box. She pointed to a spot near the trees. "Leave it out of the way over there for now. I'm not sure we'll need it after all."
"Oh." Applejack looked over her shoulder at the box resting on her back and shrugged. "What is it anyhow?"
"Instruments," Twilight replied with a shrug. She levitated the box from Applejack's back and set it on the ground. "Actually I should probably keep the astrolabe and spectrograph. The rest can—is that a helioscope? Why did I bring a helioscope?"
Twilight held up a small wooden instrument that looked like a cross between a telescope and an old-fashioned chaff cutter. A small white panel on the back faced the eyepiece of the scope where it caught a faint glow of moonlight as the instrument moved its lense across the sky.
"That for lookin' at the sun?"
"It—yes. Yes, how did you know?" Twilight lowered the helioscope carefully back to its case and closed the lid. The case floated away in her magic while she turned her attention to Applejack.
"I hear you talkin about sunspots an' things sometimes, and I figure ya ain't gonna be staring right at the sun to see em, right?" Applejack paused for Twilight's confirmatory nod. "Y'all want some way of seein' em without looking straight at it. So you'd want to take your telescope into a dark room maybe and point it at the sun through a hole somewhere, an then let the light shine through on something else like that bit of paper at the back, right? Sort of like when you use a magnifyin' glass to light a fire. Only without the fire."
"That's pretty accurate," Twilight replied. She was frowning again. With another gentle flare of her horn the helioscope was retrieved from its case and laid on the floor between them. Twilight stared at it for a while, deep in thought, one hoof gently stroking the helioscope's seasoned wood frame. She looked up at Applejack again. "You worked all that out just from looking at it?"
"Sure, I guess. Just seemed obvious is all."
"Oh." Twilight's gaze lowered to the instrument again. "Applejack, I—"
"Hold that thought, sugarcube," Applejack said, holding up a hoof for silence before Twilight could protest. She looked back into the orchard, trying to pin down the sound she'd just heard. "I'll be right back."
Ignoring Twilight's frustrated sigh Applejack cantered back toward the shelter of the trees, her ears perked and roving as she tried to catch hold of what had sounded suspiciously like groaning wood. She halted on the very cusp of the orchard and peered into the darkness. "Sable? Y'all wanna come here for a minute?"
Applejack waited for Sable's quite approach. The unicorn seemed very timid all of a sudden, barely lifting her hooves from the ground as she trotted to Applejack's side. Her eyes were fixed on the darkness under the trees.
"Is there something you wished to know, Applejack?"
"More something I wanted to tell—" Applejacks ears perked as the same sound echoed between the trees, almost silent in the still night air. She let her ears roll toward it and waited. "You hear that?"
"I did not."
Applejack shrugged and took a careful step toward the treeline. Again a quiet, creaking groan came to her ears, rolling softly over the scrubby grass of the orchard floor. Sable's frown deepened and she too took a step toward the orchard.
"How about now?"
"I believe I heard something."
Applejack smiled slightly to herself, a tiny knot of pride forming in her chest at how fast her 'student' was learning. "That'll make things easier when you're marking tomorrow."
"I do not understsand."
"When pappy started teaching me how to buck apples one of the first things he did was bring me out here to the orchards late at night. To listen, he said it was, and to learn."
Applejack's smile broadened a little at the memory of those early days of her life. The world had seemed so enormous and exciting. She took another step and soon was walking in amongst the trees with Sable following close behind, the unicorn's head twisting left and right as she looked around the silent trunks.
"Trees talk if you're careful to listen. They can tell us what the weather's goin' to do, what they're goin' to do, when they're ready to be harvested and a whole bunch of other things in between. Sometimes you can get two trees right next to one another and one'll be ready to go while the other'll need a week's wait. If your hearin's right they can tell you that."
"Is this not an earth pony skill? To hear the trees..." Sable's steps faltered at the sound of another quiet groan nearby. Wind rustled the canopy about their heads, leaves shivering in the breeze and setting their trees moving to a gentle rhythm that soon had Applejack swaying along with it. Beside her Sable raised her head and closed her eyes.
"Maybe y'all got a little earth pony somewhere in ya family huh?"
"I—that is not—" Sable bit her lip and her body tensed. She looked away from Applejack as she spoke.
"Oh sugar, I didn't mean to—"
"It is well, Applejack," Sable replied stiffly. "I am not offended despite what you may feel, but I do not believe this is a productive use of our time tonight."
"That so?"
Sable lowered her eyes as she stepped closer to Applejack's side. She brought her head close to the farmer's neck and held it there so that their coats weren't quite touching. "I am sorry, Applejack. I made a promise to Twilight. I intend to keep it."
"Sure," Applejack replied. She smiled despite inwardly cursing her stupidity and forced her ears forward before they could put the lie to her cheery expression. "I guess I got ahead of myself."
"Perhaps. I do not wish to reject your tutoring in this way, but as I said, I have obligations this night."
"Maybe. Ya gotta learn this some time if you're gonna help out, but I suppose tomorrow is as good as any."
"Of course," Sable replied as she turned away. She paused to look over her shoulder at Applejack before cantering back toward the scarp. Applejack waited until the unicorn was out of earshot and then thrust her hoof against the nearest trunk. The sturdy tree shuddered under the blow, casting free a few dry leaves that slowly spiralled to the ground around Applejack.
"Aw horseapples." Applejack leaned against the tree, gently pressing a hoof to its bark. The tree shivered and seemed to lean toward her in the faint breeze. Shaking her head she let her hoof trace over its rough bark and tried to ease the tension out of her back and shoulders. Maybe another visit to the spa... "You think maybe I'd learn to keep my big yap shut once in a while, huh?"
The tree remained silent as trees were wont to do, being generally rather poor conversationalists at the best of times. Applejack gave its bark a final pat and moved away, her mind turning over the conversation, trying to find some way to reverse the damage she was sure she'd done. After just a few steps she heard a crack and thrash of something falling through the leaves above; she looked up just in time for an apple to bounce off her forehead.
"So that's what that feels like," she mused. The apple had fallen to the floor at her hooves and Applejack, not wanting to waste a perfectly fine fruit, picked it up. She considered downing the apple there and then, but then a better idea came to her. Two swift kicks to the tree later and Applejack was carrying a trio of perfectly ripened bright red apples out to her friends.
"Snack time," she called as she stepped out of the trees. The two unicorns turned to look at her, Sable with a smile and Twilight with a scowl that she was trying very hard to hide. Between them a pair of telescopes had been set up to point at different parts of the sky. Most of the cases Twilight had insisted on bringing remained in a neat stack near the cart, unopened.
Not receiving any obvious response, Applejack cantered to Twilight's side and dropped the apples on a low table she'd set up. Before they even landed one of the apples was seized in Sable's magic and whisked away for close examination.
"Are these not the winesaps we shared yesterday?"
"Nope. Red Delicious," Applejack replied. Sable seemed to be in high spirits, for all that Applejack was sure she'd insulted the mare again just moments earlier. The unicorn had already chewed through half of her apple before Twilight even bothered looking at the other one.
"So many names for a humble fruit." Sable took another huge bite from the apple and chewed slowly as her attention returned to the telescope. Magic flickered across the surface of the instrument as she adjusted it. "It is as if each has its own life and purpose."
"They're all still just apples when you get to the core of it," Twilight muttered. Applejack chuckled at the pun, but her mirth was short-lived as Twilight shot her a sour look. Trying to fill the awkward silence between the three, Applejack sidled up to her friend's side and tried to look at some of her discarded notes. Twilight hastily pulled the sheets of paper into a neat stack and flipped them over.
Okay then. Applejack pushed her hat back and turned her face toward the heavens. "So. What are y'all lookin' at tonight?"
"A conjunction." Twilight's reply was curt and without the excitement she usually displayed when she was involved in anything remotely scientific.
"It is the conjunction of Erato and Pistis, the event we wished to show to you and your friends a few days hence."
"Or we could tell everypony now and ruin the surprise."
Sable gave Twilight a sideways glance before rolling her eyes, though she was smiling all the same. Applejack wasn't quite sure what to make of that smile. It seemed far too knowing.
"I would tell you more," Sable continued as she made a few final adjustments to her telescope. She smiled again at Applejack as the farmer sidled over to the scope. "Apparently I am sworn to secrecy on that matter, however I cannot stop you from observing the night sky."
"So y'all need to look at 'em through that thing?"
"Oh heavens no! The telescopes allow us to more accurately gauge the motion of the planets so that we might know when they will reach their closest apparent approach. The conjunction will be clearly visible to all when it reaches its peak a few days hence. In fact it is already visible now."
"I guess, uh—" Looking around the horizon, Applejack tried to spot whatever they were talking about. "I don't rightly know where I'm supposed to look."
Sable moved around the 'scope and up alongside Applejack, pressing herself just a little closer than Applejack was comfortable with. She tried to shuffle away but Sable's foreleg caught around her shoulders, pulling them together. The astronomer head out a hoof toward a bright light close to the horizon.
"Pistis." The hoof swept toward a second light a little higher in the sky. "Erato. In current astronomical terms they are called two of the Late Planets, but they and their compatriots were once called the Lights of Luna's Mane. Each one was said to represent something close to her heart."
"That ain't something I ever learned in school."
After a short silence Sable's leg slipped from Applejack's body and she moved away, resuming her place on the far side of the telescope. She looked up at the stars, blinking her eyes but smiling. "It is not widely known beyond a select circle."
"That's true, even I didn't know until right this second," Twilight muttered. When Applejack turned to look the unicorn had her eye pressed firmly to the eyepiece of her telescope; the other was still open but staring at nothing. A large book hovered near her head, filled with ranks of neatly ordered numbers and carefully drawn diagrams.
"You never asked about it."
"Neither did Applejack," Twilight shot back. Sable huffed and took a step toward Twilight but her response was cut short when Applejack lifted a hoof to her chest. Shaking her head, Applejack gave the unicorn a short but meaningful glare.
"She's right, y'know. I didn't ask in so many words, ain't no point gettin' mad at her for tellin' the truth is there?"
"Of course you are right, Applejack." Sable lowered her head and closed her eyes as she spoke. "I apologise for involving you in our dispute."
Applejack shook her head. It seemed Sable and Twilight shared more than just book smarts and telescopes. "I ain't the one ya should be apologisin' to, sugar."
She nodded her head toward Twilight and gave Sable another firm stare. The unicorn frowned briefly; for a moment Applejack wondered if she might have to make the point more bluntly, but then Sable bowed her head again and slowly trotted over to Twilight's side. The two spoke quietly, though most of the conversation seemed to be dominated by Twilight's urgent whispers with just the occasional muted response from Sable. After a moment of silent contemplation Sable muttered a final thought to Twilight and then gently but briefly nuzzled Twilight's cheek and neck. The move seemed to surprise Twilight almost as much as Applejack, leaving her blinking and staring at Sable's retreating form as the dusky unicorn made her way back to Applejack's side.
"We have reached an accord," Sable said quietly. A confused frown flashed across her face as if some important thought had occurred to her. Tilting her head, she smiled at Applejack. "That is, we have come to an agreement. This place will be adequate for our purposes, if you so choose to allow it. However her acceptance of my apology was conditional on she and I spending some time alone here."
"What? But that ain't—"
"Applejack." Sable's ears turned briefly toward Twilight as she took another step forward. She held her head close to Applejack's own and lifted her mouth close to Applejack's ear. At the same time Applejack felt a hoof brush against her chest. "As you said, I was at fault and if this is what it takes to regain Twilight's affections then it is what I must do."
Lowering her eyes again, Sable turned away to gaze at the horizon to the east. As Applejack followed Sable's gaze she saw Ippomeda cresting the treetops. Each of the constellation's stars glowed bright and clear against the night sky, far brighter than she ever recalled seeing them before; around it she could see other parts of the tale of bucking butch shining like beacons
For the shortest of moments even the faint breeze across the scarp died, leaving the air still and silent as a summer noon.
"Perhaps it is my quest," Sable murmured. A gust of wind ruffled her mane and forelock as she turned to look at Applejack, a faint but determined smile gracing her features. She lifted her chin; the smile disappeared. "Please indulge me this small way, Applejack. I shall see you at first light if you still desire it."
"Uh, sure," Applejack mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but it was probably up there with the top ten strangest things she'd seen on the farm. "Bright'n'early, like you say. I'll make sure y'all get a proper breakfast this time."
"My thanks, Applejack," Sable replied with an overly formal bow. A the very base of it she looked up and winked, grinning at Applejack's discomfort with the peculiar honour. Chuckling nervously, Applejack pushed her hat forward and turned away from the scene.
Applejack paused near the cart to retrieve her saddlebag and took a moment to look back at the two unicorns; they were already deep in conversation, Twilight gesticulating broadly at the sky as she spoke and clearly in higher spirits than a few minutes earlier. Sable seemed to have perked up too, sitting quietly to one side and nodding occasionally as Twilight spoke. Now and then she would point to some part of the sky and say a few words, which would set Twilight off on another monologue.
They seemed happy.
With a sigh and a shake of her head Applejack turned away from the scene and trotted back beneath the cover of the orchard. Beneath the trees the moonlight shone bright and clear, dappling the meadowgrass between the tree trunks like a summer glade wrought in fine silver. She soon found herself slowing to take in the sights and smells of the night, her hoof-falls slow and gentle as she enjoyed a feeling of absolute peace.
Despite the peace she felt restless, her limbs burning with a desire to run. No direction in mind, no place to run to, just a feeling, a demand that she run. Applejack almost did run, but the weight of her saddlebag and the knowledge that running in the dark was asking for trouble – even with the moon so bright as it was tonight – kept her hooves planted firmly on solid ground as she fought the urge all the way back to her home.
That night Applejack dreamed of galloping through a vast and trackless wood, her laughter flowing freely as her mane, her hooves cutting divots in the loose litter of the forest floor. She danced between the trees as she led her unseen companion on a wild chase, calling to one another in wordless joy as they ran.
She woke just as they tumbled together in a broad, sunlit meadow. Applejack found herself wrapped in her sheets, drenched in sweat and panting furiously. Her room felt muggy and warm, the air humid and stale on her tongue. Wordlessly Applejack struggled out of the snake-like tangle of sheets and stumped across to fling her window wide, letting in a cool morning breeze. The moon had long set and a faint thread of light stretched across the eastern horizon.
Applejack stared at the light for some time, but even as she turned away to her morning routine her mind was still lost to that sun-soaked grass, the distant paradise of forests and fields, and the longing that had filled those bright blue-green eyes gazing down at her.
There were but a few stars still visible as Luna made her way to the gate of Sweet Apple Acres, along a path that promised to be very familiar by the time her stay in Ponyville was ended. In Canterlot at this time her day would already be drawing to a close, the moon having fallen past the horizon some time ago and her still-truncated duties ended. Celestia would be upon her balcony, renewing the link between sun and earth and obsessively planning the many thoroughly boring details of the day ahead. Luna, meanwhile, would be bored out of her skull and trying to avoid the attentions of the oh-so-discreet watchers and spies Celestia had set to keep an eye on her.
She slowed her pace to take in her surroundings, smiling and nodding to herself as she looked over the mist-laced meadows and dark-headed thickets scattered around the outskirts of town. Not a servant or noble or pestering palace official in sight.
A flock of large black birds bounded and squabbled in the open field alongside the path as Luna passed by, calling to one another in loud, rough voices as they jockeyed for position in some indiscernible, ever-changing hierarchy. Luna paused at the gate to watch the clamour. Every now and then one of the birds would hop into the air and land at the centre of the group with a loud croak, setting off a flurry of flapping and pecking as the others tried to reorient around the interloper. Soon they would settle to a temporary peace and resume feeding and shouting at one another until another of the great black beasts rose into the air and started the whole thing over again.
"Rooks," a voice said to her right, from the far side of the gate.
Luna turned to look at the newcomer and smiled as she found Apple Spritzer leaning on the gate post. The old mare was watching the birds with a lazy sort of interest, not really paying attention to the individuals so much as the entire group. She examined a hoof as she spoke again.
"Them's rooks. Tha's from t'city, aye, so tha's prob'ly wonderin' if thi's lookin' at crows, but them's rooks. Tha can always tell." She looked up at Luna with an unusually stern expression. "If tha see's a rook by it's own sel' it's a crow, an' if tha see's a pile o'crows in a field then thi's lookin at rooks."
"I see."
"Aye."
The pair watched the birds frolic and fight for a short while longer until Luna turned, reluctantly, from the ongoing battle of the misty meadow. She cleared her throat.
"If a crow were to find itself amongst the rooks, what would the outcome be?"
For a moment Spritzer stared at the birds, pouting and tugging her lip with her teeth. She frowned. "Nothin' much. They don't alus see eye to eye but they's still birds. Rooks an' crows'll eat together. Even jackdaws, though them buggers is always off starin' at shiny trinkets. Now ravens, that's a different matter. Tha's prob'ly seen ravens, aye?"
The look she gave Luna demanded an answer; Luna responded with a curt nod, which seemed to satisfy Spritzer. The old farmer turned back to look at the rooks, though her eyes settled some distance beyond the flock. She pulled her hooves onto the fence and leaned forward.
"They look alike, but none of t'others stand to be round t'raven for long. Raven might try an' fit in but it'll stick out like a black chestnut on a white mare." As she spoke, Spritzer tossed another narrow-eyed glance toward Luna. "Sometimes they'll let it stay a while if they's not so hungry, but sooner or later they'll kick it out and send it packin'."
"I see."
Spritzer nodded slowly, looking at Luna with a more cheerful expression as she continued talking. "So tha's back for t'work, aye?"
"Aye. I mean yes," Luna replied, turning away to hide the momentary flush of her embarrassment. She cleared her throat. "Applejack believes I can assist with the marking of your trees."
"Oh Jack." Spritzer shook her head and laughed quietly as they began the short walk to the farmhouse. Another pony trotted past, oblivious to their presence as she made her way toward the orchards. "Tha's got her addled an' no mistake, youngun. Whatever tha said to 'er last night—"
"We did nothing but look at the stars."
"Then tha's made her lunatic," Spritzer shot back as they rounded a corner into the farmyard. It was empty today. All the workers were already lost amongst the trees and buried in their work. "Jack, tha's a complete and utter nit if tha thinks t'unicorns can 'ear t'trees."
This last was addressed to Applejack herself, who had taken up a seat on the porch and was watching the pair through lidded eyes as they approached. A stalk of grass rolled lazily around her mouth as she chewed on it. "She only needs the basics, Spritzer."
"Basics, she says." Spritzer kicked at a pebble and shook her head. "Aye, lunatic tha's come. It's one thing for a unicorn to buck apples, Jack, but this?"
Applejack spat out her grass and pulled her hat forward. With a deliberate lack of haste she stretched her forelegs, rolling her shoulders several times before she slid from the chair and sidled over to the rail.
"Spritzer, go join up with Fritter."
"Jack—"
"Did I ask a question, Apple Spritzer, or did I tell you to go join up with Fritter?"
Taken aback by the force of Applejack's response, Spritzer didn't even give her usual 'aye' as she turned to leave. By the gate she paused briefly to look at Applejack and rolled her eyes before trotting away into the mist-filled orchard.
Applejack didn't speak for a while after Spritzer had left. She stared at the trees, seemingly lost in thought until the rhythmic crack of applebucking echoed from the distance, followed by a loud whoop and the rumble of falling fruit. Her head jerked at the sound, her body following the movement a moment later as she quickly turned to face Luna.
Just as quickly she looked away again, shaking her head slowly. "Sorry about that."
"It is well, Applejack," Luna replied. She glanced over her shoulder at the distant farm gate and smiled. "Apple Spritzer was just explaining to me the difference between rooks and crows."
"Y'all didn't know—" Applejack shook her head again. "Never mind. Guess you told her why you're here?"
"I did. She did not seem well-disposed toward the idea."
"Yeah, well that's Spritzer. If she ain't got a thing to complain about she'll make one up." Applejack kicked at the dirt under her hooves. "I didn't mean to snap at her like that. I should probably go talk to her at breakfast an' apologise for bein so curt."
"I am sure she shall not bear a grudge against you."
"Spend enough time around Spritzer and ya might change your mind about that, princess," Applejack replied with a rueful grin and what Luna assumed was meant to be a gentle thump on her shoulder. Fortunately the farm pony didn't notice Luna's clumsy stagger as she tried to remain upright nor did she hear the grinding clack Luna's teeth made as she bit down on an involuntary yelp.
By the time Applejack was paying attention to her again Luna was entirely stable, though in the process of balancing against the blow one of her back hooves had dropped into what Luna sincerely hoped was just a muddy puddle.
"Am I to assume she was correct?"
"Kinda," Applejack replied. "I mean, y'all were half right last night, hearin' the trees is a sort of earth pony magic, I guess. It ain't really magic though, not like the fancy stuff y'all do with your horns. It's jus' listenin'."
"All of our species embody their own forms of magic," Luna replied, wondering just why Applejack would so minimise her own talents, even as she attempted to identify the dubious ground on which her hoof rested. It didn't feel particularly hopeful. "But even if it is not a form of magic, still Apple Spritzer did not seem to believe that I as a unicorn would be capable of it."
"She's just stubborn is all," Applejack responded. She glanced at Luna and almost smiled, but there was something in her eyes that Luna couldn't quite identify. "A pony like you could learn to hear the trees in their own way, I reckon. An earth pony like me who's spent her whole life listening, well she just has what Twilight would call a more imperlicit understandin' of what they say. Y'all could—shucks we're here talkin' about it when I should be showin' you how! You just come along now, I'll explain it all when we get there."
Luna waited for Applejack to turn away before carefully extracting her hoof from the puddle. The distinct odour of pig slurry drifted past Luna's nose, just strong enough to make her think about gagging without actually doing so. She wrinkled her nose and tried to shake the worst of the muck from her hoof as Applejack lead her on toward the orchards.
Grass, that was what she needed. Luna fell gratefully upon the thick, mossy carpet beneath the trees, scraping and rolling her hoof against the grass until her pace became an odd hopping stumble as she tried to keep up with Applejack.
"You okay there?" Applejack had paused to watch Luna's progress. She pushed her hat back and shook her head at the sight.
"I– I stepped in something."
"Yeah, that'll happen on a farm," Applejack replied, grinning wryly. "Normally I'd say you should trim off those fetlocks but I reckon Rarity would tan ma hide in your case."
Luna lifted a foreleg and peered thoughtfully at her hooves, not daring to think what her hind leg looked like at the moment. "She did seem rather enamoured with their appearance. I wasn't aware they were considered so attractive in this age."
"Attractive? Well yeah, I guess some ponies like em. They seem to work for Mac anyway." Applejack nodded to the big red stallion as he passed by in the distance. They set off at a slow pace through the orchard again. "There's a water trough on the way, y'all can have a quick splash around in that if you need it."
"I suppose that shall be sufficient," Luna replied, though she was unable to stop herself holding her nose in the air as she said it, prompting a chuckle and quiet remark about 'Canterlot princesses' from her friend.
They were heading toward the part of the orchard Luna had visited on her first evening prior to her work, far away from the vast, young monocultured trees that bore Sweet Apple Acres' most profitable harvests. Here the trees stood farther apart from one another, spaced less evenly, their trunks gnarled and twisted in their age and their branches reaching toward one another as if stretching out for support and comfort. Luna found herself glancing up at the overladen boughs to see if she could identify their fruit, but she couldn't quite make out the breed except that they were a rather colourful green; in the end it seemed they were still just apples to her untrained eyes.
As Applejack had promised they shortly came to a water trough, though as Luna trotted up to it she found to her dismay that it was almost completely empty. A shallow, greening puddle stretched along the bottom, sluggish and dark and reeking of algae. Luna placed a forehoof on the edge of the trough and stared at the water for a while, wondering if the new stink would be preferable to the status quo.
"I guess I should have seen that coming," Applejack sighed. She peered into the trough and shook her head. "Maybe y'all could magic some water out of the ground and fill it."
Luna's hoof tapped against the trough as she considered the idea. "Tempting as that may be, Applejack, I fear such an act might impact the health of your orchard."
"That so?"
"It is indeed so," Luna replied as she turned from the trough. Her gaze came to rest on Applejack and for a moment she was struck by how attentive the pony before her had become. A smile crept to Luna's lips as she spoke. "It is a matter of balance. Were I to extract water from the ground sufficient to fill this trough, I would leave a volume of extremely dry soil that would in its turn draw moisture from the rest of the orchard."
"Ain't that much water though, right? We don't normally take more than a couple of buckets out of the well to fill one of these." The trough rattled under a hefty kick that set the slimy puddle at its base waving sluggishly back and forth.
"In truth no," Luna replied. She scuffed at the ground; Applejack's gaze lowered to her hoof. "However, if I were to do it but once, the temptation would then be to use the same shortcut again and again without heed. Many of our more powerful unicorn brethren even today see no issue with such behaviour. It is one of the many reasons why the unicorn tribe lost the ability to farm."
"Oh. I get ya." Applejack lifted her head and pushed her hat back to scratch at her mane. "I can see how that'd be a problem, yeah. Guess it ain't quite the same as digging a well after all."
Luna shook her head and Applejack, nodding quietly, turned back to look at the empty trough, lost in thought. She stared at the water for a good few moments before she spoke again; her voice when she did was quieter, somehow less bold than Luna had come to expect from the brash farmer.
"Y'all talked about balance," she said, looking up at Luna, frowning slightly and narrowing her eyes just a little. "What about if you took just a little bit of water from all over the place? Would that work?"
"Theoretically," Luna replied slowly, tapping her chin. She stepped away from the trough. Applejack seemed to take it as a sign they should keep walking and the pair had soon left the clearing behind.
"That's a Twilight answer right there. Theoretically." Applejack shook her head and laughed. "She either clams up cause she reckons I won't un'erstand, or she comes out with all this hubbub about quantum laryngitis or some doohicky like it an' proves I can't."
"I was not aware that Twilight would look down on you so."
Applejack's gait faltered for a moment and she frowned, but then shook her head. "She don't. It's just the way she talks. She ain’t dishonest or mean about it, though when she holds it back sometimes I feel like maybe she's hidin' something, y'know?"
After a moment's hesitation that she was sure Applejack would spot, Luna spoke again. "Do you feel that I am hiding something, Applejack?"
Again the apple farmer laughed and shook her head before tilting her hat back to get a better look at Luna. There was no suspicion on her face when she spoke, though she hesitated for just a moment. Luna felt herself blush at the sudden attention and turned away before her own face betrayed her.
"Sugarcube, y'all are as easy to read as one of Twilight's books. The kind with the big letters an' the pictures that Bloom used to read when she was little." Applejack's pace slowed as they passed by an obscure marker that Luna couldn't interpret, but that seemed to please Applejack simply by its presence. "All you're hidin' from me is the answer 'bout that water."
"Oh."
"If ya think I wouldn't get it—"
"No, it is simply..." Luna closed her eyes and held her breath for a moment as she tried to order her thoughts. That Applejack seemed to take everything she said at face value felt strangely troubling, yet the worry was tempered by Applejack's eagerness to acquire her knowledge.
She let out the breath and willed herself to relax. At her side, Applejack was peering around the orchard, perhaps already sinking into the routine of her work, but Luna could feel the curiosity radiating from her even so.
"In one sense it is not a complex skill. Telekinesis is something all unicorns master at an early age." As she spoke, Luna cast a sliver of magic toward the ground, drawing a few drops of moisture together into a slender string that she curled up into the air before the two of them. Applejack watched the water raptly, her eyes widening at the sight and a little smile playing across her lips.
She lifted a hoof to the water and then hesitated with the tip of it mere fractions of an inch away from the flowing surface. "So ya could do it?"
"As I said, in theory it is possible." Luna idly formed the water into a loop around Applejack's outstretched hoof and held it in place, waiting to see how Applejack would react. With great care Applejack raised her hoof a little higher and laughed as the water moved with it.
"Well ain't that somethin',” she said, smiling. “But there's a but, right?"
"A caveat, yes. Two in fact. The first is that most unicorns have a great deal of trouble manipulating more than a few objects at a time." Luna unwound the watery band, releasing Applejack from its bonds. The water broke apart into a spray that fell pattering to the grass as she dispelled her magic. "Which leads to the second. Water, in fact all non-solids, cannot be handled as simply as a piece of rock."
As she spoke Luna brought forth another thread of her magic, levitating a small stone from her hooves until it floated between them. Another thought set the stone circling between the pair. Applejack put her hoof down as she watched the pebble swinging back and forth in its orbit.
"Why not?"
"For the same reason you cannot hold water between your hooves," Luna replied. She held up a hoof against the stone, halting its motion through the air with ease. "I can hold this stone with my magic much as I hold it with my hoof because it is solid. If I press one part of it, the rest moves with it." She pushed against the stone, moving it out of the grasp of her magic."Water is not the same. Press on it and it moves away. Grasp it as you would a rock and it escapes."
The stone fell as Luna's magic ceased its hold upon it, a trail of shimmering motes chasing it to the ground. They both watched it land.
"Okay, I think I get it. So y'all need a magical bucket. Or maybe some sort of invisible tube thing." Applejack lifted her hoof to stare at the damp ring of hair around her wrist and then looked around at the orchard, hear ears tilting this way and that as she mulled over the problem. "And I guess if you wanted to pull little drops of water from all over the place y'all would need a whole heap of tiny little magic buckets?"
"Yes! Though the analogy is not perfect. In reality they are a manipulation of the standing magical field that introduces a series of tensors which create a kinetic potential well in the local aetheric topological matrix. To implement multiple instances of such a topology over a broad area would require an immense level of both power and control that..." Something in the way Applejack's shoulders sagged a little made Luna lose her train of thought. She moved a little closer to her companion and nosed at her cheek. "Applejack? Is there something the matter?"
"Naw, ain't nothin'." She turned her head away and then let out a loud grunt. "Okay, maybe it is. Ya got lost in those big ol' words like Twilight does when she thinks an idea ain't all that interestin'."
Luna smiled. She couldn't help herself, faced with Applejack's downcast face and folded ears that spoke of how much she had wanted the idea to succeed. Or perhaps she had just wanted Luna's approval of it?
"Dunno what ya'll are so happy about," Applejack groused as they resumed walking.
"Your belief that an idea which has been studied by generations of extremely talented unicorns is uninteresting, Applejack, amuses me greatly. That is why I smile." She waited a moment for the words to sink in. Somehow Applejack managed to frown and raise her eyebrows at the same time, but her ears popped forward a moment later and she looked up.
"Generations? Really?"
"Of course. The greatest minds of our history have studied problems of this nature in order to discover more efficient farming techniques. The consensus has long been that many little magical buckets would be the most effective way to draw large amounts of water without causing any significant issue, though I understand the idea was not particularly popular amongst the earth ponies of the day, who considered the use of magic to be dangerously lazy; neither was it popular amongst unicorns, who prefer to extract water from a single column of earth in order to minimise their energy expenditure. In fact the strength or finesse required to manipulate so many objects rules out the technique for all but the most powerful or talented of mages."
"I expect they ain't all that interested in farmin'," Applejack mused, shaking her head.
"It is so, Applejack," Luna replied with just the hint of another smile. "In addition I can think of three alive today who could perform such a task. Two are alicorns."
"And I guess the third..." Applejack's head tipped back. Her laughter danced in Luna's ears like the rustling of leaves in a breeze. "Twilight?"
"Indeed. She has immense skill, though I understand she has lapses of control when she is under stress."
"You could say that," Applejack said, frowning. She glanced up at her trees and grinned, though there was an odd tilt to her mouth. When she spoke again Luna could hear a hint of melancholy in Applejack's voice. "I should have figured. A year or so back she helped out with the harvest after I went and tried to clear out the entire east orchard alone. I saw her scoot all the apples clean off four or five trees at the same time like she was picking a daisy. That one sure is somethin' else."
"Perhaps you should employ her to fill your water troughs," Luna replied. Applejack's laughter echoed around the orchard.
The last of the stars had disappeared when they reached their destination and Luna, finally paying attention to their surroundings, found she was momentarily unable to articulate what she saw. The orchard appeared as a vast, deep and ancient forest before her, its carpet of perfectly flat turf stretching into the distance between broad, rugged trunks. Here and there she could see small circular depressions in the ground, too regular and evenly spaced to be anything natural, but clearly out of use for quite some time.
They were free of grass too, she noticed as she peered into one. Rich red earth and a thin layer of dried, cracked clay lined the bottom of the pit.
"Flood catchers," Applejack explained before Luna could even formulate the question. She wandered up next to the princess and peeked into the earthen bowl before turning away. "The soil up here don't take in water too easy. Tends to flash-flood when the rain comes through, so paw or gramps probably figured they might as well get some use out of it an' dug these holes all over to hold on to some of the water. Whenever a flood comes through we got ourselves a nice set of waterin' troughs all read an' waitin' and it helps water the trees too. Maintainin' them is a pain in the dock but they're worth it."
"How ingenious," Luna replied as she turned away from the pit. The description had sparked something in her head, an idea she might be able to discuss with Twilight later on that evening. She filed it away and turned her attention back to Applejack. The farmer had apparently fallen madly in love with one of the trees if the way she was gently caressing its trunk was any indication. Applejack's quiet murmurings to the tree as Luna approached did nothing to dispel the notion.
Applejack's loving monologue continued until she happened to glance up at Luna. Her jaw set and her mouth turned down for a moment. "Old trees. They can get kind of ornery round this time of year."
"They do not appear any different from the others," said Luna as she turned to examine another of the trees. It stood mute and firm and imposing, every inch the strong tall silent type so favoured by certain romance authors.
Applejack's replying grin carried just a hint of a secret to it. She raised her eyebrows and patted the tree trunk as she stepped away. "Trees ain't much for expressin' themselves. I mean they're trees, right? But they're still alive, they still move with the sun and feel the air on their leaves an' they get more ornery than Granny Smith when they're old and a storm is comin'. That's the kind of stuff ya have to listen out for."
Ears twitching as she looked this way and that, Applejack trotted a quick circle around Luna until her eyes came to rest on a pair of trees a short distance away. With a nod and a quiet snort she nudged Luna and pointed her in the direction of the two trees. "Y'all see those two?"
"I do," Luna replied. She tilted her head and couldn't help a playful smile as they walked toward the pair. "Is this to be a test of my ability to discern which is ready to 'drop', as I think you might put it?"
"Ain't nothing wrong with a little test," Applejack responded, now taking her own turn to raise her chin a little. She indicated the trees again with a tilt of her head. "Okay, you tell me which one of these trees can stand to be thinned off before tomorrow."
Sporting what she knew was a grin far too cocky, Luna sauntered up between the trees, before leaning against one and curling around it to look back at her friend.
"You must be aware I have slightly better than even odds of picking the correct tree purely by accident? It might be this one." Luna watched Applejack through narrowed eyes as she curled languorously around one tree and then the other, relishing the touch of rough bark against her coat, a sensation she hadn't enjoyed for quite some time. Her hoof slipped to the ancient wood. "Or it might be that—"
Though barely noticeable, nevertheless the tree shivered beneath Luna's touch. She paused, frowning, and turned to stare at its trunk, then raised her eyebrow at Applejack in turn. The farm pony's eyes were wide and focussed, fixed on Luna's hoof as if to urge it on. Luna let her eyes return to the gnarled, lichen-crusted bark of the tree as she searched her memories for any similar reaction. She had worked as a farmer in the past, but never in an orchard and certainly never in such close relation to the earth as Applejack apparently enjoyed. She hesitantly recalled the events of her first morning as Applejack had patiently explained the mechanics of apple bucking.
"Applejack?" She couldn't help or hide the quaver in her voice. Applejack trotted to her side, grinning fit to burst and tapped the tree gently. No apple fell upon them this time.
"Seems like Montana here likes you," Applejack said. Her grin faded as she looked into Luna's eyes; it seemed as if she was searching for something in particular, but Luna had no idea what it might be. She felt her heart contract in her breast, drawing the breath from her lungs.
"A-Applejack, I—"
The farmer lowered her eyes. Her hoof had strayed to the tree again and she began to stroke it gently, sounding out a rhythmic rat-tat-tat as her shoe bounced across the rough bark. Each touch drew a susurration from amongst the highest branches of the tree.
"Like I said, you're easy to read as one of Twilight's books." Her hoof slowed and fell to the ground. She looked into Luna's face again.
Luna felt a blush rising on her cheeks and quickly looked away. Of course the bearer of Honesty would be able to see through such a shoddily-worn disguise. What other outcome should Luna have expected? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I have been foolish," she whispered. "I thought, even after all this time, I could maintain the façade, but—"
"Now look, I ain't one to judge what a pony don't tell another. I hide stuff all the time, it ain't a thing to be ashamed of, long as you don't lie about it when a pony asks." Applejack stroked the beginnings of a tear from Luna's face and smiled at her. Again Luna's heart rolled and tightened. How had Applejack so easily discerned the truth? And why wasn't she reacting with fear, or with anger?
"None but Twilight was supposed to know! She— we share such secrets as you have not seen, Applejack, I would not keep any such from her." Not knowing what to do, Luna began to pace between the two trees, pausing at the foot of each for only as long as it took to see them. "But now I say it aloud, you must surely believe I keep myself hidden from any friend I find. Yet I am no liar, Applejack!"
Luna's pacing ceased at the foot of one of the trees. She stared up into branches that her burgeoning tears reduced to a fractal nonsense of light and dark.
"All I wished was to find companionship and seek out a life different from my own, but now I shall never— Oh, I am undone!"
Luna fell to the ground with an almighty sob, not caring about the undignified heap in which she ended up, or that her new arboreal companion shuddered yet again at the touch of her hooves. Yet through her keening she heard, not the reproach she had expected, but a quiet, friendly laughter. The surprise was such that she found herself entirely unable to concentrate on her self-pity. Luna scrubbed at her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Applejack.
The farmer took off her hat and fanned her face. "I've gotta hand it to you, that right there could give Rarity's best a run for her money."
"I-I do not..." Luna frowned. She lifted her head to peer at Applejack, her fears forgotten for the moment. "You are not angry at my deception?"
"You ain't deceived me about a dang thing, Sable," replied Applejack. Why was she keeping up the pretence? Then the farmer stepped over to Luna's side and nuzzled at her cheek. Luna's mind reeled as the certainty of her fear fell away under the soft warmth of Applejack's breath.
"B-but I did not tell you of my true nature, Applejack."
"Well now..."
Applejack dropped her hat on the ground and settled on the grass next to Luna. With so slender a space between them the cool morning air soon grew warm and comforting, and Luna soon found herself leaning closer to her companion. Applejack remained unmoved, neither accepting nor rejecting the motion.
"What if I told you I already figured it out?"
"I am not sure I understand."
"First day you were here to work, you touched that tree, it shook itself up like it weren't expectin' you at all. I put it out of my mind at the time, but then after how you acted out last night... well, I got to thinkin'." Applejack rubbed her forehead and snorted quietly. "You ain't just some fancy-britches unicorn come down from the city to yuck it up with Twilight for a few weeks. Y'all are... well remember what I said, that something ain't always what it looks like?"
Luna's jaw felt as if it would crush itself, bound by the same fear that had tormented her the day the Nightmare had been banished from her body. She swallowed and held her head still. At her side, Applejack let her hoof fall to the ground again, frowning and silent. She turned her face away to the orchard.
"I sure as all never meant for you to think I was tryin' to trick anything out of you. I just figured maybe it'd be a kindness to show you a way of the world you probably ain't seen before." She pressed her forehooves together and stared at the grass trapped between them. "I know it ain't easy, bein' one thing on the inside and another on the outside."
With a sigh Applejack rolled away from Luna and onto her side, stealing the warmth away as she went. Luna shivered under the cool air that replaced her friend; she clenched her jaw without thought, and closed her eyes as she turned away again. It was only after a moment of silence that she realised Applejack not acting as she had expected. Her lack of obeisance, the frankly intimate way she had treated Luna in the aftermath of the supposed revelation, these were not the actions of a pony who had just found a princess hiding in her orchard.
Luna reached toward the tree to let the tip of her hoof brush against its bark, and felt its heartwood sigh at her contact.
"Applejack?"
Luna's glamour had been incomplete by design, leaving aspects of all three races alive within her body even if they appeared hidden, in order that she could escape it on a whim. Perhaps Applejack had recognised the magic of her own kind within Luna. Would it be a lie to allow herself to confess as much as Applejack had discerned, and no more?
She looked up at the tree, then turned her eyes toward Applejack. Her throat closed up, just for a moment. Just long enough to hold the truth inside. Luna swallowed and took another sharp, short breath.
"Tell me. What do you believe I am?"
Applejack's ears fell back. She turned, her head bouncing back and forth so that she would look anywhere but Luna. "Sable—"
"Please, Applejack." Please lie for me.
Applejack's ears rolled forward at the plea and she turned, tilting her head to one side as she examined Luna. Her eyes narrowed abruptly.
"It don't matter," she said, and then closed them. "You're a pony. You can kick apples out of trees. That's all I care about."
"You must care about a little more than that, Applejack," Luna replied. She kept her voice low, lest her words spook her friend. "You care enough to seek an answer. You care enough to question your actions when you come to believe you may have hurt me." She reached out to touch Applejack's hoof and tried to smile when the farmer looked at her in surprise. "It is true I have hidden much from many ponies. It is my nature, I suppose, to divulge only that which is necessary to live a life. But I promise you this, Applejack. If you ask anything of me, I shall not withhold it."
She found her hoof wrapped in both of Applejack's. The farmer – her friend – returned Luna's smile and nodded just a little.
"Ask," Luna prompted. Applejack sighed and shook her head.
"Fine, if that's the way you want to play it. Are you part earth pony?"
Luna snorted and bowed her head, letting her eyes drop to the grass on which they lay. "I embody the strengths of the earth tribe. Your people are a part of me, as much as the unicorn." She raised her eyes again to Applejack and couldn't help but be amused at the odd frown the farmer now wore. "Is that a satisfactory answer?"
"Kind of a weird answer." Applejack clambered to her hooves, grabbing her hat as she rose, then slapping it atop her head, all business once again. She looked up at the tree they had rested beneath. "Anyhow, now that's out of the way, did ya figure which was which?"
"I shall assume both," Luna replied as she likewise stood. Applejack's head bobbed as she tried to conceal her laughter, but she was unable to hide the grin that filled her face. "It would appear I was correct."
"Lucky guess."
"Indeed. However, were I in your position I might have employed the same trickery."
"It ain't a trick," Applejack shot back. She turned, leading Luna out into the rest of the orchard once again. "It was a test."
"Of course. I would apologise, but a pony of some importance advised me that to do so would be cause for much trouble."
Applejack's ears twitched. A moment later she burst out laughing, and Luna couldn't deny herself the chance to join in. They walked on quietly for a while longer until they reached another boundary marker, at which Applejack halted and turned to look back along their route. She grinned at Luna. Then her smile faded a little.
"Spritzer'll be fixin to have a fit about this, one way or the other."
"All shall be well, Applejack," Luna replied. She raised her nose a little. "Besides, you do not appear to be the type to tolerate ill temper from your associates. I am sure she shall see reason."
"Like I said, spend enough time around her..." Applejack shook her head. "Family, huh? Can't live with 'em, can't toss 'em in the creek."
And that was Luna's turn to laugh. She leaned her head close to Applejack, not quite touching the farmer's cheek. "It is a truth I believe we both know all too well. Now, how might we set about this marking?"
"Well it's simple enough. We'll work the first twenty together, so I can show you what you're lookin' for. If they're ready to drop just mark them with— aw shoot," she growled, glaring at the nearest tree. "I forgot the chalk."
"That is not a concern, Applejack," Luna replied. The farmer turned to her with a frown, but it disappeared as Luna's magic sprang to life and drew a pair stumpy twigs from the ground near one of the trees. A powerful flare of the same magic reduced the twigs to charcoal. She passed one over to Applejack with a graceful bow. "Shall this suffice?"
Applejack examined the charcoal stick and then nodded, before tucking it into her hatband. She held out a hoof toward the nearest tree. "After you, princess."
"Why thank you, Applejack," Luna replied as she sauntered toward the trunk. Close to it she paused and looked up at the branches.
Which was when Luna recalled that Applejack had neglected to tell her how she was supposed to discern when a tree was prepared to give up its fruit. She stared at her tree, then at the charcoal that still drifted in her magic as she pondered the way to overcome this issue. Asking Applejack would have been the obvious choice, but the farmer had decided to make herself scarce right at that moment – possibly as another test. Possibly to find a privy. Regardless, Luna was alone.
Tentatively, slowly, she reached out to touch the bark and waited for some sort of response, but the tree remained silent. Luna lifted her hoof and stared at its branches again. Of course an epiphany of that sort would have been far too simple. In all her times as an earth pony, Luna had never once had to commune with the trees, or indeed with any nature on such a fundamental level. She had always preferred the lives of makers, builders and craftsmares to the toil and hardship of a farmer's life. Perhaps it was an oversight she should correct in future.
She turned to seek her friend, who would gladly answer the question— and then she turned back to the tree, frowning as a curious notion formed in her mind. She placed her hoof against the bark once more, closed her eyes and spoke.
"Are you ready?"
Outwardly nothing changed. The tree shifted against her in a breeze that rippled through the orchard, trailing behind it the quiet hiss of shaking leaves. Within, she became acutely aware of something that felt as if it had always been at the back of her mind. Of course it was ready. In fact it had been ready for nearly a week and was becoming quite upset, inasmuch as a tree could feel such things. Luna resisted the urge to scratch at her legs as she withdrew her hoof and stared up at the apples again, bobbing away in a light breeze.
"It is a strange thing," she mused. "The solution to so many problems is to simply speak. Shall I do so now, and risk my friendship? Or shall I wait until she finds cause to ask?"
The tree before her remained silent, perhaps pondering the question. Luna stared up into its branches and was struck by a recollection that made her smile, until she heard Applejack's voice echoing amongst the trees.
"Sable, y'ain't here for dawdlin'! Git along there!" Applejack came prancing up between the trees, with her head bobbing and a stern set to her eyes and jaw. She paused. "Something the matter?"
"I was merely considering." She pursed her lips as she thought over how to phrase her next words. "Did you not say Twilight removed a great many apples from your trees at one point?"
"That she did." Applejack's face split in a wry grin at the look Luna gave her. She nodded, then shook her head and let out another, very different laugh. "I didn't have the heart to tell her at the time. I just made sure she stuck to cartin' afterwards. I tell ya though, we ain't been wantin' for compost this whole year."
"I see," Luna replied. She turned to the tree to begin what she hoped would be a thorough and efficient examination, until Applejack nudged her in the ribs.
"There ain't nothin bad that can't have something good grow out of it," she declared.
"I sincerely hope you are correct, Applejack," Luna replied as she marked her first tree.
Twilight stared at the half-sorted shelves of her library and sighed. Books lay strewn across the floor, or stacked neatly at the foot of various shelves, waiting for her to return them to their homes. A cup of coffee stood on the table near her hip, barely warm, and forgotten long ago as Twilight had carefully disassembled her collection, book by book, and laid it on the floor. She could hear Spike padding around somewhere in the background, likely laden with the results of yet more of her efforts, carrying out his work without complaint or rancour.
It wasn't fair to ask so much of him, she realised. Of course, a lot of things weren't fair. The fact that she couldn't work out why she had started this reorganisation in the first place was a very good and very immediate example of that particular truth. That morning she had begun with gusto, tearing books from their shelves, dusting, cleaning and even finding time to mark a few for repair or replacement. Now, just a few hours later, she was reduced to listlessly pulling books from their piles and re-arranging them into others.
Her mind strayed to the empty bed in the room she now shared with Luna. Its well-made sheets and perfect presentation made it look as if it hadn't even been slept in, but Twilight knew better. They had both gone to bed at the same time, both bearing steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and Twilight had fallen asleep in the middle of a sluggish debate on the merits of the new Dale-Kiger reflecting telescope some time around midnight. Despite that late hour Luna had apparently been gone before the sunrise, if Spike were to be believed at least, and long before Twilight had awoken.
That didn't seem fair either.
Her magic reached for another pile of books of its own accord, swinging them into a spiral in the air so she could examine the covers. At least, that was the idea. Instead she found herself staring at the wall as each book slid across her sight, unheeded until she noticed the same book had passed by three times in fairly rapid succession. Sighing, she let the books gather into a halo over her head and turned to look for her coffee, only to find it missing.
"Spike, have you seen—"
The dragon popped a hand up from behind a pile of books and silently pointed at the space over Twilight's head. She looked up, only to find her mug lurking between The Net of Shallots and She Borrowed Books Without Asking.
"Thanks, Spike." Twilight sheepishly lowered the coffee to her lips. Of course it was cold when she took a sip. She put the coffee to one side and returned to organising her books.
Without knowing what she had intended, however, there didn't seem to be much point to the chore. With a sigh and a shake of her head, Twilight settled the books into a neat pile on the table and turned to contemplate the library again. For a moment she was silent, listening to the quiet creak and groan of her home as it shifted in a gentle breeze. Luna was out there, enjoying the days that Twilight had almost ritually shunned for large portions of her life as she set herself to study.
What did fair mean, then, when the Princess of the night herself ignored one of its most avid observers? Twilight reluctantly turned from the shelves and sought out her poor and overworked assistant.
"Spike, take the day off. I'm going for a walk."
"Oh, but—" she heard as she turned to the door. The rattle of Spike's claws ceased as he paused to consider her orders. "Oh."
Obviously Spike was confused by the flurry of activity and its equally abrupt halt, she reasoned as she stepped out into the bright morning sun. Perhaps it would do him good to take a break.
The town was quiet as Twilight made her way along its grassy streets. She had no particular destination in mind, but was instead content to let her body lead itself while her mind wandered across the memories of the last few days. Her mind kept turning back to the night before, a night that would have been perfect if not for Luna's bizarre infatuation with Applejack. Fortunately the warmth of the sunlight on her back was just enough to keep Twilight from too much brooding.
Before long she found herself at the market, weaving between knots and strings of ponies as they shuttled back and forth between the stalls. To her left stood a large stall in front of a tent from which blew the scent of exotic spices and foods alien to her senses, and for a brief moment Twilight considered paying a visit. But only a brief moment; she had no idea what the stall sold and there was no guarantee she'd like whatever she bought there.
She pressed on, drawn toward the vague centre of the market, where the crowd was tightest and the hawkers loudest. Before she could take more than a few dozen steps, Twilight heard a familiar voice ringing clear over the hubbub, and turned to see Rarity waving at her from the foot of a haberdashery stand.
"Twilight, you've been all but invisible the last few days," she called out as Twilight made her way through the crowd to the stand.
"I've been busy, I guess?"
With a nod, Rarity turned briefly to finish whatever haggling she had begun, exchanging a stingy pile of bits for an extensive selection of tassels and buttons and frilly things that Twilight couldn't quite identify. With the transaction completed she let out a petite sigh, before drawing Twilight to one side, well away from the cart and its owner.
"My, yes, I expect you've had a lot of late nights and long mornings curled up in bed," Rarity sighed. "If only you knew how I envy the life you lead, Twilight. Daughters of nobility turning up to visit on a whim, the Princess herself at your beck and call..."
"Rarity, that's really not—"
"Of course it isn't, darling, I was just having a little fun!" Rarity poked Twilight in the ribs and giggled, but her mirth faded when Twilight didn't join in. A frown tweaked at her brow as she regarded Twilight's sullen pout, and she turned to fuss with her saddlebags for a moment. "Well I was just about finished here, and frankly I'm famished. How about you and I take a light brunch?"
"I'm really not hungry," Twilight said, only to be contradicted a moment later by her gurgling stomach. She pursed her lips and raised her snout just a little, but couldn't hide from Rarity's penetrating gaze.
Despite her continued protests, Rarity ushered Twilight down the street and away from the market. The smile she wore was broad and bright, and just a little worrying in its intensity. "Whether you're hungry or not, Twilight, I insist that you accompany me. I shall pay for your tea, and you shall bring me up to date with the latest goings on between yourself and your delightful guest who, I must add, has been severely remiss in fulfilling her promise to visit my boutique."
"I expect she's been busy as well," Twilight muttered. Rarity's response was a muted 'hmm', which rapidly segued into a cheerful melody, timed to her steps.
Fortunately the café Rarity had chosen was close enough that Twilight's silence didn't become uncomfortable. Just a short distance from the market, the café stood on one of the main roads through town and saw a constant stream of ponies passing by its gaily decorated frontage.
As soon as the pair arrived they were ushered into a prime outdoor seat – a sign, Rarity remarked, that the proprietor thought at least one of them was worth showing off to the passing crowds – and by the time Twilight had made herself comfortable a waiter was cantering toward them with a steaming pot of tea.
As the cups were set down, Rarity cleared her throat and smiled at the waiter. "My friend here shall not be dining today, but I believe I shall have the Crocus and Petunia salad. And leave the pot."
Rarity waited as the waiter nodded and trotted away, then turned her attention to the tea. Though she poured their drinks with absolute precision, her attention was entirely on Twilight.
"I must say, darling, you seem a little out of sorts."
"I'm fine."
"Of course," Rarity replied, as she spooned a generous serving of honey into her tea, and followed with a dash of lemon. She held the jug out to Twilight. "Honey? Or would you prefer milk?"
Twilight shook her head. "I'm not in much of a mood for tea."
"Twilight Sparkle not in the mood for tea?" Rarity released the tea utensils from her magic – gently, lest they spill – and turned her full attention to Twilight. Something about the way her eyeliner was applied gave extra force to her gaze, and after a moment Twilight had little choice but to look away. "Are you ill, dear?"
"It's nothing!"
Twilight sought out the honey pot and tipped a generous amount into her cup, before shooting Rarity a grin. Rarity's gaze only seemed to grow more penetrating, but then she pursed her lips and looked away with a slight shake of her head. Free of the gaze, Twilight took a brief sip of her tea, only to grimace at the sickly-sweet taste of too much honey.
Rarity, in contrast, let out a ptite sigh once she had tasted her own tea. She set the cup down in order to stir in a little more lemon.
"You know, I rather enjoyed our picnic the other day. We see each other so often, but we seldom seem to have time to just be together. Such friendship as ours surely can stand the test of absence and time, but nevertheless, I feel we are missing out." A confused expression passed across Raritys' face. She blinked, and looked about at the milling crowd, before turning to Twilight again. "What I mean to say is, it would be nice if the other girls were here with us. Sharing tea with your friends is so refined, don't you think?"
"I'd prefer it if Luna were here," Twlight muttered.
"Luna?"
Twilight felt her stomach dive into a pit somewhere between her ankles. She very slowly closed her eyes, then just as slowly opened them again. "Um... well, you see—"
"Ah... I believe I may have discerned a portion of what troubles you, Twilight."
"Y-you have?"
"Of course! It's so obvious when I think about it."
Twilight's ears rolled back. She bit her lip. "It—it is?"
"Well, yes! A mysterious never-before-mentioned friend turns up out of nowhere and promptly sets up a huge telescope on your balcony. The pair of you sequester yourselves away from the world for days at a time, spending your nights side by side as you study the stars together; you the gifted amateur with a keen interest, she the wise and all-knowing master of a sky with which she is intimately familiar, learning about one another as much as you learn about your common interest..."
With a hoof pressed against her chest, Rarity let out a wistful sigh. She smiled and returned to her tea, taking a long moment to inhale the steam flowing from within her cup. "And then, disaster! You fall out over some minor detail. Inconsolable at the loss of communion with a pony you hold so dear, you find you can't stand to remain within the confines of your home, and that's how I come to find you moping around the market at a time of day when you're normally either buried in a book or re-organising your library."
"How perceptive," Twilight deadpanned.
"But of course! I confess it is a matter of some pride that I am able to discern the troubles of other ponies. It is amazing how often a few well-placed words can turn a potential client into a regular customer." Rarity took a sip of her tea. "Given that you wished for Princess Luna herself to put in an appearance, it seemed most likely that you and Sable have had something of a disagreement over a matter of astronomical arcana that an outsider such as myself might consider trivial, but which to your minds is of supreme importance."
"Actually she's decided to go and work for Applejack."
Rarity's teacup tattled against its saucer as her magic briefly flared and failed her. She tilted her head. "Well I can see how that would be the cause of some friction too, I suppose."
In the following silence, while Rarity attempted to regain her composure and restore order to her place setting, Twilight raised her own cup. She stared at her reflection in the tea's dark surface, noting the first hints of dark rings around her eyes. Lack of sleep. The cup settled down again as she released her grip on it.
"It's just not fair, you know? She came here to spend time with me! She's too important to be working on some dirty f—" Twilight stuffed her hooves in her mouth and squeaked. Her eyes sought out Rarity, who regarded Twilight in return with a cool smile.
"Important, darling?" Twilight nodded. Rarity drew her hoof around the rim of her cup and pursed her lips. "To you?"
Again Twilight nodded, but then forced the gesture to become a shake instead. She placed her hooves squarely on the table and took a calming breath. "She's important to a lot of ponies. The work she does is vital for all of Equestria."
"Cataloging stars?"
"Well, it—she does more than that! But that's not the point! She... I thought..." Twilight lowered her head. She could feel a little wet spot at the corner of her eye, but if she rubbed it away she knew it would only get bigger.
Out of nowhere she felt a hoof touch her shoulder; when she looked up, Rarity was smiling at her again, and holding out a hanky with her magic. Twilight took the gift and gingerly dabbed her eyes.
"Well now," said Rarity. "Is it fair to say that you have certain expectations about this visit that are not being entirely satisfied?"
"I suppose." Twilight sniffled and blew her nose, though she didn't really need to. She let the hanky drop on the table. "When she contacted me, it seemed like she wanted to spend time with just me. I've admired her work for some time and I've wanted to... to renew our friendship, I guess? I think I was the first friend she's had since—well, she's been lonely a lot. But now she keeps interrupting our time together with Applejack and it's just not fair."
"You've said that twice, now, dear. Is it fair to want her all to yourself?"
The first answer that came to Twilight's mind wasn't anything she wanted to repeat, especially not to one of her friends. She let it wither at the back of her mind. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rarity held up a hoof for silence.
"You're right, it wasn't fair of me to say that either," Rarity continued. She smiled as she tugged her hanky away to some hidden corner of her bags, before leaning forward across the table to pat Twilight's hoof. "It seems to me that this entire episode was brought about by a certain lack of full and frank communication. Perhaps if you raised your concerns with Applejack, the three of you might be able to come to some sort of compromise?"
"Talk... to Applejack?"
"Of course! I am certain she would not wish to come between you and your friend. After all..." Rarity picked up her tea and took a delicate sip. "Is it not this magic of friendship that brought us together in the first place? Surely you want Sable to share in that? And I would question whether it's entirely fair to resent the fact that Applejack has become a friend to Sable too."
"But she's my friend! Not..." Twilight's voice faded away beneath Rarity's gaze. It was an entirely normal gaze, friendly and reassuring, but behind the façade there lay a cold, steely glint. With a sigh Twilight let her head fall forward until her horn bounced on the table.
"Quite so. Would you like some more tea, dear?"
"I think I've had enough," Twilight sighed.
"That's quite understandable. It is a rather potent blend."
As Twilight lifted herself from her seat, Rarity lifted the teapot and poured herself a fresh cup. She smiled as she set it down and took an appreciative sniff at her drink.
"We must do this again some time, Twilight," she said as she raised the cup. Twilight paused, frowned and then nodded before turning away.
With no particular direction to draw her, Twilight was soon lost among the crowd. Ponies pressed toward her left and right, drawing her forward in a slow, steady current that soon became impossible to fight. Before long the crowd had pulled her to its centre, and to the functional centre of the market, an area that moved around with the most popular stalls. After a few more steps, Twilight found herself hemmed up against an immovable barrier.
"Howdy!"
Twilight looked up. With a start she recognised Applejack's cart, but the pony herself was absent. In Applejack's place sat a mare Twilight had never seen before, though her identity was easily discerned from the swaddle of bandages that almost entirely covered the cutie mark on her left hip. The edge of what looked like a cookie peeked out of the bandages, like the setting sun behind a misty horizon.
"Excuse me, are you Ginger?"
"Sure am!" The mare leaned forward, wincing briefly as she moved her injured leg, and peered at Twilight. "And you're Twilight Sparkle ain'tcha? After some apples, hun?"
"Um..." Twilight blinked and looked around. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose."
Ginger's attention turned briefly from Twilight as she packed a large bag of fruit for another customer. "Well that manner of speakin' better be mighty quick and simple, missy, 'cause I have a whole mess of customers here an' I don't want no trouble from Miss Applejack if y'all figure what I mean."
"Oh. Sorry, I—" Twilight moved closer to the cart to avoid a surge of ponies at her back. "Actually I was looking for Applejack."
"Back at the farm," was Ginger's curt reply. She picked at a pile of golden delicious, tossing a few into a bag, before picking up one more and taking a huge bite. "Showin' that other friend of yours 'round so she can act like she's some sort of farm pony. I mean, no offence to y'all, hun, but you unicorns ain't exactly built for farm work. Pretty little thing like that ain't got no place on a farm, 'specially when you figure how she'll be tearing around with that horn of hers. That's just beggin' for trouble if ya ask me, an' I should know 'bout trouble too!"
Ginger patted her hip as she laughed at her own joke, though the laughter soon turned to a grimacing wince and a hiss of pain. She grit her teeth and placed both hooves on the cart.
"So did you want some apples or not?"
"Oh. No, I guess not." Twilight backed away as best she could and tried to maneuver through the dense crowd. She looked over her shoulder at Ginger and nodded. "Thanks."
"Ain't a problem, sugar! Hey if y'all are headin' up that way, tell that girl this ain't no nobels obligay hobby farm y'hear? Ain't right, takin' up harvest time like that when there's work to be done!"
Before Twilight could frame a reply, Ginger had returned her attention to the crowd and their demands. The ponies around Twilight jostled and bounced her away from the cart, until she was deposited rather roughly at its edge. Serendipity might have put her on the road to Sweet Apple Acres; instead Twilight found herself right outside the door of Bon Bon's Bon Bons. Despite the temptation to enter and satisfy her sweet tooth – and Celestia knew she probably deserved something sweet about now – Twilight forced herself to turn aside.
The crowd was packed between the market stalls like so many books in a crate. It took her almost fifteen minutes to wind around the edge, but eventually Twilight had her hooves on the road out of town. With just the sound of the wind and the sun on her back, Twilight was free to move without other ponies forcing her toward unwanted encounters. By the time she passed the last house on the road, she could feel the aching tension brought on by her short visit to Rarity winding slowly out of her limbs.
After an hour or a very slow stroll, Sweet Apple Acres loomed in the distance. Twilight paused at the gate, ignoring the obvious new dimple in one post as she looked up at her friend's home. The farmhouse and the main buildings of Sweet Apple Acres commanded a considerable view over the whole of Ponyville, standing proud on the crest of a hill, high above the town. Apart from Canterlot, it was the only artificial landmark visible from every part of town, and a constant reminder that, while the Princesses might rule Equestria as a whole, Ponyville most certainly belonged to the Apples. It was a wonder she'd never noticed it before.
Twilight took a breath and shook her head as she jogged up the path toward the farm. She could hear the distant yells and calls of Applejack's workers, but when she reached the yard it was deserted. A rank of tables had been set up, and the air was filled with the smell of baking that enticed Twilight toward Applejack's home. She stomped up onto the deck and peered in through an open door to the kitchen, then knocked on the frame.
"Hello?"
The dim interior of the house echoed her voice back, but little else. Twilight took a further step and looked around. The kitchen was deserted – even the rocking chair that was Granny Smith's usual haunt in the corner was abandoned. Twilight moved past the grand old oak table dominating the room and over to the oven, forgetting her quest to find Luna for the moment as she followed the scent of simmering apples. The air above the enormous oven shimmered in a haze of heat and steam, and the sideboard surrounding the ancient hob were loaded down with stacked and towel-covered trays of apple-stuffed pastries.
Her stomach rumbled. After her aborted tea with Rarity and the long walk to the farm, Twilight's breakfast was a distant memory. The enticement of such a huge weight of food was enough set Twilight's mouth watering; she quickly swallowed and bit her lip to stave off the less than savoury thoughts of what she could do to such innocent pastries. Assuring herself that she would only take a peek, Twilight gingerly nosed aside the nearest towel and inhaled deeply.
A metallic clunk echoed around the kitchen. Twilight froze, unable to pull her muzzle away, and then she realised she had her mouth wide open and her teeth just hovering over the crust of a deliciously warm fritter.
"How many times a gotta tell y'all to keep yer varmint snouts outta—oh!" Twilight turned at the sound of shaky hoofsteps and found Granny Smith on the far side of the room, caught between an angry glare and a welcoming smile. "Twilight Sparkle, well I'll be monkey's mare! Y'all done did s'prise me! I thought you was one o' them rascally young things tryin' to sneak theirself a mess of fixins ahead o' the rest. What're y'all doin' out this aways?"
"I was—" Twilight stepped aside as Granny Smith came hobbling around the table, and took the opportunity to tug the towel back into place over its precious feast. "Um, looking for Applejack."
"Applejack, heh!" Granny Smith eyed Twilight and cackled as she slid past to poke at the strained towel. "Y'all cain't hide a goshdurn thing from ol' Granny Smith, y'hear? Applejack might be why y'all came up here, but y'all can't help stay for the grub! Might as well help yoself, t'ain't like that crowd'll miss one. Oh don't look so guilty, hon, I was sneakin' food when y'all weren't even an itch in your pappa's—well, less said 'bout that the better I reckon," she concluded with a sly grin. "Go on, sit yourself down."
"Oh, um, thank you," Twilight replied as the elderly Apple slid one of the pastries onto a plate and dropped it on the table. As Twilight sat, Granny Smith returned to pottering about the kitchen, then set about heaving at the enormous pan she'd dropped, in an effort to return it to a hook high up the wall.
"That'll do it," Granny muttered as the pan slid home. She grinned at Twilight and hobbled to the other side of the table. "Anyhow, since you were askin', Applejack ain't around. I figure right now she's prob'ly up in the east orchard markin' trees with that, uh, unicorn friend of yours. What's her name? Sunsetter? Starlight?"
"Sable," Twilight supplied, before giving in to her hunger and tucking into her fritter.
"That's the girl! Sure is a cute little thing, even if she is kinda tubby!" Granny Smith cackled again and slapped a hoof on the table, oblivious to Twilight's fright at the sound. "Young Jackie's been mooning over little miss pretty princess from the moment she clapped eyes on her, alus standin' around with her an' takin' time out of her work to show her around the place. If I didn't know better I'd swear she was sweet on the poor filly! Why she even laid into ol' Spritzer about somethin' between 'em, though mind you me that mare could use a dressin' down now and then, not likin' ma cooking, can you believe it? You need a drink or somethin' missy?"
Despite her choking fit, which Granny Smith hadn't noticed for a full half minute, Twilight managed a fairly comprehensive answer with nothing more than a few feeble gestures and a shake of her head. She forced the errant pastry down, coughed again to clear her throat, and tried to smile.
"Went down the wrong way, huh," Granny Smith said. She eyeballed Twilight, which was a disturbing sight at the best of times, but then laughed and turned away. "Tween you and Jackie and this here Sable we got a reg'lar ol' thing goin' on, ain't we? I reckon you youngins relax a little, stop worryin' so much! All y'all like to keel over from the stress if ya keep it up. Speakin' of relaxed..."
While Twilight finished her fritter, she watched Granny Smith amble around the kitchen and slide into an ancient rocking chair, mumbling to herself the entire time. Granny eyed Twilight again, then settled into the chair with a crackle of aged joints and a loud, shuddering sigh.
"That's the ticket. Now you can stick around some if you want, honey, but I figure on gettin' some shut-eye afore that ol' swarm of locusts gets back for their lunch." Granny's chair began to rock, almost of its own accord, and its occupant hummed to herself as she continued speaking. "I ain't one to complain 'bout that, though. Does an old heart proud to see 'em dig in like they ain't never done ate before. They could say thanks once in a while even so, but I suppose the fact they eat it without hollerin' is thanks enough.
"You git along now," she added, before her head rocked forward and her eyes closed. A moment later, Granny Smith began to snore, and the chair soon rocked to a halt. Twilight watched the elderly pony sleep for a few moments, before stealing from the kitchen and out onto the porch.
From her prior experience helping Applejack, Twilight had a fairly good idea of the general layout of the Acres. The orchards were vast, encompassing an area almost twice the size of Ponyville itself and it would take a healthy pony a good few hours to traverse them. Healthy or not – and Twilight had to confess that her regular morning cupcake was starting to add up to a fairly definite muffin – it would take some time on hoof to reach whatever part of the orchard Luna and Applejack were lurking in.
Fortunately she had other options. Twilight walked until she was just at the edge of the trees, then stopped and looked up at the sky to confirm her bearings. Lengthy equations of distance and mass and time tumbled through her mind as she concentrated on the location she wanted to reach. A light flared in her horn, and then over her eyes, and she stepped.
As her vision cleared, Twilight could hear the rippling echo of a quiet crack bouncing between the trees. The orchard was deserted, though many of the trees bore various combinations of thick charcoal lines on their trunks. Of Applejack and Luna there was no sign.
Twilight sighed. The sound of her teleportation spell would have brought at least one of the pair to investigate if they were there, which meant either she'd misjudged her exit or the two mares had moved to some other part of the orchard. She wandered the trees for a few minutes before giving up her perfunctory search, then set herself to focusing on the return journey.
Again she brought to mind those arcane equations as her magic flooded into her horn. In truth the structure and form she had memorised were little more than a means of focusing her mind on the spell. Over short distances she could blink without even a thought, but long distance teleportation was a skill that her mother had once described as more akin to wishing than the more scientific spellcraft of summoning or levitation.
The thought had barely concluded when a pebble leaped from the ground at Twilight's hooves and bounced off her horn. Twilight yelped as the impact sent a sharp knife of pain through her sensitised horn and into her forehead. It took a moment for the pain to recede as she dropped her magic. Rubbing her forehead and wincing against the last remnants of the pain, Twilight looked around until she found the offending stone floating a few inches from the ground. Curiosity overrode her quest for the moment as she lifted the stone for closer scrutiny.
A remnant of magic lurked beneath the stone's surface, glowing a deep, rich blue in Twilight's sight. It was tainted by the same dark emptiness she had seen within Luna's magic before. When she had Luna to herself again, Twilight vowed she would needle out an explanation for that strange thread of unmagic, but until then she had other things to do. She dispelled the last of Luna's remnant power from the stone and let it drop to the ground, inert and empty. Now, at least, she knew Luna had definitely been here.
Yet she wasn't here now. Without any idea of where her friends had gone, Twilight was at something of a loss. She looked up at the sky her eyes casually tracing the path of a few stray clouds between the trees. The sun was high, closing on noon... of course! Not even Luna would miss her lunch without good reason. It was likely the pair had only just left, which meant that Twilight would be able to catch them if she hurried. Twilight glanced around until she found the path back to the farmhouse and set off at a quick trot.
As she walked, Twilight found herself drawn to the marks she had seen when she arrived. Not all the trees were marked. Most that were bore a single diagonal line across the trunk, which she assumed meant they were ready for harvest. A few were numbered, apparently making the position of a particular row of trees, and a few others bore a thick black cross.
Twilight paused at one such tree and peered up into its branches. The fruit looked well enough to her untrained eyes She considered pulling an apple down to taste, but decided against it. Applejack wouldn't mind, but it still felt too much like stealing. Before she moved on, Twilight turned her attention to the cross again. It bore the same faint traces of magic that had impregnated the stone.
Without warning a shrill yell echoed through the orchard, startling Twilight enough that she frantically teleported a dozen steps to her right. The sheer power of her magic scorched the grass around her as she landed, surrounding her with a choking cloud of ash and smoke that took a moment to clear. By the time she had finished coughing, and found the presence of mind to step out of the cloud, Twilight could hear the sound of more ponies hollering in the distance. She jogged between the trees toward the sound, slowing a little as she reached the edge of a broad clearing of hard-packed earth adjoined to several well-used cart tracks. Empty wicker baskets were stacked neatly between apple-laden wagons and stout wooden sheds.
Most of the yard was deserted, but at the far end Twilight could see a group of ponies gathered around the familiar glow of active magic. There could be few sources of such magic. Though she wasn't sure why, Twilight crept around the edge of the yard, skulking from tree to tree until she had a clear view of the crowd. They were gathered closed to a broad-reaching, ancient tree, in a loose circle with Luna at their centre, all yelling and calling to one another as Luna circled and danced among them. Her magic held an eclectic assortment of objects, ranging from single apples and small tools to a towing harness and an entire basket laden with fruit.
Luna pranced around the circle with her head held high, carrying the load with almost belligerent ease. No distinct voices carried to Twilight's hiding place, but she could see Luna goading and challenging the ponies around her, daring them to add more to her burden.
As Twilight watched, a trio of ponies to one side closed in on a stallion. Catching him unaware, the three mares hoisted the stallion into the air and tossed him at Luna, prompting another round of cat-calls and cheering as the poor stallion found himself suspended, upside down and flailing, in Luna's magic. With a grin she set the stallion down on the ground at her back, before resuming her challenge to the others. Another basket was tossed, a rock and then a hat, each joining the arcane dance about Luna's head, and all the while she seemed to be speaking.
No. She was singing. Faint gusts carried snatches of Luna's voice toward Twilight, lilting back and forth across an unfamiliar melody. Now her movements, that had been fractious and without reason, resolved into a dance that followed a rhythm by turns sensual and fiery, and above all unrestrained.
A chill gripped Twilight's heart. On Nightmare Night, Luna had found freedom of a sort in her harlequin act, though everyone had known her as Princess all the same. Now, beneath the bright daylight, she was unknown, and her freedom was absolute. And of all ponies, it had been Applejack that brought Luna to it, by doing nothing more than giving her a little attention. Heat and cold battled in Twilight's chest as she watched Luna dance, and tried to still her racing heart. She bit down on her lip before it could begin to quiver, and turned to walk away.
A flash caught her eye. Twilight's head snapped around to focus on the glinting edge of a bright steel blade as another pony hefted an axe almost as long as he was tall. He leaned over to his companion. Whatever conversation they had must have encouraged him, for without any fanfare he raised the axe above his head and swung.
The teleport spell erupted from Twilight's horn before the thought of using it became conscious. It was rushed, overpowered, and her magic was already strained from her instinctive use a few minutes earlier. Twilight erupted in a blaze of arcane light close to the circle, screeching an incoherent warning to whoever would listen.
A wave of sound and light thundered across the crowd. The stallion faltered, and the axe swung awkwardly from his grip at the same time as Luna turned toward the noise. Twilight could only watch as the axe flew a deceptively serene arc straight toward Luna's head. The Princess's ear twitched, and in a single moment her magic withdrew, releasing everything she had held. Eyes blazing, Luna coiled her power into a single, whip-like tendril that lashed out at the axe, deflecting it from its path. The head clipped past her ear, and then then with a loud crack the axe rocketed away.
The old tree shuddered as the axe head buried itself deep in its twisted bark. There was a brief silence, and then the shouts of panic and crunch of debris as everything Luna had held aloft came crashing down all at once. Despite their loud protests the workers were used to things dropping from a great height, and most stood their ground or drew back only a few steps. Among them, Twilight could only cower on the floor until the horror had passed.
Luna stood at the centre of the maelstrom, watching with a frown as a final few apples bounced at her hooves. Her gaze snapped to Twilight and she took a step, but then paused and frowned again. Her hoof reached to her ear; it came away streaked with blood, the sight of which seemed to hold Luna's attention so completely that she didn't notice when Twilight managed to crawl to her side.
"That was unexpected," she murmured, finally tearing her gaze from the blood to look at Twilight. She wiped her hoof on the patchy grass below the tree before moving a few steps forward.
Luna put a hoof on Twilight's back, encouraging her to stand. She looked back at the axe, then at the crowd around them. The workers milled about them in silence, watching Luna with wary eyes. Occasionally one or the other would look at the axe, buried so deep in the tree that its head was all but hidden. Luna, too, looked briefly at the axe, frowning as she did. She turned from it just as Applejack came storming up from the far side of the yard.
"Fair Applejack, we—"
"What in the almighty name of Celestia is goin' on here!" Applejack reared on her hind legs as she halted by the pair; the earth fairly shook as her forehooves came down against it, and it seemed as if her eyes burned when she fixed them on Twilight and Luna in turn, ending on the bright red nick in Luna's ear. "Is that blood?"
"T'is but a scratch!" Luna replied. She tapped her ear and smiled broadly, but Applejack's anger seemed only to deepen at the reply. "There was no harm, Applejack. It was merely an accident."
Very slowly, Applejack turned to look the axe. After a moment, with her jaw clenched tight, she returned her gaze to Luna. "That ain't no 'mere accident', missy. That there," she continued, pointing a shaking hoof at the tree, "is the reason we don't let magic anywhere near this place! After this mornin' I thought you'd know better than this! What if it had taken off your head?"
"Applejack—" Luna began, but Applejack cut her off with another stomp of her hoof.
"I don't want to hear it!" She shifted her attention to Twilight, who still hadn't quite got her jitter s under control. "And you! What in every circle of tartarus were you thinkin', zapping your way into a crowd like that?"
"She was only trying to—"
"I said save it!" Applejack closed her eyes and turned from Luna. "I ain't interested. Far as I'm concerned y'all are so deep in it—and whoever tossed that thing too! Why I oughta tan his hide, throwin' tools around like they were toys! Didn't any of you idiots learn a damn thing from Ginger? Own up! Which one of y'all threw that thing?"
Nearby workers flinched under Applejack's angry glare, but none dared speak. Fuming and swearing under her breath, Applejack marched up to a stallion a good head taller than her and pushed her face right up against his.
"Consarnit somepony is gonna tell me right now or I will have every single one of you on half pay!"
"Applejack..." Luna bowed her head as she took a step toward the irate farmer. Her ears were twisting back and forth, and even her eyes seemed unable to remain still as she spoke. "I asked for the axe to be thrown. No other should bear the burden of your anger for what I did."
"But—" Applejack pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Sable, why?"
"It was..." Luna frowned, but smiled at the same time. At first she looked to Twilight as she spoke, but her gaze soon returned to Applejack. "It was for fun. I wished to share in the camaraderie of your workers, and while I have not their rough and bawdy wit, nor knowledge of their folk music, yet I have my skill and talent as a mage. It appears I may have let myself be carried away by their mirth."
"Like that axe would have carried away your head," Twilight cut in. Her limbs still shivered as she marched to Luna's side, but she held her head high and ignored the roiling heat in her gut as she pushed forward. "I don't care if Sable wants to spend all her time h-hobby-farming! The work she does is vital for all the ponies in Equestria. What if she gets injured? Or killed? You're too important to spend your time in a place like this!"
"Hey now just a doggone minute there—"
"Twilight, that is enough! I am in no such danger here."
Applejack's mouth turned down and she looked away to the edge of the yard. Sable moved to her side. When she got no response, she placed a gentle hoof on Applejack's shoulder and leaned toward her ear.
"Please, Applejack, I did not wish for this outcome. If there is any penance to pay, I will do so, but please let me continue this work." In the face of Applejack's continued silence, Luna closed her eyes and bowed her head, before backing away a step. She took a breath. "I truly have enjoyed our time together."
"Hobby farmin'..."
Applejack's ears twitched. She lowered her head, and took a breath of her own, before slowly turning to look at Luna. Behind her another, older pony sidled across the dusty yard, watching the trio from beneath the shade of her straw-brown mane.
"This ain't meant to be some fancy picnic, Sable, and I ain't one to tolerate my workers takin' stupid risks with their equipment. Maybe you don't realise, but y'all nearly got yourself killed just now." Applejack shook her head and looked over her shoulder at the approaching pony. When she looked to Luna again, the fire of her anger had departed, leaving only resignation in Applejack's eyes. "You leave my farm, get yourself to a hospital, and don't come back here until you're ready to be a real farmer, y'hear me?"
The other pony reached Applejack's side just as Twilight recognised her as the cousin Spritzer she had met a few days prior. The older mare was watching Luna with narrow eyes, and Luna seemed oddly fixated in return. Then both mares abruptly looked away from one another. Luna gave Applejack a curt nod and wheeled away.
Before the dust of her departure could settle, Twilight rolled a final awkward glance at Applejack and turned to gallop after the princess. She reached Luna just as they passed beneath the shade of the trees, where both ponies slowed to a gentle trot.
They walked in silence for a little while, with Luna staring straight ahead, looking neither left nor right. Eventually Twilight could take no more; she bounced a few steps to keep her head level with Luna's and looked down at her friend's face. The dried tracks of tears cut through Luna's coat, but her jaw was set tight.
"Luna..."
Luna's lips pressed briefly together. She bowed her head and halted on the track. "It is well, Twilight. We shall return to the library, but I first must seek medical attention."
"This wasn't what I wanted. I thought she would just... I thought..." Twilight shook her head and swallowed. She pressed herself close to Luna's side, shoulder to shoulder, and let her head rest across Luna's withers. "I suppose I didn't think. I'm sorry. I didn't want her to send you away like that."
"Perhaps it was inevitable. As you said, I do not truly belong to this place. Though I embody the earth, I am not of the earth. If this flesh is cut it may bleed, but I shall not succumb to any mortal wound. She could not know that I do not fear what she may fear. I am beyond her ken." Luna snorted and shook her head. "And I fear she is beyond mine."
"But it wasn't fair," Twilight muttered, ignoring the tight feeling in her gut as she spoke those words.
"Much in life does not appear fair, Twilight, even to one who would be a god." A tight smile stretched at Luna's lips. She looked toward Twilight for a moment before fixing her gaze on the road ahead. "In time, Twilight, you will discover that it is the lot of those that stand apart from the herd to eventually be cast out of it. For now, let us put it to our backsides, and let we two ravens return to our roost."
Luna looked over her shoulder to smile at Twilight, then shrugged from beneath Twilight's resting head and resumed her trot down the road.
The sun was just settling to rest on the distant horizon when Applejack looked up and realised the day had all but ended. It wasn't often that the passage of time could surprise her so, yet as she looked back, Applejack found that her memory of the time between the incident at noon and her ceasing work was little more than fruit-filled blur.
Applejack knew the work had gone on; the distant rumble of laden carts trailing toward the storage barns on the far side of the farm were evidence enough of that. The satisfying burn in her legs and the itch of sweat in her mane told her she had done her fair share of it, too. Then there was the fact that she was a good half a mile west of where she had begun, standing beneath a tree that awaited harvest the next day according to the mark on its trunk.
Her gaze returned to the tree, and to the mark. It was simple, as her father had taught her and as she had taught every worker to join her farm: a single line down and to the left, a second line horizontally over the top. An ancient rune, one that indicated a tree ready to drop its burden with just a tickle. A scattering of bright yellow apples on the grass beneath the tree demonstrated the truth of it. Applejack kicked a freshly-fallen fruit from the ground and caught it in her teeth, then turned her back on the tree.
After the yard...
After she'd had her lunch, Applejack had returned to harvesting. She'd been with a pair of the new workers Spritzer had hired, and found them to be competent, if somewhat simple-minded.
"Guess she really did hire them for their docks," Applejack grumbled around a mouthful of apple. Her chewing slowed. After a quick glance around to be sure nobody had seen her speaking through her food, Applejack swallowed her snack and returned to her contemplation.
Of course there was a lot to be said for simple-minded folk. They worked hard, they didn't get distracted, and neither did they try to 'entertain' ponies with stupid stunts that could have got them killed.
A final time, Applejack's eyes turned to the tree and its mark. She traced her hoof across the horizontal, following the slender curl at its end where she might have included just a rough backtick if she was in a more artistic mood than usual.
She was still staring empty-eyed at the mark when the shrill peep of Apple Bloom's whistle sounded through the orchard. With a start Applejack looked over to the horizon, to see the last arc of the sun sinking behind the tops of distant trees. She gave the tree one last frown and turned away just as Apple Bloom came scampering along the narrow path, with Apple Fritter trotting alongside and Spritzer wheezing in the rear as she tried to keep up.
Apple Bloom's eyes brightened as she saw Applejack look toward her. The little filly bounced into the air, blasting excitedly with her whistle as she danced up and around Applejack.
"Hey, hey now, settle down," Applejack called through her laughter. "Y'all sound like you're tryin' to swallow that whistle and talk through it all at once!"
Apple Bloom's bouncing slowed to a trot as she circled Applejack one last time, before drawing to a halt at her sister's front. The youngster spat out her whistle and grinned up at Applejack.
"I was just happy we found you is all," she said. Her hoof strayed to the whistle hanging around her neck. "Everypony said y'all were 'bout ready to kick a hole in the barn earlier, and then Big Mac said you'd gone off up the ridge by yourself all afternoon and ya didn't come back and—"
"Apple Bloom, slow down a mite!" Applejack wrapped her forelegs around the filly's neck and pulled her into a hug. Her eyes briefly strayed to Fritter and Spritzer as she spoke. "I ain't goin' to go drop off no cliff, okay? I was just workin' off a bit of steam is all."
"Enough to run a whole train by the look of it," Apple Fritter said, looking around. She whistled and tipped back her hat. "You done cleared more'n forty rows all by yourself. Gotta wonder why ya need all us other ponies around."
"Cause I ain't dumb enough to think one pony could run this whole farm. Y'all remember that time when I did try an' do the whole place on my lonesome?" Applejack ruffled Bloom's hair and grinned. "What a day that was. By the time I was done I couldn't tell a pony from an apple tree."
"There's some as still wonder 'bout that," Spritzer said, glancing at Fritter. The younger mare laughed and rolled her eyes.
"You be careful now, Spritzer, or I might forget which is which and try buckin' apples outta your ears."
"This be before or after thi's bucked me across t'Everfree?"
"At the same time," Applejack shot back, grinning, as she trotted past Spritzer's bemused face. The old mare shook her head a moment later and laughed breathily, before turning with the others to follow in Applejack's wake.
Yet after only a few steps, Applejack found herself slowing to look back at the nearby trees. She stepped aside to let Fritter and Apple Bloom trot past, the latter chattering excitedly about her day at school, while Fritter listened with feigned interest.
The air chilled as the sinking sun drew its last warmth from the evening. With shiver, Applejack turned back to the orchard to stare at the same trees. She felt Spritzer sidle up alongside her a moment later, as only Spritzer could, and then nuzzle gently at the back of her head.
"What's the matter lass?" Spritzer's eyes followed Applejack's gaze to the trees, and to one in particular. She snorted as she recognised the mark on its trunk. "Sable's work?"
"Aye. I mean yes." Applejack shook her head and squinted at the tree.
"Fast learner, tha'un."
"I know," Applejack replied. She walked toward the nearest tree, pacing slowly as she thought, while Spritzer trundled along beside her. "Did you tell her how to do any of that?"
"Barely said a word to 'er t'whole day long, Jack. Tha knows why n'all." Spritzer squinted at the tree and its mark. Now it was her turn to frown as she leaned closer to examine the markings. "She's prob'ly looked up how it works in t'library that unicorn friend of yours lives in."
"This stuff ain't exactly written down any old place, Spritzer," Applejack replied. She trotted around the tree, letting her body brush against the trunk as she passed by. High above, the tree's branches shivered quietly, as if anticipating the coming storm.
"Jack, there's no way a pretty little unicorn like her'd know anythin' 'bout apples otherwise."
"Mind your tongue there, Spritzer. Y'all might be family, but I ain't above whuppin your butt."
Applejack turned toward the path home. She moved quickly, lifting her hooves in a high canter, as if the speed would take away the quiet discomfort of seeing those far-too-perfect marks. They were old, her pappy had said once. Old and as close to a secret magic as earth ponies could get. The idea that they were written down for just any pony to read about was more discomforting than she'd expected.
They four walked in silence as the shadows lengthened around them. Soon the last light of the sun would be gone, to be eventually replaced by the moon's pale glow; already a thin mist had risen from the ground as the chilling evening air met the warm soil. The moisture was a good thing, but Applejack knew it was just another omen of the coming storm.
"Spritzer, I figure you'd know this one. Is a hobby farm really what I think it is?"
"Where'd you 'ear 'bout them, lass?"
Applejack kicked at a stone on the path. She shook her head as she watched it sail into the grass. "Somethin' Twilight said about Sable earlier."
"Sable?" Spritzer tipped her head. Applejack nodded. "Aye, well I'll tell it plain Jack, that lass ain't no hobby farmer. She might 'ave t'horn but she's got earth in her blood and rock in her bones an' no two ways about it. There's things 'bout that pony what are hid under that plump backside of hers an' if tha lets that'un get away, tha's a bigger twit than I thought."
"Who said anything about lettin' her get away? I need all the workers I can get with that storm comin' over. Sable just needed a little time to get herself straight is all."
"That why she was down in the market with Twilight?" Apple Bloom poked at her whistle and looked up at Applejack. "Round lunch I saw them headin' towards that fancy coffee place by Rarity's. Miss Sable sure looked tore up over something."
"I'm sure she was fine, Apple Bloom. Like I said, just needed to get herself straight." Applejack looked around to avoid Apple Bloom's scrutinising stare. "Sure could use some of that light of hers right now."
"There's a lamp in the shed up ahead," Apple Fritter called back, before setting off at a jog. A moment after she ducked inside there was a loud crash, followed by a string of muttered profanity.
"Is there any pony in this family that ain't tryin' to get herself kilt?" Applejack rolled her eyes as the trio approached the shed.
"I'm not," said Applebloom, with a cheery grin. Applejack looked down at her little sister with a sceptical frown.
"Whatever you say, Bloom."
☆ ☾☆
The farmhouse was silent, save for the gentle creak of timbers settling against the cool of the night. Apple Bloom had been packed to bed the moment they got home; Granny Smith and Big Mac had turned in soon after, leaving Applejack alone in the dimly lit kitchen.
For a while she had sat there in the cosy warmth, surrounded by the smells of home and family. It was comfortable at first, but eventually the room began to chill as the old stove lost the last of its heat, and before long she was compelled to leave the kitchen. Rather than turn to her bedroom, Applejack had stepped out into the cooling night and settled on a chair at the end of the verandah.
Bright stars carpeted the dome of the sky, the mansion of blue as her pappy had once called it one evening, so long ago. She leaned back and her eyes fell toward Bucking Butch – Ippomeda – and then on toward the bright lights that flew close to the rising moon. Come to think of it, the three together looked a lot like Sable's mark.
Before the thought could really settle in her mind, Applejack caught sight of a flash of blue in the light of the porch lamps, followed by the loud gravelly crunch of a pegasus landing in the yard. A moment later Rainbow Dash trotted into the light. Her coat was even scruffier than usual and her mane glittered with shrinking crystals of ice, but she wore a huge grin on her tired face as she trotted up the steps toward Applejack's perch.
"Well boy howdy," Applejack said as her friend flopped down on the deck. "You look beat."
"Don't I know it," Rainbow replied. She was still grinning even as she flopped onto her stomach. "I've been flying non-stop for forty hours. AJ, after this week is done I'm sleeping in for the next month."
"Business as usual then, huh."
Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled onto her back, splaying her wings to keep herself steady. She tucked her legs close to her body and stared up at the night sky. "So aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"
"I was wonderin'," Applejack said. She looked down at Rainbow, but the pegasus was uncharacteristically reticent. "Okay Rainbow Dash, we'll do it your way. Why are you here on my porch after sundown, when by all rights we should both be tucked up in bed and fast asleep?"
"Maybe because a super awesome friend used all her amazing personality and obvious charm to get a certain storm pushed back a couple of days?"
"Two days?"
"Two whole days! I had to pull a few strings and cash a few favours, but that's what friends are for, right? Actually it was pretty easy once they understood I wouldn't take no for an answer." The grin returned, wider than ever. Rainbow Dash rolled into her side and pointed her hoof at Applejack's face. "And I won't even say you owe me for it."
"Well maybe I could see a couple of bottles of cider floatin' your way," Applejack mused. Ignoring the way Rainbow Dash surreptitiously pumped her hoof, Applejack tipped her hat back and turned to look up at the stars once again.
Perhaps it was the clear air, or perhaps her mood, but tonight the sky seemed so close that she could almost reach out and touch it. Yet at the same time, it had never looked so distant, or so untouchable. Even the gibbous moon seemed to shrink away as she watched.
A hoof jabbed at Applejack's shoulder. She shook her head and looked down into Rainbow Dash's impatient face. "Sorry, guess I zoned out a mite."
"I've been talking to you for the last fifteen minutes," Rainbow Dash groused. She was sat on her haunches now, occasionally glancing toward the sky, and frowning all the while. "You were just sitting there and staring at the moon like I didn't even exist. Come on, what's up?"
"I dunno. I think Sable walked out on me today."
Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against her temple and shook her head. "Really? No way..."
"She seemed so reliable too, y'know? Keen. Why I never saw a pony so excited about apples since little Bloom bucked her first tree!" Applejack sat back and sighed. "That first day here, she was so eager she skipped breakfast. And today she—she learned stuff faster'n I could give any pony credit. Good talker too."
"Sounds too good to be true," Rainbow Dash said as she wandered back to Applejack's side.
"Maybe."
"Doesn't sound like the kind of pony who'd just walk out on the job though."
Applejack chewed thoughtfully at her lip before taking a deep breath. She sighed. "Round lunchtime she got into a fight with an axe. Didn't do anything serious," she quickly said, before Dash could add voice to her shocked expression. "Just nicked her ear a mite. She was so casual about it is the thing."
"Some ponies are more laid back than others." Rainbow Dash brushed a hoof through her mane before settling herself down on the deck. "Doesn't explain why Sable left though. So you yelled at her a little. I yell at my crew all the time."
"Sure. Thing is, I didn't think about it at the time, but I reckon I might have told her to clear out and not come back."
Rainbow Dash flung her forehooves in the air. "That'd do it!"
"Yeah. It would. Guess I don't need her anyhow if you got the storm pushed back," Applejack muttered. She waved her hooves about, not for the first time wishing one of them held a mug of cider. "Hobby farmin', that's what Twilight called it. Can you believe that? Like this is all just some sort of game to her? Maybe I'm better off—"
Applejack jerked at the touch of a hoof on her neck. She turned to find Rainbow Dash shaking her head and grinning. "AJ, come on, you said yourself she worked hard. So she likes to play around too, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is she could have got herself killed! And Twilight too!"
"Wait, Twilight was there?"
"Sure, Granny said she was up on the farm lookin' for Sable earlier. She kinda blinked herself right into the middle of it all, hollerin' like the world was ending. Huh." Applejack rolled her ears back and frowned. "I was fit to be tied when I thought she'd been hurt. Didn't think about it at the time... I mean, I was upset when Ginger near tore up her leg, but that was an accident. Accidents happen sometimes. This was—it wasn't—"
Applejack fell silent, clenching her jaw. She made to get out of her chair, but then fell back in it again, as if the weight of her own body was too much to carry. It was warm in the seat anyway, she didn't have to be anywhere else. Why bother moving?
"She was mad as a mule chewin' on bumble bees, till all that stuff came an' fell down at her. Huh." Applejack rubbed one forehoof against the other, tracing a circle around the hock. "Moment it all went wrong, Sable eyed up that axe and blammo, right into a tree."
"Sounds pretty cool," Rainbow Dash said. She gently thumped Applejack's shoulder, laughing all the while. "And it sounds like you think it was too, AJ, huh?"
"It was dangerous!"
"Hey, cool usually is," Dash shot back. She hopped to her hooves and stretched out. "Anyway I gotta fly. They want me back tomorrow for a double shift, one of the favours I gotta repay for fixing that storm."
"Sure," Applejack muttered, while Rainbow Dash worked through a set of stretches that would have looked lewd coming from any other pony. Come to think of it, she could have used a good stretch before work that morning. Maybe she could ask Rainbow to show her a few.
"Twilight sounds like she was pretty upset."
Applejack shook her head, dislodging the image of dozens of her family stretching out like rubber bands. For some reason Sable had been leading them.
"Yeah, like I said. Hollerin' about Sable being too good for farm work." She spat on the porch, then immediately hopped from her perch to scrub it clean while praying for Granny's forgiveness.
Rainbow Dash slowed until she was crouched low with her wings stretched forward past her head. She looked up at Applejack. "Maybe Rarity was right, you know? I never heard of Twilight getting that wound up about a unicorn working on a farm before. Maybe there's more to it."
"Ain't you the one who said she'd be more interested in books?"
"Hey, take it easy." Rainbow's wings curled back to her sides with a loud crack and she settled back onto her haunches. "I just meant she might be, y'know, jealous."
"Jealous."
"Yeah, like, protective. They were friends when Twi was in Canterlot, right? Maybe she's just mad that Sable's spending so much time with you and the farm instead of burying her nose in her—in her books."
"I guess she was pretty worked up about it. But hey it's not like I forced her or anything. Sable was all but beggin' to come down and work here."
"Which is why she wouldn't just walk off without a really good reason," Rainbow Dash concluded. She glanced up at the sky. "And Twilight's upset because she can't keep Sable all to herself. Kind of makes sense if you think about it. I mean even I can see she's pretty. Kinda tubby though."
"Dash—"
"Hey, I'm just saying!" With a yawn, Dash raised her wings. She glanced at the sky again. "Catch you later, Applejack," she called as she jumped into the air. "And don't forget that cider!"
"Sure," Applejack muttered. She watched Dash until she was a tiny blue dot in the distance and then until she had disappeared entirely in the gloom.
With nothing left to do now she was alone, Applejack turned her eyes to the stars and the moon, and the two bright lights that danced before it.
☆ ☾☆
A mist was creeping across the ground when Applejack woke, curling slender white tendrils around the foot of the porch and the roots of nearby trees. Her back, pressed against the unyielding wood of her chair, felt as if it had frozen in place, and her coat was sprinkled with dew.
Groaning, Applejack leaned forward, ignoring the slick, slimy feeling of water on her coat. She stumbled from the chair, teeth chattering in a dawn chill that whispered of the approaching autumn, and shivered as a rivulet gathered and ran from the root of her mane and down her neck.
The farm was silent and the sky still dark, but the air felt thick with anticipation of the coming day, to the point that Applejack wouldn't have been surprised if the mist itself started buzzing. The combination of the morning dew's icy touch on her skin and the weighty atmosphere felt akin to the tingling greasiness of magic. Applejack lifted her hoof and stared at the invisible band of power whose touch she could still feel even now.
The kitchen door opened with the barest of creaks as Applejack entered her home. She wasn't surprised to find Granny Smith pottering around the kitchen, though she moved with the stealth of a pony with decades of experience. Her ears caught Applejack entering and, after taking a moment to lay down a large frying pan on the stove, she turned to smile at her granddaughter.
"Y'all are up early. Slept outside?" Granny sidled over to Applejack, pausing to drag a towel from a cupboard. "Better dry yourself off while I git y'all some coffee."
Granny Smith tossed the towel over Applejack's shoulders before shuffling back to the stove, muttering to herself the entire time. The door swung, sending a chilly gust of air across Applejack's backside that set her shivering. She quickly set to rubbing herself down and shaking the worst of the dew from her sides.
"How'd you know I was out all night?"
"Land sakes girl, you're soaked to the bone and shiverin cold," Granny Smith replied, while setting a blackened pot on the stove. "Sides, ain't the first time an Apple's been hunkered down on that there deck and pinin' after a pony, sure as sugar won't be the last either."
"Granny, I ain't pining after nopony!"
"Sure y'ain't," Granny Smith snorted. She measured a rough spoonful of coffee grounds into a mug, then topped it off with the now boiling water. "Course your pappy said the same thing right before he brought your momma home that first time."
"I ain't courtin' anypony either!" Applejack waited for Granny to totter back to her side with the steaming coffee mug hooked lazily over one hoof. Granny all but slung it to the table, before turning to eyeball Applejack.
"Did I say you was?"
"Kind of implied it," Applejack muttered.
Granny just snorted again before wandering away to her chair in the corner of the room. With great effort she clambered up to seat herself, while Applejack carefully sampled her coffee.
"Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash dropped by. Said she'd got the storm pushed back a few days."
"That so? Guess y'all won't be needin' that pretty little Sable helpin' out around the farm no more, huh? Shame. She looked near ready to shake her tail an' settle down yesterday."
"Granny!" Ignoring Granny Smith's lewd cackling, Applejack took another gulp of coffee and wiped her mouth. Probably could have used some milk. "That ain't a nice way to talk about my friends. Besides, even if she was she'd be disappointed. Big Mac's already got himself an understanding."
For a moment it seemed Granny had frozen in place, or perhaps had some sort of stroke. Then she shook her head sharply and laughed, just a little. "Finish your coffee," she said.
The quiet crackle of hooves in the gravel yard outside added their weight to Granny's suggestion. The workday was already calling. Applejack shrugged and tipped back her cup, draining it until a thick cloud of grounds swirled into her mouth. She spat it back. One of these days she'd have to teach Granny how to use a coffee filter. Of course she knew how that'd go. Granny would insist that the family had always done it that way, no matter that Applejack preferred her coffee free of gritty sludge, as well as not having to strain the last third of her cup through her teeth.
Instead of leaping to work, though, Applejack set the cup down and stared into it. If she swirled it just so, the remainder of her drink would briefly rise into view, shifting the grounds around before disappearing again. Some days the effort was worth it.
"Granny, did y'all talk to Sable much yesterday?" Applejack looked up at her grandmother. Granny Smith didn't answer right away, seemingly lost in the careful preparation of ingredients for the day's breakfast. She set a pot of flour down next to a pitcher of water.
"Not a word," she said. "Cept when I saw her leavin' with Twilight around lunch. Poor girl looked famished so I gave her somethin' to be goin' along with."
"So no chance you told her how to mark up for harvest?"
"Nope! Why, she get it wrong?"
Applejack shook her head. "No. She's a natural. Picked it up lickety split. Figured she might have watched what I did, but then I saw the marks she'd been makin'. Real old stuff. Spritzer didn't show her, I didn't, Mac swears he didn't speak a word to her all day and there weren't any time for anypony else to show her how. I can't figure it out."
Granny snorted. "Did you even think to ask her?"
"Nah..." Applejack poked at her cup again. "She left before I thought about it."
"Y'mean you threw her off the dang farm first," Granny replied. She turned to face Applejack's surprised look. "Big Mac told me what went on, I was just waitin for you to come clean as well."
"That boy just can't keep his big mouth shut," Applejack growled. Granny shook her head and sighed.
"That ain't the point," she said, fixing Applejack with another of her impossible-to-avoid glares. "Y'all did wrong by that girl. Now I don't care what she was up to, what you did back to her weren't the Apple way, so y'all are goin' to march into town, find that young mare and apologise to her. And y'all can mean it too."
"Granny—"
"And no backtalk neither!" Granny Smith plucked Applejack's coffee up and carried it to the sink. "Sides, you can ask her about that markin' thing while you're there."
Which seemed to be that. Applejack rolled her eyes and slipped from her chair while Granny fussed around the sink. She turned to the door, paused and turned back again.
"What about—"
"The orchard ain't gonna explode for wantin of your hooves agin the trunks, Applejack. Now go on, git, before I have to wrassle y'all out the door."
"But—"
"I said git!"
Applejack found herself standing outside the door before Granny Smith's words had even finished echoing around her head. She blinked, looking over her shoulder at the now closed door. Slowly shaking her head, Applejack stepped down from the deck and made her way across the yard.
Beneath a parasol that shaded her from the warmth of the midmorning sun, Luna watched the ebb and flow of the townsfolk in Ponyville's market. The crowd moved slowly, pushing through the muggy air with weary persistence as they travelled between one stall and the next. Even the hawkers seemed subdued, with only the occasional barking pitch for custom echoing across the scene.
It felt like the approach of a storm, but restricted as her magic was in this body, Luna was unable to know for sure. She felt her back flexing against the phantoms of those missing wings and forced herself to sit still, grimacing only slightly as her attention returned to the milling throng.
They moved so easily with one another, so freely, in a dance so distant in time she was no longer sure she could remember it. Luna longed to be among them, surrounded by the warm bodies of her fellows and companions. Her heart had sickened the day when this body she had made for herself had reacted in terror at the thought of entering that crowd.
Perhaps the incomplete nature of her change was the cause. She had never, as far as she could remember, lived a life in such a state. This mortal body she had closed herself in fought against the immortality of her true form. Again her back flexed at the instinctive desire to spread her wings. She turned from the market and focussed instead on the table she shared with her two companions.
Twilight was at her side, fiddling with a half-empty teacup as she tried to make conversation with Rarity -- the third member of their party, seated across the table from Luna. Unfortunately Twilight seemed to share the town's dulled wits and had barely a word to say. Rarity for her part had spent most of the last few minutes watching Luna over her tea, through eyes filled with curiosity and a desire for intrigue. What few topics they had mustered had been exhausted some time ago, leaving the trio in a not-quite-comfortable silence that was only broken when Rarity set her cup down with a rattle of china.
"I must say, you both seem rather out of sorts this morning," she said. Her gaze drifted to Twilight while her magic absently rearranged the table's centerpiece. "It's not often I see Twilight so morose. Did you by chance stay up too late last night?"
"No," Twilight replied, glancing at Luna.
"We had something of a disagreement," Luna said. Before Rarity could enquire further she turned and spoke again. "A personal matter. It has been resolved."
"Nothing to do with you leaving Sweet Apple Acres over lunch? I realise that not every pony is cut out for physical labour, but I had formed the impression that you quite enjoyed yourself there." Rarity was smiling when Luna looked to her again. Her eyes shone with the sort of feigned innocence that only the truly devious could employ.
"That's personal too," Twilight said.
"A matter between myself and Applejack," Luna added. Rarity's smile grew just a little wider at that. It was peculiar.
"Have you tried talking to her about it, dear? Applejack has never been one to shy away from talking about her problems." Rarity idly stirred her tea. For a moment, uncertainty clouded her expression as she stared into the steaming beverage. "Most of the time, certainly."
"I have not had the opportunity. To do so would require returning to her place of work, something I fear would not encourage conversation. Nor can I foresee her leaving to socialise until she has prepared adequately to weather the coming storm."
"Well I suppose that can't be her walking down the street then, can it," said Rarity. She leaned to stare past Luna's head and waved a hoof in the air. "Applejack, darling!"
Luna and Twilight both turned to see Applejack, exactly where Rarity said she was. The farmer hesitated at the sight of both ponies examining her, before moving across the street toward them. Her legs moved heavily, perhaps under the same influence as the rest of the town, but nevertheless she managed to brave a smile for the trio and even doffed her hat for a moment.
"Howdy girls," she said. Applejack's smile was forced and brittle, and she didn't quite look Luna in the eye as she dropped her hat back over her head.
"Would you care to join us for some tea, Applejack?" Rarity pushed out a seat with her magic and motioned to it with her hoof. Applejack shook her head and seemed about to refuse, but then her eyes fell toward Luna again. She frowned, and slowly moved toward the seat.
"I guess I can take a few minutes," she said.
That was enough for Rarity, who snatched another cup from a nearby table and splashed a generous serving of tea into it. She pushed the cup into Applejack's unresisting hooves and then sat back, satisfied with a job well done.
"So! What brings you into town today, Applejack? Aren't you still labouring under the threat of that dreadful storm?"
Applejack took a tentative sip of her tea and frowned. She set the cup down and pushed it to one side. "I had a visit from Rainbow Dash last night. Said the storm had been pushed back a few days, so I figured we could relax a mite." She looked at the tea again and slowly shook her head. "Fact is I came to town looking for this pair more'n anything else."
"Us?" Twilight leaned back a little, staring at Applejack as if she'd just started speaking a foreign language. "What could you want to find us for?"
"I wanted to talk to you both," Applejack replied, though she only looked at Luna when she said it.
"On what subject, Applejack?"
For a moment Applejack was silent. She rubbed a hoof across the back of her neck, teasing at the roots of her mane as she took a deep breath, and then looked straight into Luna's face. "Well, to put it simple, I'm sorry for how I got mad at the both of you yesterday. And maybe I was right to be mad, but that ain't no way to talk to a friend, or anypony come to think of it. I let myself get angry and I didn't listen when you tried to explain."
"In the past I too have allowed my anger to dictate my acts," Luna replied. She bowed her head. "I accept your apology, Applejack. Let us forget its cause."
"Well thank you kindly! And Twilight, I never wanted to get in the way of your friendship with Sable here. I definitely shouldn't have shouted at you the way I did yesterday."
"I suppose you're going to say it was the stress of too much hard work or something now, right?"
"What? No!" Applejack pushed her hat back and leaned toward Twilight. "Hard work is my life and soul, Twilight. If I ain't workin' hard, I get antsy and make a fuss, you know that."
"Then why did you treat us like that? You didn't even try to listen to our explanation, you just shouted at us."
Breathing hard, Applejack leaned back again. She held both hooves out toward Luna and Twilight. "I was scared, ok? For a moment I thought that dang axe had taken her head right off!" Applejack shook her head and slipped from her chair to move closer to Twilight's side. "That's my farm. I know Mac is older'n me and Granny owns the land, but I run that farm. I'm responsible for what happens on that farm, and that means if a pony gets herself hurt workin' there, then in the end it's my fault."
"Fair Applejack, it is not—" Luna began, but Applejack rounded on her with a frustrated glare.
"Sable, I'm apologisin' to Twilight and I need to finish this. Y'all can tell me you think I'm wrong later. And Twilight..." she turned away from Luna again, lowering her head. "I am truly sorry. I almost got Sable hurt, and that's bad enough, but I came between you two girls. This—" she flicked a hoof at the barely visible notch in Luna's ear "—can heal. Like she said, it was just a scratch. What I did after that... well, I'm sorry.
"So that's that," Applejack finished, and dropped her hoof to the floor. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. "I'd better get back to the farm. Maybe I'll see you girls later."
"Is that truly necessary, Applejack?" Luna waited for Applejack to look up at her again; she smiled at her friend's confusion. "You are not under any obligation to work as you have said yourself. Rarity was shortly to guide us to her place of work so that I might try a selection of her wares. Perhaps you could accompany us?"
"Oh that's an absolutely marvelous idea," Rarity trilled. She leaned across the table toward Applejack. "There are few things in life more effective at overcoming personal grievances than a love of couture!"
"Well—" Applejack glanced to Twilight, who nodded just a fraction. To anyone else it might have been imperceptible, but Luna saw it. And Applejack too. She smiled just a little. "Much as I'd like to, I've got a few things to take care off back home."
Rarity sniffed. "If you're certain, darling," she said. "I had hoped to snare you into another of my creations, but I suppose some ponies are just not made for fashion."
"Rarity, one of these days I might surprise you."
"But not today?"
"Not today," Applejack echoed, with a wink and a sly smile. She tipped her hat to the trio and then, after pausing briefly to look at Luna once more, turned to walk away.
"Well. That was unexpected," Rarity said. She looked down at Applejack's virtually untouched tea with a frown, but then a moment later shrugged and turned her attention from it.
"She has a great heart," Luna murmured. She looked over her shoulder at Applejack's retreating form. "She was not wrong to be angry. Twilight did no wrong, but I took an unacceptable risk."
Rarity nodded, but she was still frowning. A spoon twisted in her magic, stirring at Applejack's tea almost of its own accord as Rarity's gaze lifted away to some point in the distance. "What exactly happened yesterday? I gleaned there was some sort of misuse of farm implements?"
"A mere game," Luna replied. "One that I perhaps took to an unfortunate extreme."
Twilight rolled her eyes and snorted as she picked up her tea. "They threw an axe at your head."
"Indeed, Twilight. You were right to be concerned, and for that I apologise as well." Again Luna found herself looking toward Applejack. Or at least to where she had been a moment before until turning a corner. "As to Applejack's apology, I fear she has sacrificed her dignity merely to appease me."
"Applejack only offers an apology if she's convinced she's done something wrong," Rarity replied. She picked up Applejack's abandoned tea and made to sip it, but then paused when she realised which cup she was holding. With a shrug she took a sip anyway. "It's her nature to be forthright. Unfortunately it can also make her stubborn. If she mistakenly believes she's in the wrong it can be quite hard to convince her otherwise. My advice is to just accept it."
"But am I not then lying to her, merely for my own comfort?" Luna paused a moment to consider her words. She could feel Twilight's eyes on her, burning through the illusion of mortality she had drawn about her body until it seemed they might strip it away entirely.
"I wouldn't call it a lie, exactly. It's more of a concession." Rarity peered into her tea, pursing her lips briefly before she spoke again. "There are times when a pony might feel they need to make amends for something that they can't consciously understand, so they'll piece together an explanation that makes sense to them and use that as a reason to apologise instead. It's just a way some ponies deal with certain issues."
"And yet it feels—" Luna clenched her teeth and snorted. There would not be an easy way out of this, she realised. She shook her head and pushed away from the table. "Pray pardon, friends."
"You're leaving?"
Luna turned to Twilight and shook her head. "Nay, Twilight. I merely wish to take care of certain matters. I shall return in but a moment."
Twilight took a breath as if to speak, but then nodded and turned back to her tea. Her movements were stiff, but not as hostile as they had been prior. As Luna trotted after Applejack, she wondered if perhaps Twilight had started to forgive her. On the bright side, she did at least seem to be treating Luna as a normal pony now, muting her anger out of a mere wish to get along with a friend rather than attempting to hide it behind deference for Luna's position. There was a certain comfort to be drawn from that.
"I have always admired a more formal manner of speech," she heard Rarity say, but the pair were out of earshot before she could hear Twilight's reply.
At the end of a short street, after rounding the corner of a shop crowded by boisterous and over-energetic colts and fillies, Luna paused to look for Applejack's retreating form. She found herself staring over a dense crowd of ponies packed from one side to the other of a broad avenue. Applejack's hat bobbed close to the far edge of the crowd like an airship navigating the lanes between tumultuous storm clouds. Luna considered turning back then, but a brief flash of Applejack's golden mane lifting as she danced around a tight knot of mares drew Luna onward.
She stumbled at the edge of the crowd, taking a finale look over the gathered ponies. They were taller than her, all taller. She hadn't realised just how slight this body of hers was, even if every other pony she met described it as 'tubby'. What had been her purpose?
Applejack was no longer visible. Gritting her teeth, Luna thrust toward a gap in the crowd. Then, surrounded by ponies, she stopped and took a tremulous breath. So. She was surrounded by ponies, and apparently they were all far taller than she was. The pounding of her heart in her chest was... unanticipated.
"Excuse me," she murmured as she snaked around a pair of chattering mares, and then again as she slid past a humongous white stallion, who paid her no attention whatsoever.
After a few more steps she paused again, trying to find her bearings. The sky was a blue haze, and whatever landmarks she might have recognised were obscured by the heads of ponies pushing this way and that. She took another hesitant step, but her progress was halted when grey-coated pegasus blundered into her hip and almost sent her sprawling. Luna turned to excuse herself, but the mare beat her to it, spilling the most heartfelt apology Luna had heard before disappearing into the crowd with a flick of her straw-blonde tail.
Unfortunately that left Luna with no idea of which way she was facing. She glanced up at the sky again, trying to spot the angle of the sun, but it seemed curiously absent. She jumped as a pony brushed against her side, but that only carried her into the path of another, who stumbled over Luna's back legs before departing with a curse and a sour look in her direction.
Luna was left dancing and panting around a tight circle of ponies, with no means to exit. Had she her wings she would have simply taken flight above them. For the first time since the start of this adventure she found herself cursing their absence, though she could never recall a similar feeling during any of the other lives she had lived. Perhaps it was a result of the incomplete nature of her transition.
A gap opened in the crowd. Luna lunged toward it, but as she slid through, the ponies on either side decided to move toward one another again, momentarily trapping Luna between a pair of substantial haunches.
"Please," she grunted. "Let me pass!"
By sheer luck one of the ponies moved on. Luna lurched forward, only for another mare to crush up against her side without so much as a by-your-leave. Luna stumbled to her left, bouncing off another body before collapsing to the ground. The crowd around her was moving restlessly now, ponies kicking divots from the dry soil as they tried to escape the thickening press of the herd. Luna stumbled to her feet and tried to push forward again until a hoof slammed into her hock. She bit back a pained yelp at the numb ache crawling along her leg and staggered, eyes closed, toward what she hoped was a gap in the crowd.
By the time she reached it, however, the gap was gone. Instead her nose bounced against the flank of another stallion, who turned abruptly at the touch. His legs kicked wide, catching Luna's foreleg and sending her stumbling back once again. His apology was brief and muttered, barely audible as he disappeared between the heaving mass of legs and bodies.
Luna fell to her haunches, unable to still the pounding of her heart in her chest. Ephemeral wings strained at her sides, aching to swing wide and pull her to the freedom of the skies.
Quite suddenly the crowd parted before her and Applejack stepped through, shrouded in dust. Had the world been a little more poetic, the parting might have been accompanied by an ephemeral glow of sunlight or the singing of angelic choirs, rather than Applejack's stern reprimands and orders to clear the way and 'git along', accompanied by the occasional swat of a hat against the rump of any pony who stumbled across her path.
Applejack's eyes were all sympathy as she drew up before Luna. "You okay there, princess?"
"I—" Luna blinked. Tears had gathered in her eyes, blurring her vision. Perhaps from the dust. "The crowd was deeper than I anticipated. "
Applejack didn't reply, except to place a gentle hoof on Luna's back. The action was calming, relieving the tension between her shoulders right away, though Luna saw no reason why it should be so. Despite the mystery of the touch, she closed her eyes and wallowed in the comfort.
"How is it you knew to return to me," she said, after some moments. Right away Applejack's foreleg stiffened, before slowly withdrawing.
"Well..." Applejack scuffed a hoof at the dirt. "Frankly y'all were hollerin' up a storm so loud I coulda heard you clear across town. Figured there ain't that many ponies around here with lungs enough to yell like that and most of them are out workin' overtime with Rainbow Dash anyhow. Short of Princess Luna droppin' in for a visit unannounced, y'all were the only pony I know who could make that sort of noise. So I came back to see what the fuss was about."
"I did not realise I was shouting," Luna replied. She lowered her head, only for it to be caught by Applejack's hoof. Luna let gaze be lifted to Applejack's face once again.
"Don't even think of sayin' sorry, Sable."
Luna opened her mouth to protest, but none came to mind. She closed it again slowly, considering her predicament, and nodded. "I fear I have had much cause to apologise in my lifetime, Applejack," she said, before slowly rising to her hooves. "Yet perhaps it is truly a habit to be cast aside and considered no longer."
Applejack smiled. The pair moved to the side of the street, passing easily through the crowd now that they were together, and into the lee of a bench by the entrance to an alley.
"So." Applejack leaned against the bench back and grinned. "Why'd you figure to follow me into that mess again?"
Luna glanced back at the crowd. From the outside it appeared far less intimidating, to the point that she wondered why she had reacted with such terror within it. She squelched the urge berate herself and returned her attention to Applejack.
"I wished of you a boon." She frowned and then rolled her eyes. "That is, I wished to ask of you a favour, fair Applejack, that I might again return to your orchards."
Applejack's face fell. She closed her eyes. "Sable..."
"If—if you fear I shall disappoint you again, Applejack, I can assure you—"
"No, that ain't it."
Applejack reached out to Luna's shoulder; again there was a sense of relaxation and comfort. Perhaps, Luna thought, it was some element of earth pony magic at work that she had forgotten. She pushed her awareness toward it, seeking any power that might flow from Applejack's body to her own, but to her great puzzlement all she felt was a little warmth and pressure.
At the edge of her perception, Luna became aware of Applejack's voice once again. She blinked and looked back to her friend.
"I meant what I said back there, Sable. I don't want to come between you and Twilight. And to be honest, with the storm bein' pushed back a ways and the seasonals Spritzer found the other day, I don't rightly need the help anyhow."
"I understand," Luna replied. She tried to smile, but there wasn't much to power it. There seemed to be no malice or deception in Applejack's words, but nevertheless...
Applejack smiled as she leaned close to Luna. "Sable, you're a good pony. You helped when I truly needed it and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."
Luna turned her head, not caring here she looked, except that it was away. Ice and fire fought in her heart as old fears and resentments thought long dead struggled to break free. Such petty feelings, over such petty a thing as work. Yet had Applejack truly rejected Luna, surely she would not have then sought her out to apologise, nor returned to accompany her through the crowd.
"Perhaps," she murmured. She turned back to Applejack. "I confess my motivation was no longer purely concern for your workplace. You are a great heart, Applejack. I had hoped come to know you better."
"Well... well you still can! I ain't goin' nowhere anyhow. Any time y'all want to shoot the breeze, just say the word."
"Very well, I shall accept this," Luna replied. She grinned. "I choose this night."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Tonight?"
"Twilight and I have no plans for this evening. I had intended to spend some time at study, but if you are willing then I would gladly take you to dinner while we 'take shots at the breeze'. It would also be a way to recompense you for any damage I may have caused."
"You want to buy me dinner? Sable, it was only an axe—"
"Then this is merely dinner, between friends," Luna replied archly. She raised an eyebrow; the other soon joined it, and she couldn't hide the pleading in her voice. "Consider it, at least?"
Applejack hemmed and rubbed her neck, and for a moment Luna feared she might be about to refuse.
"Sure," Applejack finally said. "Tonight. Only make sure it ain't anythin' fancy. Me and fancy, we don't get along too good, understand?"
"Of course," Luna replied. She held a hoof to her chest. "I shall return to accompany you at sunset."
"And I ain't stayin ' out all night drinkin neither," Applejack continued. She placed a hoof on her chest, perhaps mirroring Luna without realising it. "I'm a respectable mare."
Luna stifled a giggle and had to look away for a moment. "Certainly, fair Applejack," she said, as her mirth faded. "I shall return you as you would wish to be found."
"See that you do," Applejack replied. "Sides, I got work in the mornin'. Just cause I don't need the help don't mean I ain't busy no more. And speakin' of work, I oughta get back to the farm."
"Of course. Let us depart anon."
Applejack touched the rim of her hat and nodded. As she turned, Luna hesitantly reached out to touch her shoulder; Applejack looked back with a confused smile as Luna closed the short distance between them.
"Thank you," Luna said, with a nervous smile. Applejack didn't reply. Instead she nodded again, before turning away and, leaving Luna to drift at the edge of the crowd.
For a while she didn't move, content to watch the endless flow of bodies. Then, with a growing feeling of unease, she looked back and forth along the street and finally over her shoulder at the alley.
"Discord's beard," she muttered. "I forgot to ask for a quieter way back."
"Oh this humidity is just impossible. Sable, I don't know how you keep your mane so perfect, mine is practically hanging to my hooves!"
"Maybe she's born that way," said Twilight, from her seat half way between Rarity and Luna. Her voice sounded dead and flat when she spoke, lost in the endless bolts and rolls of fabric, half-finished works and racks of clothing that lined the walls of Rarity's home.
"Please, Twilight, even the most vigorous of genes would falter in the face of this hideous heat." Rarity flicked a hoof at the immaculate tresses of her mane and sniffed dismissively in Twilight's general direction, before returning her attention back to Luna. "It's positively horrid! How do you cope?"
The three, Luna, Rarity and Twilight, were each seated around the low table that formed the centrepiece of Rarity's sitting room – or, in Rarity's case, luxuriating on an elaborate chaise longue and idly toying with her mane. A plate of fancy biscuits, three ice-frosted glasses and a pitcher of chilled lemonade completed the scene. There were cocktail umbrellas. Twilight wasn't entirely sure why. She was careful to avoid tipping them out as she poured herself and Luna a drink.
"I confess I have not given the styling of my mane a great deal of thought," Luna replied, accepting a glass of lemonade from Twilight. She peered into the drink for a moment and then set it aside. "For much of my life such things were simply not an issue, and when they became such I had little reason to concern myself with them."
"But surely there must be some secret to it? A technique of those exclusive stylists of yours, perhaps?" Rarity rolled herself upright and leaned over the table toward Luna. "It will simply drive me absolutely potty if I don't find out. It's so full of body and life! Why I could believe it was caught up in the single perfect moment of a summer breeze—oh my." Rarity touched her lips briefly with her hoof and giggled. "That's rather poetic, isn't it? I must write that down..."
She turned away, her magic seeking pen and paper from a nearby desk laden with receipts and work orders, and for a brief, blessed moment there was silence. Not that Twilight had ever had reason to complain about Rarity's voice or the things she said with it, oh no. Not in the least. She just liked things to be quiet sometimes.
Rarity's pen flicked and flourished against a notebook as she finished writing. She looked up at Luna over the rims of glasses that had somehow come from nowhere to perch on her nose. "Have you both given any thought to what you're going to wear this evening?"
"I had not." Luna frowned. She picked up her drink and stared into it again, as if she were seeking some divine solution to the mystery within its depths. "It is... a difficult matter, one fears. I do not wish to place undue weight to the occasion."
"Nonsense, darling! Nonsense! Why it would be simply scandalous were I to let the pair of you spend a night on the town without something to help you stand out from the crowd. Scandalous!" Rarity tossed her notebook away and leaned forward, not even trying to hide the fervour in her eyes. "I already have quite the selection for you, Sable dear, if you'd be willing to try them on. As for Twilight, well I confess I was working on something already that I'm sure I could have finished if—"
"I'm not going."
Rarity's ears twitched. She turned her full attention to Twilight, fixing her with a stare that only Fluttershy might be able to outmatch. "Pardon me?"
Twilight's hoof tugged at her mane. "I said I'm not going. It's..."
"Complicated," Luna concluded. She finally took a sip of her lemonade, then set it aside again with a barely concealed grimace. "A personal matter, one that I feel I must settle with Applejack alone. I have err'd greatly these past days. I wish to set things aright once more."
Rarity tapped her chin and leaned back. "I see... so you wish to dine alone with Applejack? Then what about Twilight? I understand you two have suffered something of a, shall we say, heated disagreement over the last few days. I'm at a loss to see how this might help resolve that."
"It is quite simple," Luna replied, with just the hint of a frown. "I shall dine with Applejack on this eve, that I might compensate her for my acts, then henceforth shall I devote my time to Twilight and our studies of the night sky. Applejack no longer requires assistance in her work and it would be remiss of me to take up her time without cause, or to neglect others in my pursuit of—"
Luna paused, her frown deepening. She rolled her lips around as if chewing on something, then closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I do not believe I shall require any of your work this night, Rarity, as gracious as your offer may be," she continued, quietly. "I wish to... to emulate the sturdy simplicity of Applejack's life for one last night. It has been a most refreshing change."
"And Twilight, you're content with this arrangement?"
Despite her silence, Twilight couldn't stop her ears folding back against her head. Rarity's reaction was swift, and yet surprisingly restrained. None of the usual theatrics. She hopped from her couch and settled down next to Twilight to wrap her in a warm hug.
"It's all right, darling," Rarity cooed. "You aren't the first friends to have a falling-out and I'm sure it won't be the last time it happens to you, either. I'm certain you and Sable will find a way to resolve this, given time."
"Maybe," Twilight murmured. She looked toward Luna and tried to smile. "I mean, we'll always have Pistis, right?"
"Of course," Luna replied, bowing her head. "I do not consider our friendship a mere trifle, Twilight. Without you I would have been lost in my obsessions and would have suffered greatly for it. T'would have been a dark existence indeed. There is little I would not sacrifice to keep your faith."
She fell silent, looking expectantly at Twilight, though as the silence drew on her ears and face fell just a little. A moment longer and Luna bowed her head once more.
"Pray both excuse me now, I must prepare for the evening. Shall I see you at the library on my return, Twilight?"
Twilight's ears bobbed. She looked toward Luna, but couldn't quite meet her eyes. "Um, sure, I guess."
"Then I shall bid you both farewell. Thank you for the refreshments, Rarity. They were most..." Luna pursed her lips. "Fruitful."
She turned without another word and trotted from the room, closing the door behind her. In the silence that followed, Twilight reached for her glass of lemonade and took a small sip.
"I knew I shouldn't have let Sweetie Belle make lemonade," Rarity muttered, once Twilight had finished retching. "She was so keen... but such is the way of fillies and fools."
"Keen." Twilight leaned back, frowning, while Rarity busied herself tidying away the drinks. She disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with another chilled pitcher.
"Iced tea?" She waited for Twilight's answering nod, then poured two large glasses. "I do hope I wasn't too forward, earlier. It always pains me to see friends come to such lows, especially such close friends as you seem to be."
"Close. I don't know about that."
"Surely you must be! The day Sable arrived, you two were falling over one another like giddy foals! If I didn't know better I would have thought you and she were—" Rarity paused beneath Twilight's frigid gaze. She cleared her throat and leaned away. "Suffice to say the way you're both acting now tells me you're closer than you think."
"I'm not acting! I'm—"
"Jealous, darling. You're jealous." Rarity returned to her couch, where she sat taking petite sips of her tea, while watching Twilight fumble with a throw cushion.
"Well so what if I am? She's my friend, she came here to spend time with me, to help me!"
After another sip, Rarity carefully placed her tea on the table between them. She lay back in the couch with a languid sigh.
"Twilight, it strikes me that you still have a great deal to learn about friendship, if that's how you see your relationship. Why, Sable herself said that she wanted to spend time with all of us over the coming weeks, and I must confess I have been rather looking forward to showing her the more civilised side of Ponyville life."
"Yes, but—but I'd be there too," Twilight whined. She knew it was a whine; she sounded like Rarity when she was two thirds of the way down a tub of ice-cream. "We would have spent time together, doing things together. It was meant to be fun! She wasn't supposed to just go off and get a job!"
"Far be it from me to contradict you, Twilight, but it sounds as if that 'job' was just the sort of experience Sable needed." Rarity sat up and rolled onto her belly to face Twilight. "She strikes me as a very physical mare, not one who would be content to spend her days cooped up in stuffy little rooms, compiling charts."
"How can you tell that?"
Rarity glanced toward Twilight, raising a single eyebrow. "I've had my tapes around enough ponies to know what goes on under the coat, Twilight. While at first glance she resembles your more academically inclined nature, in fact your friend has a very deceptive physique, one that's been giving me quite a design challenge, which is why I'd dearly love to get her into my workshop."
Rarity paused at the sight of Twilight pouting. She let out a sigh.
"But perhaps that's something to discuss another day..." Rarity lifted her drink for another sip, but the glass was empty. She stared at it for a moment and then set it aside. "In truth, Twilight, you must be careful that you don't let your jealousy of Sable's attention to others override your consideration for her own needs. Jealousy can lead to dark places. You wouldn't want to end up like Nightmare Moon, would you?"
Twilight scrunched up her face, struggling against the urge to press her hooves to her temples. "This is hardly the same thing, Rarity."
"I don't see why not. Princess Luna envied the attention others paid to her sister. She was probably also jealous of the fact that Celestia returned that attention rather than giving it to her. I see the same thing in Sweetie Belle sometimes."
"It's still not the same," Twilight insisted, looking up again. "I admit it, I'm jealous. L—Look, we share a passion, I honestly expected Sable would be more interested in that. And yes the fact that she's—the fact that Applejack of all ponies... I just didn't expect things to turn out like this. But I'm not going to turn into Nightmare Sparkle or whatever crazy name you're already thinking up for me."
"Are you sure? No temptation to plunge the world into eternal night?" Rarity's ears twitched in two tight circles. She smirked. "It would give you a lot more stargazing time."
Twilight snorted as she tried to hold back a giggle. "Are you trying to make me turn evil?"
"Certainly not! Although..." Rarity pressed a hoof to her lips and smiled. "Were you to do so, I could probably be convinced to run off a few costumes for you. A nice uniform and matching cape would make the climactic battle so much more atmospheric!"
"Rarity, I am not going to become a villain just so you can make a new line of dresses."
Rarity pouted. "Not even a little bit?"
"No."
"Well if you must so callously crush my dreams..." Rarity leaned back again with a dainty little sigh. "Will you at least promise to bring Sable to a fitting? I can assure you I shall not attempt to steal her away."
"I—" Twilight sighed and nodded. At least they'd both be there. "Sure."
The sky was bronze and the air thick and muggy when Applejack settled herself at the gate to Sweet Apple Acres.
Yet it was peaceful out here, on the edge of the farm, with the sun hanging ripe and golden over the western hills. More peaceful than home at any rate. While she had been dressing up, Applejack had considered waiting at the house for Sable, but a few well-placed barbs from Spritzer and Granny's constant snickering and pointed looks had put paid to that idea mighty quick. So she'd hiked up her britches and, while everyone had been bickering over what to eat for supper, she'd scarpered for the gate.
Though it had to be said, she was regretting the tux, now she was out and about. Fancy duds and a humid evening did not a great combination make at the best of times. The inexplicable churning of her stomach didn't help matters either.
"It's just supper," she told herself, tugging yet again at the collar of her tux. Why she'd worn a tuxedo. Why this tuxedo... but then Sable was a classy Canterlot mare. She'd probably turn up in something that'd make Rarity look dowdy by comparison.
Maybe, Applejack thought, if she'd worn her gala dress instead. Or one of the other dresses Rarity had made for her. Or—
She snorted her frustration and snapped at a stray blossom as it flickered past her face. It was bitter, but not overly so and it might hold back her appetite for a little while. Applejack looked up at the tree it had fallen from, a tree that had grown so old it had no idea what season it was in any more. She was still staring at it when she heard the crunch of hooves on the gravel path leading to the gate.
"Well hey there," she said, turning to the path. "It—oh."
Sable stood before Applejack, near-naked as a winter tree. In fact she was wearing nothing more than a slightly confused smile.
"Well met, fair Applejack," she said, looking up and down while Applejack tugged at her collar again. She opened her mouth as if to speak again, but then shook her head as if thinking better of it and trotted to Applejack's side.
"I shoulda listened to Big Mac," Applejack muttered as she accepted Sable's hug. "Told me I was overdressed, but I figured—"
"Perhaps it is I who should feel underdressed, Applejack," said Sable. She stepped back to admire Applejack again. "It is a fine suit, though I am a little surprised that you chose such a garment over the many items of clothing I understand that Rarity has produced for you."
"You an' me both," Applejack replied as she looked about herself. "I'll go change."
"No, Applejack, please remain as you are. It is most becoming."
"Well uh, if you say so."
They set off down the path, Sable taking just the slightest lead. Despite the nerves that seemed to plague her and her lonely occupation, it seemed Sable was used to the idea that others would follow her. Perhaps that was why she'd been so forward the other day.
"So." Applejack glanced a nearby hedgerow as they passed the first of Ponyville's gardens. "Is Twilight waiting for us in town?"
Sable's legs twitched; almost a stumble, but not quite. "Twilight shall not be joining us tonight."
"But I thought you said the three of us—"
"This night was to be my apology, Applejack, not Twilight's. There is nothing for which she need apologise, whereas I fear I must compensate for a great many things..." Sable looked back briefly to smile at Applejack as they turned onto the main road into Ponyville. "I have wronged you both, and I must reconcile with you both by whichever means are most suitable. For Twilight, it is a case of granting that portion of my time which I had already pledged to her 'pon my arrival."
"So you'll be spendin' your nights peeking at that there pastry and—and..." Applejack chewed at her tongue a moment as she tried to recall the names Sable had told her. "That, uh, that other one."
Sable giggled. "Erato, the desired and lovely poet. And I believe you may mean Pistis, who personifies good faith and trust, a virtue in which I fear I may have erred."
"Then that's time and book learnin' for Twilight," said Applejack with a firm nod. They were silent a few paces as she mulled the thought over. "And for me?"
Sable's ears twitched. "I cannot give you my time, nor do you need it, and I cannot give you gifts, for I see you have all that you need. Nevertheless I have found that good food, strong wine and tall tales well told might mollify the most aggrieved of hearts."
"Guess I'm bringin' the tall tales then."
"I may have some of my own," Sable replied. Her pace slowed again as they made their way down the street; now and then she would glance at Applejack before just as quickly looking away, and before long they were walking at barely a snail's pace.
"Something wrong, Sable?"
Sable looked at Applejack again, though it felt as if her eyes weren't looking at Applejack at all. For a moment her face looked different. Older. Or just harder, like weatherworn canvas, stretched tight and baked stiff by the sun.
Then she looked away. "It is no matter, Applejack. I was merely reminded of an old friend."
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"You are like him, just a little." Sable set off again at a quick trot. "I believe it is the suit. He was rather disposed to formal dress. I would not have taken you for the sort of pony that wore such things, though it does flatter you so."
"I-I guess. Actually it was meant to be Big Mac's but he got to big for it afore he even wore it once, so I kind of ended up with it instead." Applejack smiled and shook her head. "Tween buyin' a shirt and takin' it home he'd grow out of it, every dang time. Boy sure knew how to bust a button."
"Indeed. Your brother is admirably robust."
"Yeah well don't get yourself any ideas," Applejack shot back. "He's already spoke for."
"I assure you, Applejack, as admirable a pony as he may be, I have no designs on your brother. Ah! We have arrived."
Sable halted before a large, brightly lit restaurant that Applejack had never really paid attention to before, on account of the fact that it was significantly out of her price range. A short flight of steps brought them to a terrace, where ponies were seated around slender tables piled high with flowers and decorations of all sorts.
A Maître d' approached, beaming at them both. His smile broadened considerably when he recognised Applejack.
"A pleasure to see you again, ms Moonshine," he said, bowing lightly to Sable, and then to Applejack. "And let me say it is an honour that you would grace our restaurant with so famous and noble a guest. If you had only informed us, we would have prepared a more fitting welcome."
"It is well, good sir. We dine as friends, there is no need of such formality."
"Of course, of course."
The Maître d' bowed again, beckoning the pair toward a table on the terrace, before turning to clap his hooves at the nearby waitstaff. He bowed once again to Sable and then left, grinning and preening like a cat who had just found an entire trough of milk.
Applejack reached to pull out a chair, but before she could even touch it the chair glowed bright with Sable's magic and slid away from the table. She rolled her eyes and sat.
"Famous and noble, huh," she said as Sable seated herself opposite.
"It is not an incorrect assessment." Sable smiled shyly, twisting her ears sideways for just a moment. "You and your friends have done much to deserve the accolade."
"I ain't complainin', I just wonder why I ain't heard none about all this until now. Not like I get ponies linin' up at the stall for my autograph." Applejack rubbed the back of her head, then shrugged. "I'm nopony special. Just a farmer."
Sable toyed with her knife, spinning it blade-down on the table beneath her hoof. "You are special to many, Applejack. Your family. Your sister loves you like no other. Your friends. In what time I have spent with them, they have been most positively disposed toward you. Many of this town appear to treat you with great respect and honour."
"Twilight don't seem so disposed to me right about now."
"It may seem so," Sable replied with a nod. "But consider also, were you not special to her, she would not feel so passionately about our relationship."
"I don't think it's our relationship stuck in her craw, princess. You an' her are like two halves of an apple split apart, I reckon."
"Perhaps." Sable set her knife down to give Applejack her full attention. She smiled again. "She expected things of our friendship that were unrealistic, I fear. I have suffered similar illusions in the past."
"That sister of yours?"
"My sister and others besides. My work is important to me. I expected it to be important to everypony and I was not wrong to believe so, yet the means by which they expressed that importance was not as I desired and it angered me greatly, and for a great length of time. When I think of the time I wasted and the friends I lost..." Sable closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. "But that is of no concern. Let this not be an evening of sorrow and mourning. We are two friends, sharing a meal. No more."
"No less," Applejack chimed in.
"I would raise a glass to that, fair Applejack, had I not neglected to order our wine in advance."
"Oh I'm sure they'll be here in a minute. In the meantime..." Applejack reached for the water that had been left on their table. She poured into Sable's glass, then filled her own and held it up. "How's that?"
"It shall suffice," said Sable, as she raised her own glass, mirroring the impromptu toast. "Thank you."
Applejack smiled as she sipped from her water, which in truth was probably better tasting than any wine could be right at that moment. She set it aside and looked around the terrace for any sign of the waitstaff. As luck would have it a pony emerged from the restaurant's interior just as her eyes settled on the door. He had a basket on his back, overflowing with more steaming fresh bread than Applejack had seen in any single place that wasn't a bakery.
The waiter dropped the basket on the table and retreated with a bow and a flourish. A few steps away he looked over his shoulder at the table, only to immediately turn away, a blush colouring his cheeks, when he saw Applejack was watching him.
She pulled a bun from the basket and tore it open. A cloud of steam rose into the evening air, heavy with the buttery yeast and musty warmth. Applejack snuffled at the moist aroma before pulling a mouthful of bread away with her teeth.
"I've been wantin' to ask," she said around half-chewed crust. "Bout them tree marks y'all made the other day."
Sable's eyes fell, followed a moment later by her ears. She looked away. "If I was mistaken—"
"Sugar, did I say you made a mistake? Y'all are so quick to think you done goofed." Applejack waved a roll under Sable's nose until she looked up again. "Hey. Don't go hidin' from me again. I ain't askin' because I want to catch you out. If I were upset I'd just say so, y'hear?"
Sable stared at the bun, pouting and frowning, before taking it between her own hooves. She looked nervously toward Applejack and then nodded once.
"Better," Applejack said, taking another bite of her bun. "Now, I gotta ask this, because it's been drivin' me crazy. Where did y'all learn to make them marks? Granny swears she had nothin' to do with it, same with everypony else back at the farm, and I sure as shucked corn never explained 'em to you. Which I shoulda done."
Sable nosed at her bun and took an exploratory nibble. She set it aside a moment later. "I suspect you would not believe me if I claimed they were self-evident."
"Because they ain't," said Applejack. "They're older'n my family round these parts, and my family is pretty dang old dependin' on who you ask."
"I have heard such. Very well." Sable took a breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. She raised her snout a fraction. "To explain in short, I asked the trees."
"Really? Huh. Well... that ain't so strange I guess, though they ain't rightly able to read what gets writ on their trunks so well."
Applejack tugged another bun free and dropped it on the table. She rolled it around under her hoof and watched Sable out of the corner of her eye.
"Do you understand them?"
Applejack's ears twitched. "I know what they mean on the side of a tree, sure. Can I read em?" She shrugged and tossed her bun in the air. "Pappy said they're a language, but he never told me what it was. I don't rightly think he knew either, 'cept that it used to exist."
For a moment Sable was quiet, contemplating her drink. She gently swirled the water around her glass before setting it aside. "Your father was correct. They are a runic script, an ancient earth pony dialect called Malum—"
"That there's old unicorn talk for apple, right?"
"Indeed," Sable replied with a bow of her head. "Ancient Equestrian is often used in scientific nomenclature. In this case Malum is the name given to the language your distant ancestors spoke within their clan, although in their own tongue it was called æppelspræc. I am well familiar with it."
Applejack nodded slowly, digesting what she had heard. Maybe she should look up that language in Twilight's library later, she thought as she sipped at her water, assuming the mare would ever let her through the door again.
But that was tomorrow's problem. She set her glass down and leaned over the table. "That don't explain how y'all could know what they mean. None of them trees ever told me what I wrote on em."
"Mayhap you care to ask and they might answer," Sable replied, with just the hint of a smile.
Applejack shook her head. "You're a strange'un, Sable. You waltz onto my farm one day and the next you're talkin' to trees like you were born to it."
"Perhaps I am truly more than I appear, as some have said." Sable smiled hesitantly, before looking away to reach for her drink. "Or perhaps I was merely granted the privilege of a superior tutor. You were taught such things by your father, and he by his parents. I assume that such knowledge is passed through your family to those that are likely to continue working in such a manner?"
Applejack nodded. "Pretty much, though I had to teach Apple Bloom myself on account of her—she weren't old enough to learn the way I did. She's a smart kid too, took to it like a fresh cuttin' to a fat root. Still young to be buckin' regular like, mind, but I tell you, the first time she laid her hoof against a tree she had a smile on her face like you wouldn't believe. Brought the whole thing down too."
"Perhaps one day I shall live up to her standard," Sable replied, quietly, still staring into her drink.
Applejack sighed and rested her cheek on an upturned hoof. "There I go agin, yammerin' about work when I should be talkin about—well, anything else I guess."
"I am not averse to listening to you discuss your work, Applejack." Sable rolled her glass between her hooves, swirling the water within as if it were the finest of wines." I find it most enlightening."
"Ain't somethin' I hear every day." Applejack reached for her water and took a deep gulp. Celestia above but she could have used something stronger right then. She let her ears drop and shook her head. "Listen, Sable—"
"If, as I suspect, you wish to apologise for your actions once again, Applejack, then please do not." Sable set her drink aside and leaned across the table. Every part of her face seemed taut and focused on Applejack. There was something about her eyes that Applejack couldn't quite bring into focus. "You have shown to me a world I had forgotten and a life I would dearly have lived, had I the choice."
"Who says you don't?" Applejack waited as Sable fell back into her seat with a frown. She tipped back her hat. "Y'all got a talent for it, no pony would deny that, and there ain't nothin' says you have to stick around Canterlot just to please a bunch of stuffy old university professors or whatever it is you do. Didn't harm Twilight none to come live out here did it?"
"Perhaps it did not." Sable lowered her gaze to the table and smiled again. "There are many things in this place to which I would be drawn. If circumstances were different, I feel I might be happy to remain here with you."
"And every one of us would sure appreciate havin' you around, too. Twilight and Rarity especially." Applejack glanced toward the kitchens again. A server was approaching, pushing a trolley with a covered bottle or pitcher of some sort on it. "Rarity's probably got plans for you."
Sable giggled, covering her mouth with a hoof. "She has told as much! I am also informed that I must submit to her ministrations, that she might sate her curiosity and overcome some sort of physical challenge..." For a moment Sable pondered the bare table cloth, tapping one hoof and then the other. "I fear she means to seduce me."
Applejack rocked back in her chair and burst out laughing as the waiter arrived. After an ostentatious bow, he unveiled the largest bottle of wine Applejack had ever seen. The cork was already pulled and honey-clear wine already poured into two oversized glasses, which the waiter placed before them with a subtle flourish and a flap of his towel.
The Maitre d' hovered close behind, twitching his forelegs in little stomps, one after the other, just loud enough that Applejack couldn't quite pull her attention from them. He moved in the moment the waiter had retreated, bowing deep and long to Applejack and Sable in turn.
"For such distinguished guests, we took the liberty of choosing a wine we felt most appropriate to your situation, madames," he said, with a brief glance and a smile at Applejack's mirth. "The Chataigneroux seventy-six. A rather characterful vintage. I recommend the hazelnut and sauté chestnut en croute for accompaniment. The moment you are ready to order, simply let one of the staff know and we will do our utmost to serve you."
A wave of his hoof brought forward another waiter, who placed menus before the pair before scuttling away. Then the Maitre d' bowed with a flourish and retreated back toward the kitchen in turn, leaving Sable and Applejack alone once more.
Applejack peered at the Maitre d's back and then at Sable. She tapped the menu. "I thought I said no fancy stuff."
"Indeed. Yet you have shown to me the pleasantries of your life. I felt I should in turn a taste of my own world present to you." Sable touched the foot of her glass, turning it this way and that as she stared into the surface of her wine. "In truth I fear I shall have no opportunity henceforth. You shall be busy with your work and I shall be engaged with Twilight's telescopes, and much else besides."
"If I didn't know better, Sable, I'd think you were saying goodbye."
"In a sense, it may be." Sable raised her eyes, to look at Applejack across the rim of her glass. "Sooner or later I shall leave this place and return to my own. Had I the choice, I might spend each moment until then by your side, but that choice is denied to me. Instead we must eke out mere moments together, in finery and indeed good companionship, but away from that which would please me most."
"The farm?"
"The farm," Sable replied, with a confirming nod. "It was most fulfilling. To remain would please me greatly. Yet I am bound to my duties."
Her gaze drifted gently back to the wine's pale surface. At first Applejack had no reply, until the full meaning of Sable's words surfaced like so many bobbing apples in the water-barrel of her imagination.
"Bullpucky," she grunted. "Only pony what says you have to do that is yourself, Sable. I'm surprised the last few days didn't learn y'all that."
"But my promises to Twilight. My responsibilities..." Sable glanced down at her side and shook her head. "My mark. I am not—"
"A mark ain't all a pony is, sugar," said Applejack, lowering her voice. "Apples is my blood, but apples don't raise barns and they don't plough fields or plant crops, and sure as all that they don't win rodeos neither." She paused, watching the tips of Sable's ears as they turned a slow, awkward circle in the air. Easier than reading a book, that was for sure. "Life ain't just doin' what other ponies expect of you."
"I had not considered..." Sable raised an eyebrow. "Are you attempting to convince me to join you on your farm permanently, Applejack?"
"Well now, that uh—that ain't exactly the sort of thing I had in mind—" Applejack pressed a hoof to her head. "I ain't about to come between you and Twilight none, but the way you're talkin' about never seein' each other like y'all are gonna be gone forever? It ain't right. I ain't goin' anywhere this next few weeks, so unless y'all plan on turnin' into a cloud right now and driftin away over the forest—"
"I do not."
"Then it ain't goodbye till you leave," Applejack insisted. She tapped a hoof against her glass. "Now are we gonna drink this here grape juice or what?"
"Of course." Sable bowed her head and lifted her glass, opting for her hooves rather than magic, Applejack noticed. "Let us drink then, to friends and loved ones, and to the magic by which they enrich our lives."
"Amen to that," Applejack murmured before taking a slug of her drink. Bitter warmth crashed to the back of her throat and for a moment she had to close her eyes, and wait until the wine's true flavour emerged.
When she opened them again she found Sable watching her with a petite frown, little more than a wrinkle between her eyebrows. Applejack swallowed carefully, waiting for a bitter aftertaste that she was sure would follow, but all she could sense was a delicate sweetness and a heady glow that reminded her of the smoke from an applewood fire in the fall.
"I could get used to this here fancy stuff," she muttered, setting her glass aside. "Now how's about we rustle us up somethin' to eat while there's still time."
"Nothing would please me more, fair Applejack," said sable, with a smile that Applejack couldn't help but return.
"What about this one?"
Luna peered at the tree before her, towering into the sightless black canopy above their heads. The trunk bore a mark, an X with a vertical line to each side. Three shorter lines emerged from it; one to the right, two to the left. She sat down to ponder it.
Their dinner had been unremarkable, save for the odd confession she had laid at Applejack's hooves, and the equally odd response it had earned. There had been discussion of their work – in Luna's case, couched in terms vague enough to disguise its reality, or so she hoped – and stories of great adventures of one sort or another, accompanied by food to ease both bodies, and perhaps more alcohol than was strictly necessary to ease both minds.
The farm had never been far from either of their thoughts, however, and it was because of this that Luna now found herself deep amongst the far reaches of Sweet Apple Acres, staring at trees and the marks upon them, while Applejack clung to her side like an eager student.
"Dæg," she murmured, pointing at the X. "It means day, or days, but is also the name for the sixth letter of the thaeorid, the Malum alphabet."
She shifted her hoof to another mark at its side, a slash from the upper right to the lower left, with a horizontal above it. It was crude – the curling sweep at its end was missing – but it was recognisable even so.
"This represents Frygen," she said, tracing in the missing curl. "The goddess of attraction and foresight. Presumably she was invoked for trees that were ready to be harvested at any time."
In the still night, her voice carried far into the distance, echoing strangely from the trees. Luna pricked her ears, listening to the faint, alien whisper of her words as they returned to her. How familiar it sounded after so few days in her ears.
"Pretty much what it means alone, yeah," Applejack replied. She tapped the mark. Behind her, an apple fell to the ground, unheeded. "Together they say it shouldn't be dropped less than six days after the start of the harvest. See?" Applejack drew her hoof across the first mark again, catching on each of the horizontals. "One four, two ones."
"Such was my understanding." Luna peered close to the marks, until her nose bumped up against the bark. She drew back and rubbed a hoof against her muzzle. "I have not encountered a numbering system such as this for—for many years. It would seem I have much yet to learn of your ways."
"You still could, if you wanted."
Luna raised her eyes to the heavens, or at least to the canopy that hid them. "Applejack—"
"Don't fuss yourself none, sugarcube" Applejack tipped back her hat and loosened the collar of her shirt. "I'm just happy you're takin' an interest. Twilight dang near had me convinced you were just out here for fun and games. Hobby farmin', she called it."
"Really." Luna hummed and shook her head. "T'would appear she is as jealous of my affections as I was of my sister's."
"That don't rightly sound like Twilight," Applejack replied. She moved to lean against Luna's side; her body positively glowed with heat, a side-effect of the overabundance of wine the pair had consumed. "She ain't the jealous type I reckon, except about Princess Celestia I suppose. Hey maybe that's it!"
Applejack looked into Luna's face. Despite the warmth, Luna shivered. "What is?"
"Way you sound probably reminds her of home. I reckon she sees a tiny little bit of a Princess in you, princess."
"It is flattering that you might think so, Applejack, but this is neither the body nor the voice of a Princess," Luna replied. "In truth, jealousy may strike without warning, driven by naught that reason could comprehend."
"As if she's got a thing to be jealous of between us."
With great reluctance – and that was something to ponder in itself – Luna tore herself from Applejack's side and wandered the short distance to another tree. Her eyes caught on the marks it bore, tracing the same rune of foresight and the crossed-out circle at its side.
"There's the rub," she murmured, idly drawing her hoof across the marks. "What roun doth bitterness unsheath..."
She touched it with a hoof, then looked across at the next row of trees. All bore the same combination.
"Æring," she muttered. "Applejack, the letter upon this tree is traditionally associated with dawn. Pray, tell this mark's meaning?"
Applejack glanced over at Luna, but remained where she sat. "It means drop at next daybreak," she replied, before turning away again. There was a heaviness to the way she held herself that Luna had not seen before that moment. "No waiting."
"Many trees hereabouts bear the same." Luna peered into the distance. Every tree was marked identically. "This entire grove—"
"Was marked today," Applejack concluded. "They all came into fruit at once. Oh we could wait a few days, sure, but these goldens are finicky. They'd ferment on the branches if we don't get em cellared proper, so they all gotta come down at first light, and that's gonna cut into the time we need for thinning out the rest of the crop."
"But you are capable of such a feat?"
Applejack shook her head. "It'll be a stretch. I wouldn't say no to an extra pair of hooves around the place, but we found a few boys. Ain't as enthusiastic as you were, though."
"Of course. Were I not bound by obligation—"
"Shoot, I hear that." Applejack looked around the orchard and shook her head. "Guess I should get you back home before Twilight does something dumb again."
"At least we shall not be singing this time," said Luna. She fell in step beside Applejack, both ponies ambling back toward the heart of the farm.
Applejack snorted. "T'wouldn't be so bad if it were a song I could sing along with."
"Then perhaps next time you shall choose the song," said Luna.
Applejack didn't reply, but after a few steps, Luna felt Applejack's coak brushing against her own. She glanced over at her friend; Applejack looked down at her and smiled, but made no effort to move away again.
Perhaps it was just the chill night air pushing them together.
The following dawn rose through an all-consuming haze that swallowed the entire horizon, beneath a sky as clear and deep as a crystal mountain lake. Sharp slivers of icy cloud drifted high above, distant from each other as from the ground beneath, shadeless and white as paper, or the milk that eddied in Luna's tea as she prepared another cup of the beverage she had so quickly come to associate with both recovery and rest.
No pegasus clouds were these, however, but rather those that nature saw fit to sprinkle across the bowl of the firmament from time to time, perhaps as a reminder that nothing was truly under the control of ponykind for long.
Perhaps.
Luna set her cup aside to cool for the moment and settled herself further into the comfy chair she had dragged out to Twilight's balcony, the better to watch the dawn's first light. It was a strange time; a point of transition, when her own power and the power of her sister stood equal and equally at odds; when she was by turns weaker and stronger than at any other moment.
It made no sense that it should be so, for her moon roved through the nights and days without regard for the immobile marks of time that so fascinated her sister; yet it was so. Perhaps that was why Celestia had so fixed the cycles in Luna's absence? But to believe that would be to give succor to thoughts of conspiracy and Luna was far beyond such things now.
Far beyond...
Thoughts of her sister drew Luna's gaze toward the distant city that was now their home. It being farther north, Canterlot's white towers still glowed with the ruddy pink of the early dawn, standing in stark relief against the shadowy bulk of Canter peak and the velvet-blue northern sky. Twixt those towers she could remember the gardens, the cool, shady places and avenues of trees that saved her from the sun's cruel heat. The concessions Celestia had made, for how could the sun be enjoyed without the relief of shelter from its baleful eye?
Even in those quandam days when ponies frolicked, so they said, in the light of Celestia's sun, nevertheless they sheltered from it beneath the boughs of trees, and the rude walls of their homes. It seemed folly now, looking back, to resent their dancing and enjoyment. The cool of the night and the pale light of the moon had been blessed relief from the glowering day and they had partaken of it the only way a pony could, in rest and in sleep, and dreams of cool ponds and quiet places, surrounded by the fruits of their labours.
It was perhaps predictable that those fruits, in her mind's eye, took the form of apples, piled in lush heaps beneath the boughs of an orchard wood, while the pony enjoying them was a familiar shape indeed.
At some point, Luna realised, her gaze had returned to the sky. It was the sort of sky that should have accompanied the crisp, bitter tang and prickling chill of a coming winter; the sort of sky that once had been Luna's whole life and realm; the sort that once had met her each dawn on the trek from hearth to field at the end of the harvest, or from the battlements of the old castle on the dawn of the equinox, or in the skies above Pegasopolis as she waited for her sons to return from the games.
She stared at it, watching for any change in the stillness, and sipped at her tea until she had dragged its last dregs from the cup.
It was the skittering of claws on wood that drew Luna from her melancholy. She glanced at her empty cup, long cold and dried out, and set it aside, by the equally empty teapot, to meet the intruder to her solitude.
"My greetings, sir Spike," she said, smiling at the young dragon. He scuffled to a halt, blinking confusion at the address. Then he grinned and bowed with a flourish of his arms, as was the custom of the far-distant Abyssinian court. Perhaps Celestia had taught it to him. "Shall I assume that Twilight yet sleeps?"
"Um, kinda?" Spike hopped up to the balcony rail and set himself upon it, facing Luna, with his back to the distant city. "She usually reads in bed for a couple of hours before breakfast. I was just heading out to get her something from Sugarcube Corner."
"Would that all ponies had such a loyal assistant," Luna murmured. She contemplated Spike a while, as he swung his stubby legs and peered, boyish and absent-minded, around the balcony.
Every now and then, however, he would glance over to the horizon, to the north and the distant city on its hill. Just a glance, yet his eyes found time to linger.
"T'is a strong feeling, to wish to be home again," she said.
"I guess." Spike shrugged. "We go back sometimes though, so it's not like I never see the place. Besides, this is our home now."
"It is true that home is where the heart does rest, or so an old friend once told me," said Luna. She found herself staring at the horizon again, though not at Celestia's distant towers this time. "Alas, the heart may often rest in far off places, where we cannot hope to remain."
Spikes looked toward her, his eyes wide and unblinking. Then he sagged and sighed, and hopped from the balcony rail.
"I've gotta go. But–" He paused, half way to the door, and looked up at Luna with those same wide, endless eyes. "Maybe you wanna come?"
Luna smiled and bowed her head once more. "T'would be my pleasure to accompany you, sir Spike."
At first she had thought they would be visiting the market, as that had seemed to be the source of most food in the town, yet they had barely reached the perimeter of it when Spike led Luna away again. She found herself before a gaudy shopfront, a building that was the physical embodiment of the sugar scent that hung about it in a dense cloud. Vague memories of the place arose as she looked over the building, of ponies in gay costumes piling from its doors, their backs heavy with trays of pastries and pies and sweets of all kinds that they bade her eat until she was utterly stuffed.
A pleasant memory. She smiled as she climbed the step after Spike and nosed through the door.
Within, a dozen or so ponies sat hunched over tables, nuzzling at plated pastries and desserts and steaming hot drinks. Their conversations were muted, but carried within them the seeds of raucous cheer that Luna had so rarely found in the stifling bounds of the court.
She found Spike by a counter, speaking with a portly mare who seemed either unwilling or unable to keep a broad smile from her face. She nodded as she wrote down Spike's order; occasionally she would mutter something around the pencil in her mouth, possibly clarifying some detail or other, until the two had negotiated whatever sugary treaty Spike was to bring home to Twilight this morning.
The shopkeeper nodded a greeting to Luna as she approached, then spat out the pencil and smiled broader still. "And you must be Twilight's young friend from Canterlot. Spike's been telling me about you all week!"
"Nothing bad, I swear," Spike added, with a grin too wide and toothy to be anything but nervous.
"Of course, he's had nothing but praise for you, though a little bird may have told me that it's you I have to thank for why we're suddenly providing Twilight's breakfast every day." The shopkeeper winked at Spike, who pouted like a foal. "Oh, but where are my manners? You must be ravenous. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
"Oh, I–" Luna glanced at the menu, then at Spike. "I had not considered that I might eat quite yet."
"Not a morning pony, I take it?"
"Indeed not," Luna replied, with a cock-eyed grin.
"Well, I'll be right over here if you change your mind. Just call for Cup Cake."
With that, the shopkeeper bustled away to the kitchen, calling out Spike's order in a sing-song voice that was cut off by the closing door. Luna looked down at Spike, making sure he saw that her smile was friendly and not the wicked grin of the vengeful spirit he now likely feared. It seemed to work, though perhaps he simply considered it fair play for the earlier treatment to which she had subjected him.
"It'll be a few minutes," he said, gesturing toward an empty place by the window. Luna nodded.
They had barely settled in their seats when the door burst open – there was no other way to describe the cacophonous entry – and the mare Rarity strode into the building, humming a jaunty tune and smiling as if her life depended on being seen to do so.
Close to the counter, she glanced at last in their direction, her gaze coming to rest on Spike. She nodded to him and winked, though the gesture lasted just a little too long to be entirely innocent. Then her eyes found Luna. Rarity's smile took on an almost predatory sheen as she turned a hard right, wafting a carefless hoof at Cup Cake, who had returned just moments before at the sound of a new customer.
"Coffee, darling, please, and a cinnamon croissant," she trilled over her shoulder, then drew up a nearby chair and seated herself precisely between Spike and Luna. "My goodness, but what an unexpected pleasure to see the pair of you here! I'd have thought you'd be tucking in to one of Spike's famous breakfasts at this hour."
"Long story," said Spike, as he toyed with his change purse. He looked up at Rarity and seemed about to say more, but then the door to the kitchen crashed open again and Cup Cake tottered out, bearing Spike's heaping order on her back.
"Perhaps we can hear it another time," said Rarity, once Spike had hopped from his seat. He glanced at her and grinned, then shot away.
Luna rose to follow, until Rarity put a hoof against her shoulder.
"A moment, darling, please," she murmured, sliding into Spike's recently vacated seat. The tiniest of frowns pinched at her brow as she watched Spike gathering up his substantial heap of pastries and baked goods. "Sometimes I wonder if that little one eats too many sweets. Ah well, we can't all have a furnace in our bellies."
"He is not the only one that shall eat of it," Luna replied. "Alas, I fear I caused more damage to Twilight's kitchen than I had anticipated."
Rarity's brow rose. "I see. But enough of that, my dear. Tell me, Sable." Rarity leaned forward, her smile growing wider yet "How was your little soiree with Applejack?"
Luna found she had leaned away from Rarity's eager interest. She took a breath and forced herself to relax. It was almost a success.
"Pleasant," she replied, trying, but failing, to match Rarity's smile. "We ate, we drank, we told tall tales, and then afterwards we returned to the farm and spent our remaining time amongst the orchards."
"Charming." Rarity sat back and sighed, her smile now faded to a mere smirk. "And then you went home, I suppose."
"That I did." Luna lowered her gaze. "Twilight had retired to bed when I arrived."
"Yes, Twilight has been rather retiring of late," Rarity sighed. She glanced toward the kitchen as the door swung open and Pinkie Pie emerged with a tray teetering on the tip of her upturned nose. "Forgive me, my dear, if I seem a little forward. The way the three of you have gone on, I was expecting a more–" she wafted her hoof in the air a moment. "–dramatic final parting, I suppose. Oh but that must make me sound like one of those horrid gossip rags. How gauche. Forget I even suggested the idea."
"T'is no parting I would wish to dwell on in any case," Luna replied, then pursed her lips. "Truth be told–"
"All set!" Spike stumbled up to the table, holding an overstuffed box above his head like some comical waiter. He glanced at Rarity and Luna in turn, grinning without guile. "Ready to go?"
A momentary look passed between Luna and Rarity, whose smile was just the slightest shade over from exasperation, though surely she must be used to the little dragon's impositions by now.
"I am ready as I shall ever be," Luna replied. She bowed her head to Rarity and stepped from her seat. "A pleasure, as ever, Miss Rarity."
They had moved but a few scant steps when Rarity called out and fell in beside them. "Don't count the pleasure ended just yet, Sable," she said, before snatching Spike's box from his claws. "I had business at the library anyway. Why don't I accompany you?"
Luna looked down at Spike, who was still holding his arms in the air and frowning up at the space his box had just occupied. After a moment he shrugged, though awkwardly, and dropped them to his sides.
"If that's all right, of course," Rarity added, when she had Luna's attention again. She smiled.
It was surprising, once they were outside, just how noisy the cafe had been, though Luna had been sure it was peaceful while they were within. She walked with Rarity at her side, while Spike, freed of his burdens, jogged several paces ahead like the eager youngster he no longer quite was.
It was only when they turned a corner to the main street that she noticed Rarity's pace had slowed as well, and Luna found she had shortened her already truncated steps to match before she had even realised. She looked at Rarity, whose smile had shifted from broad to demure and – were Luna to be honest – far more fetching.
At least until Rarity took the moment to bite into her croissant.
"Oh do forgive me," Rarity said, spitting crumbs as she spoke. She crossed her eyes briefly and swiped her hoof across her lips. "I was, ah, rather more hungry than I anticipated. I would have eaten an hour ago, but Sweetie Belle decided to make pancakes..."
Luna dipped her head. "As sisters are wont. I am correct that she is yours?"
"Yes. Younger, by oh, some number of years I'd rather not think about." Rarity sipped at her coffee and let out a quiet sigh. "Listen to me, sounding like some old nag. She tries her best, heaven knows, but unfortunately her best means I'm out here, waiting for the fire department to finish saving my kitchen, instead of working on my latest masterpiece. I'm sure you know how that feels."
"I–"
The words caught in Luna's throat. She looked along their path, watching Spike as he meandered in the near distance, close to an oversized planter that stood, in all defiance of rationality, directly in the centre of the path. Just once, he glanced toward Canterlot, but his gaze lingered a little longer than mere curiosity might suggest.
"Had I my own way," Luna said, lowering her voice. "I would not have chosen to be here today, either. But at least the company is good, and the weather most pleasant."
"And I'm stuffing my face with sugary treats instead of a nice, healthy bowl of oatmeal," said Rarity. She tipped back the last of her coffee, paused to frown at the planter as they passed it by, and then sent the cup floating behind her head. "Superficially enjoyable, but not what I was expecting. Not at all."
Luna nodded, pursing her lips. "Yet it seems like just the sort of thing one is expected to enjoy," she said.
"Of course you're expected to enjoy it," said a third voice. Luna turned to find the planter gone and a perilously pink pony standing in its place, the one called Pinkie Pie. She grinned at Luna and hopped to her side. "It's a Corner Classic Creations Collection Cinnamon Croissant! They're the most bestest deliciousest croissants this side of Canter Peak!"
"And I wouldn't argue otherwise, Pinkie," said Rarity. She was frowning at the spot the planter had occupied, but if she had any thought of questioning its disappearance, she seemed unwilling to voice it. "But sometimes a mare just wants oatmeal."
"Jack says the same thing all the time," said Pinkie. She was bouncing around the pair of them in a wide circle now, somehow keeping pace as they walked. "And that's silly anyway, because Sugarcube Corner sells oatmeal, and muesli, and–"
"The point," said Rarity, "is not the oatmeal."
Pinkie Pie halted mid-air and landed, flat-hooved, in front of them. "I know, it's because Sable's upset that she has to spend time with Twilight instead of having fun with Applejack and she's even more upset that she doesn't find the things she's doing with Twilight fun any more even though they're the reason she came here, so now she's grumpy at Twilight for making her choose between her passions instead of getting to do what she wants on her free time, and she's grumpy at herself for letting other ponies lead her around instead of making her own choices."
She looked up at Luna and grinned. "How'd I do?"
"Well enough that I worry you have been spying on my activities," said Luna.
"Nah, I promised the Cakes, no more spying on ponies, even if they do have potential party problems. Besides, my lunch break isn't long enough to get over to sweet apple acres and back again and spy on you as well." Pinkie Pie shrugged. "I just guessed."
Luna tipped her head to examine this Pinkie Pie, searching for any strange magic concealed about her, but all she saw was a plain, relatively ordinary earth pony.
"A good guess," she concluded, glancing at Rarity. "And it is true, I am less than satisfied with my current plans for the next few days. Much as I love Twilight–" Luna paused until the ear-piercing hiss of Rarity's indrawn of breath had ended "–and the passions she shares with me for the night sky, I find my own desires lie elsewhere."
"That much was obvious, dear," Rarity crooned. She sipped at her coffee once more and leaned closer to Luna. "There's no harm in wanting to try new things, Sable. You're allowed to change your mind."
"Yeah! I changed my mind six times before breakfast!" Pinkie jumped back in front of Luna, bouncing up and down until Luna felt quite sick from the constant motion. "And six times after for good measure!"
"I thank you both, yet still I made a promise to Twilight. It is unwise to break such an oath when made to a friend, is it not?"
Pinkie Pie's eyes drew wide, almost glittering in the bright morning sun. She gently put her hooves to Luna's shoulders and smiled up at her. "You're absolutely right. A promise is important, you can't just break it."
"So then I cannot change my mind after all," Luna replied, but Pinkie was already shaking her head.
"But a promise isn't a prison!" Pinkie's hooves pressed hard against Luna's cheeks, enough that she was unable to turn away from Pinkie's maddened, bright blue eyes. "What you say and what you mean aren't always the same thing. You need to talk to one another and find out what you really wanted!"
"Negotiate," Rarity added. "Rather like a contract with a client, except you're both rather more than mere goods to be traded–" Rarity fell silent, sniffing at the air with her nose raised. She looked up at the sky, then back down the road. "Do you smell burning?"
"Looks like there's a little fire down near your place," said Pinkie Pie. She pointed over the rooftops to a slender column of smoke.
Rarity closed her eyes and grit her teeth. "Sweetie Belle. I'm afraid I must cut and run, so to speak," she said, her magic thrusting the package of baked sweets at Luna as she turned to leave. "Hopefully I'll still have a shop for you to visit later!"
Without another word, she galloped away toward the rising smoke, barely slowing even to dodge around a knot of ponies crossing the street. Pinkie and Luna watched until her tail disappeared behind a distant building, then Luna turned her attention to the now quite battered box of pastries that lay at her hooves.
With a sigh, Pinkie leaned against the now-restored planter – at least Luna assumed it was the same one – and scuffed a hoof against her chest. "Momma always said ponies in this town were crazy."
"I am beginning to understand," Luna replied. She picked up her package, careful not to spill its contents, and left it to drift over her back as the pair resumed their trek toward Twilight's home. "Yet many of its inhabitants are wise beyond their appearance."
"So you're gonna talk it out with Twilight?"
"Alas, time permits little negotiation. The nights I had known I must spend with Twilight are a few days hence, when we shall observe the conjunction of Pistis and Erato. Now I have promised her each night until then and after, to appease her evident worry that I would miss the conjunction itself, and so that she and I might study the changes to the sky since– since the restoration of the Diarchy."
"Doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'd miss, Princess," said Pinkie.
"It–" Luna raised her head. "Princess? Of which Princess do you speak?"
"I dunno," Pinkie replied. She kicked at the dirt and shrugged. "Sometimes I like to guess ponies are other ponies in case they're wearing a disguise, and you sure do sound like a Princess, but I guess I'll never know for sure. So far the only pony I've ever got to admit it was Bon Bon, and she was super upset about it."
"I see." Luna pursed her lips a moment. "As for the conjunction, you are also correct that it is not something I would miss. So," she resumed walking again. "I am at a loss as to what I might negotiate."
They walked on in silence, something Luna instinctively felt must be unusual for the pink one. Some distance ahead, Spike had stopped at the corner of the street and was watching their approach from his perch on a broad, gaudily decorated bench. He waved to Luna; Pinkie Pie waved frantically back at him.
"Why don't you stay longer?"
For a moment, Luna was unable to form a reply. It seemed logical in hindsight, but why hadn't she thought of it before? "I–I have duties. Responsibilities. I would be remiss–"
"Oh you can take care of those later! Like my mom said when I left to come to Ponyville, Pinkie Pie, you can abandon your responsibilities to your home and your family, but they will always be waiting for you. I'm pretty sure she meant what I think she meant."
Again Luna was at a loss for words. She looked down at Pinkie Pie then up at the sky, as if it would suddenly scroll back and reveal an almighty chorus of gods and angels laughing at the prank that some omnipotent being must surely be playing on her at that moment. It was not to be.
"Pinkie Pie," she said, lowering her gaze. "I believe you are indeed correct about the sanity of the inhabitants of this town."
"Right? Anyway I gotta split!" Pinkie Pie bounced and turned in a single smooth motion to face the direction they had come from. She grinned and winked at Luna. "Don't let me catch you mooning around the place like some old grumpy guts!"
There was no chance to reply. The Pink One, as Luna was quickly coming to think of Pinkie, bounced off down the street far faster than any pony had the right to bounce, whilst singing a jaunty song about playing among the stars.
The song alone was harmless, but something about that pony's prescience was a cause for concern. Could she possibly have discovered Luna's secret? Was she able to peek through the veil of illusion that was Luna's form? Perhaps Twilight would know.
A few steps later, she found Spike by his bench, from which he stared at her with a bemused expression.In mutual silence she proffered the breakfast package. He took it from her magic and held it up for careful examination until he seemed satisfied that none of its contents were harmed.
"The Pink One," she began, but Spike held up a hand.
"Breakfast first. I'm not going to explain Pinkie Pie on an empty stomach."
"I see," said Luna. She took a long breath and let it out through her nose. "Such dire warnings do little to quell my curiosity. Perhaps I shall take her advice, and then question her myself."
"What advice?"
"Ah! Forget I spoke," Luna said. "Let us return to your breakfast, and Twilight's, and when the time is right, I shall speak of it to the both of you."
For a moment Spike seemed ready to protest, until he shrugged and scampered back onto the path toward the library. Luna jogged to keep up with the little dragon and wondered how he was able to move so fast on such little legs. So many questions to be answered after just one day. Perhaps she would need more time in Ponyville after all.
She wondered how Celestia might take the idea. Or for that matter, how might Twilight?
Applejack eyed the milky-white sky before turning her attention back to the yard, where the remnants of lunch lay scattered and crumbling beneath two empty tables. The sun was hot and bright, pleasingly so, but any shadows it might have cast were stolen away by a haze that had drifted across the sky some time after the dawn, leaving the whole world to look flat and motionless, and just a little less than real.
She stepped back to the verandah, where Spritzer and Big Mac both stood stoic, in their own different ways, and waited. Beyond them, Granny snoozed in her customary chair.
"Weather's turned," said Spritzer. This earned a short harumph from Big Mac.
"We knew it would," Applejack replied. She plucked a lonesome fritter from the table and bit into it, taking a good half, which she only barely chewed before swallowing. "Though I'd kinda hoped somehow it'd steer clear."
She finished her fritter with another two bites and leaned against the verandah fence.
"How'd the south groves look."
"Bountiful," said Spritzer. "But late. Ain't a thing ready for t'harvest nigh a week or more."
"Nothing?" She looked at Mac, but he just shook his head. "Shoot. And the lower hunnert that way is all shallow roots, too. We'll have to tie and net the whole thing."
"If tha can make the time for it, aye, but Jack–" Spritzer glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Granny easing from her chair, accompanied as it was by a litany of muttered swearing and grunting "–we're already late on t'goldens. We can't spare from that. We'll lose half t'crop."
"Better apples than trees," Granny Smith groused. She wobbled across the verandah to the trio and fixed a steely glare on Applejack. "Those goldens are sturdy critters, ain't no storm can break 'em down, even if they're loaded like old Filthy on his way to the bank!"
"Aye, I s'pose," said Spritzer. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Just seems a waste."
"Y'all can go eat your fill after sundown," Granny snapped. "An' spend your lunch tomorrow there too, unless y'all are fixin' to eat the food I poured ma heart and soul into for a change!"
"I eat em nat'ral!"
"Hah! Natural, she says! Ain't nothin' more natural than home-cooked fare!"
"Granny..." Applejack shook her head and turned from Granny Smith's withering gaze. The old mare seemed intent on staring a whole in her head. "Spritzer, you and Mac go find Elstar and Zestar an' do what you can. I'll take a stroll round the southern groves and see what I can't tie down today. We'll swing back to the goldens if we've got time later."
"Aye, Jack," Spritzer said. She nodded at Big Mac. "Come on lad, let's gather up t'flock."
Applejack turned to watch the pair as they ambled away toward the tree line. Then she slowly settled down on her haunches, raised her gaze to the sky and closed her eyes.
The gentle creak of wood told her Granny had finally decided to move her attention elsewhere. Applejack waited a moment, then let out a long sigh. "What I wouldn't give for a few sturdy colts about now," she muttered. "Or even just one more set of hooves."
"Sounds like you're regrettin' lettin' that pretty little thing run off back to Ponyville!"
Applejack cracked her eyes open and peered sideways at Granny, who had settled beside her and was gnawing at the crust of an apple tart. So far, the crust seemed to be winning.
"We could use the help," she admitted, more as a way to tear her attention from the spectacle than anything else. "But I ain't about to make her leave Twilight alone again. I made a promise. Or she did, I guess."
"Promises is made for ponies, not the other way 'round."
"I'd make a liar of one of us if I went back on it," Applejack replied. She tipped her hat back and peered up at the milky sky. "Worst part is, I almost want to do it, but that ain't a thing I want on my conscience."
"Maybe she wants it on your conscience," Granny muttered. "Y'all ever think of that? No, 'course ya din't. Fillies today cain't see a sure thing right in front of their own faces."
"Granny, I don't need convincin' she's a hard worker!"
"I suppose ya don't at that." Granny left off battling with her pie and grinned up at Applejack. "Don't you worry none, little apple, it'll all work out. You'll see."
Applejack bowed her head and then nodded. If her family had a motto, that'd be it. "I just wish it would work out easier is all."
"Ain't easier than a sure thing throwin' itself cross your withers!"
Applejack twitched herself away from the rail, and from Granny, if she had to admit it. "I'd better go rustle up some rope."
Haze hung across the sky well into the evening, long past the time when the stars would peer down on the world. That flat darkness overhead gave the world an enclosed, oppressive character as Applejack, lathered in sweat, slouched east through the humid night toward the elder orchards and their promise of isolation and calm.
They had abandoned the goldens at sundown, with half the orchard still unharvested. Weighted baskets had been left around to catch what the wind would tear free, though what little they could expect to salvage from that would only be good for compost or cider anyhow.
Thinking spot. She slowed a mite at the thought of its name, as if that would could, and looked up at the distant rise, which climbed free of the orchards surrounding it. What could she call it? Why did it even matter?
The stars were visible beyond it, barely. Applejack upped her pace, ignoring the deep ache in her shoulders and the burn of her exhausted legs.
She found herself at a respectable canter when she burst from the boundary of the orchard, but she slowed again as she climbed the shallow slope. A gentle breeze blew from the east, cool and refreshing after the stifling stillness of the orchards, carrying the bitter tang of cool rains and lightning.
Applejack slumped at the brow of the rise, overlooking the valley below and all the marches of her domain. The breeze, whatever its source, seemed to be tearing back the haze as it blew, peeling away the curtain that had hidden the night sky in a single, swift moment, until the whole of it was ablaze from one horizon to the other.
The moon stood east, bright and full, beneath the twin lights of Erato and Pistis. Remembering the names brought a short smile to Applejack's face and she let out a quiet sigh. By her reckoning they'd be three in a line the next night, which she supposed was when Twilight would want to do their astronomy lesson.
Twilight. Applejack rolled onto her side and stretched out her neck to rest, letting her hat flop onto the grass. The girl had been angry, no two ways about it, but angry at her. Why? She rolled onto her back as she pondered the problem, whilst the dry brush soaked away the cloying dampness in her coat.
Erato and Pistis. Honesty and the poet, wasn't that what Sable had said? And then the moon sliding right in between them – it was almost poetry by itself. There was probably a story in that, though it was not, thought Applejack, as if she could come up with it in her current state.
The trees sighed in the breeze; but no, it wasn't the breeze that moved them this time. Applejack flicked her ears about and then rolled onto her belly, listening intently, but she heard little, save for the quiet creak of heaving branches. She looked over her shoulder, back along the path to the farm, just as she heard the soft beat of hooves on the grassy way, and found Sable walking slowly toward the rise, bearing a slim shoulder bag across her withers. The trees nearest to her shook their heavy manes as she passed by; if Applejack hadn't known better, she might have believed they were bowing.
Sable halted at the foot of the little hill and bowed her head to Applejack. Then she turned, circling to her right and the south, until she stood at the edge of a steep slope into the valley and faced the rising moon head on. She stared at it, wide-eyed and silent, then bowed her head briefly to it, before turning to face Applejack again.
"Forgive my intrusion, fair Applejack," she said as she mounted the slope. "I should have expected that you would be here at this hour."
"Darn tootin'," Applejack replied. She waited as Sable settled herself a short distance away. "But you're always welcome here, Sable, you know that."
"For which I am eternal grateful. In truth I had hoped you might be here, but I was content also to spend some small time by myself were you not." Sable bowed her head again and a smile touched her lips for just a moment. "Twilight shall soon come, whence we intend to look upon the toing and froing of our dear friends aloft." She frowned. "That is–"
"I get the picture, princess," said Applejack. She tugged at her hat, thinking to put it on again, but then left it aside. "You want me to mosey along and leave you to it?"
Sable shook her head. "Nay, fair Applejack. There is room enough for the both of us 'pon this mount, and your company is, likewise, welcome."
To that, Applejack could only smile. She looked up again at the stars, noting only a moment later that the tension across her shoulders had almost entirely faded at some point. With ginger movements she stretched her neck left and right, until the quiet clink of thick glass caught her attention.
Sable held up a pair of bottles, before extending one to Applejack.
"Barley water," she said, to Applejack's questioning look. She pushed the bottle forward again until Applejack was compelled to take it, then set her own on the grass by her hooves. "It is no applesnap, but it is quite the restorative."
"Yeah, I guess it is, 'specially after a day like this." Applejack levered back the bottle's cap and snuffed at the rich aroma of honeyed barley that erupted from the drink. "Just like pappy used to make."
She took a deep swig and let out a sigh as the drink tingled deep down into her stomach, bubbling up childhood memories of brewing and bottling all sorts of things that hadn't been apples.
"So what's the deal," she said, "with those two? Y'all seemed set to explain the other night, until– well, yeah."
Sable looked up at the trio, frowning. She set her drink to one side and shuffled a little closer to Applejack's side.
"I told you they are important to pegasus myth, did I not?"
"You mentioned that. Rainbow ain't never said nothin' about em before, though."
"She might well not, for the myth was ancient even a thousand years ago, and the gods by which they are named are more ancient still, from a time deeper than time, if some are to be believed." Sable lowered her eyes and took a long draft from her drink. She shuffled closer to Applejack again, leaving barely more than a hoof's width between them. "Erato is the poet of the lovers, the romantics, and those that seek clarity of thought. She writes truth upon the hearts of ponies, the truth of their feelings each toward the other. Her influence spreads far and wide within pegasus and unicorn cultures."
"So far, so mythical," Applejack replied. She looked up toward the trio of lights. "And that Pistis, what's her deal?"
"Faith. Honesty. Reliability. She is all that is seen as good in a companion." Sable had her eyes closed as she spoke, while her hoof had strayed to her chest. "For the pegasi especially, the meeting of the two was auspicious, though common. Couplings performed on the night of their conjunction were thought to produce noble and steadfast guardians of society."
"Couplings?"
"Pegasi of that era did not marry, but that is not to say that they did not maintain close relationships," said Sable. She smiled a small, distant smile. "They were different times."
"No doubt."
Applejack shuffled against the grass. The cool breeze that had comforted her earlier had turned chill against her coat, and the ground was fast losing what remnants of the sun's warmth it had held up to now. Without really thinking, she moved closer to Sable's side, soaking up what heat she could find there.
"What about the moon in all this?" Applejack swigged the last of her drink and tossed the bottle a short distance, in case it got in the way. Nothing worse than rolling onto a great hunk of glass and wire when you were least expecting it.
"Ah, the moon..." Sable lurched as half a laugh escaped her. She shook her head. "The moon is an outsider, an interloper, who meets with the pair but rarely, and rarely in the same aspect. There is a great divination of her intent in whom she faces, but suffice to say that the moon's presence twixt the pair is a great and powerful omen. Dynasties have risen and fallen on the timing of her journey to meet these two. The day of her departure, likewise, was held momentous, and was marked by great feasts, or by great mourning."
Applejack frowned up at the stars, then at Sable. For a moment she thought she saw the twinkling of a tear at the corner of Sable's eye, but it disappeared before she could be sure.
"Sounds a mite fanciful to me," she said. "Makes for one heck of a tale, though."
"A tale?" Sable's brow lowered, though she kept her gaze fixed on the sky.
"Sure! Ain't no more than a gussied up story for foals, just it's writ in an old language and told with fancy words." Applejack bopped a hoof against Sable's shoulder. "Y'all tell it well enough, even if it's a mite bare. Kinda sad though, when you think about it."
"Just those two spend longer'n my lifetime wandering out across the sky, you see?" Applejack waved her hoof across the sky as she spoke. "Far as any pony would know, they'd always been on their own, so they wouldn't know any different from lonely or not. Then one day this new girl brings them together, and now they've got friends. Family, even. That'd be a whole new world for them. Then they gotta split up again."
"And you believe that their parting would then impart a sense of loss and loneliness upon them, now that they had tasted a companionship that was previously unknown?"
Applejack nodded once. "That's about the length of it."
Sable was staring at Applejack, but her attention seemed elsewhere. She tipped her head a fraction, as if listening to some distance voice, and when she spoke again it was as if she had not spoken for a great many years. "It is the nature of all ponies to meet and then part again. In time the sense of loss will fade, but surely they must treasure the times they spent together?"
Applejack raised her hoof, then lowered it gently to the grass.She could feel her own ears turning back; she forced tem forward and took a sharp breath. "I guess I don't rightly know," she said. "But it ain't something I could enjoy, bein' alone, after meetin' someone special enough to change the way I looked at my whole life."
"Indeed not," said Sable. She was smiling again, but it was a faint smile, and weak, that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"If I had a choice–" Applejack tumped her hooves against the hollow soil. She could feel her jaw clenching, and forced it wide before it could start to hurt. "If I'd found somepony that important and then had to see them taken away agin, I don't rightly know if I'd be able to let it happen. It'd be like tearing out a part of my own heart and then expectin' not to bleed."
Silence fell. Somehow, Applejack had expected a clever jibe from Sable, or some little pearl of innocent wisdom that would have lightened the mood. She seemed to be that sort of mare, always ready with something smart and soothing. Instead she was staring at the ground between her hooves, unmoving and silent.
Sable shifted; her shoulder brushed against Applejack's for a moment as she shuffled to settle herself. Then her side pressed against Applejack as she took a deep breath.
"It is natural to wish to hold on to something so meaningful for as long as you can," she said, "when another touches your heart so deeply. Still, pain is but temporary, and in truth, all things must end, as surely as they must begin."
With that, Sable rolled away, leaving a cold space at Applejack's side when she had just gotten used to the warmth. Sable set her empty bottle down and closed it firm, whilst her magic retrieved the other and slid it back into her pack. "Listen to me ramble," she muttered. "I impose upon you so."
"I ain't complainin'," said Applejack, who found herself wishing for a little more imposition now that the air had chilled so completely. The cold, humid air felt clammy against her skin. Storm weather, she guessed. But that would mean–
The rattle and squeak of cart wheels silenced Applejack's thought before it could finish forming. She sat up, looking back over her shoulder toward the orchard, where she spotted the shadowy silhouette of Twilight, hauling a laden truck toward the rise. There were far fewer instruments this time, she noted, but they seemed more focused than the last visit.
Even despite the smaller load, Twilight was huffing up a storm as she mounted the hill.
Sable leaped to her hooves, twisting in the air to wave. "Haloo friend Twilight," she called, as magic rose to her horn and enveloped the truck, contents and all. She lifted it away from Twilight's back and thrust it upon the crest of the hill with a quiet crump and the squeal of overworked springs.
"Oh, goodness, thank you Sable," Twilight panted as she made the final few paces to their side. She fell in a heap at Applejack's hooves and let out a long sigh. "That was a lot steeper than I remember."
"T'is Spike's novel means to break our fast that added to your burden!" Sable poked at Twilight's belly and giggled at the sour look she received in return. "I apologise for leaving you to bear it alone, Twilight, but I promise I shall carry my fair share on our return."
Twilight raised her head to peer at Sable. "Downhill."
"It presents its own difficulties," Sable replied. She pouted until Twilight stuck out her tongue and rolled away to her side.
Applejack shuffled her hooves, then reached for her hat. "S'pose that's my sign to mosey along," she said, before flopping the old thing on her head. She touched the brim and nodded to the pair. "Good night to you both."
She turned, but then paused as a hoof touched her side. When she looked back she found Twilight watching her with an odd, distant expression. "Twi?"
"You can stay if you like," Twilight said. "I–I mean, it's your hill! We can't make you leave, and maybe you'd enjoy– enjoy it."
"Well that's mighty generous of you, Twilight, but I'm beat. I was about to turn in anyhow." She patted Twilight's hoof and smiled at her. "You two girls enjoy your stargazin'."
She waited until Twilight had dropped her hoof, then set off down the hill, but she'd only made it a few paces before she heard the trop of hooves on the grass. Twilight hove around her, almost but not quite blocking Applejack's path. They stood that way a moment, Applejack not quite shivering in the breeze, Twilight alternately raising and lowering her left hoof without purpose.
"I'm sorry, Applejack," she said, finally, lowering her gaze. "You– I was jealous over Sable's friendship with you. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did before."
"Twilight, I ain't mad. You–"
"Am. Was." Twilight shook her head. She looked at Applejack with wide eyes and a small, nervous smile. "Friends?"
Applejack laughed and reached out to haul Twilight into a hug. "Always, Twi," she said. Twilight melted into her embrace with a sigh that was almost a sob, but then just as quickly drew herself away again.
"Thank you, Applejack," she murmured. She took a step back. "Are you sure you won't stay? We've got a big night planned."
"And a veritable midnight feast," Sable added, raising an over-filled picnic basket above her head.
Applejack found herself grinning along at the thought, but she shook her head even so.
"Like I said, I gotta turn in. There's a heap of work to do tomorrow." She tipped her hat to Twilight and smiled, then nodded to Sable. "Goodnight to the both of you."
She waited a moment for Twilight to return to Sable, who had already begun unpacking the complex tangle of instruments and equipment that Twilight had hauled up to the hill. With a final wave, Applejack turned to trot down the hill.
At the foot, by the tree line, she paused to look over her shoulder at the pair. Twilight was already immersed in her work, one eye pressed against the eyepiece of a squat telescope, while what looked to be a whole ream of paper flittered and spun about her. At her side, Sable was staring up at the stars, yet as soon as Applejack looked at her, she turned her gaze to meet Applejack's own, and for just that moment, she seemed ready to leap from the hill, to chase Applejack into the deep woods. Instead she raised her hoof and bowed her head to Applejack, before turning her attention back to the papery tornado by her side.
For a moment, Applejack found herself drawn to the glittering horizon beyond the pair, to the beauty she'd always known was held within it, but that now shone all the brighter. Closing her eyes, she turned and stumbled beneath the shade of the orchards, and on to the long, silent path back to her home.
A chime tinkled high above Twilight's head as she pushed open the door to Rarity's boutique. She winced at the sound, to her sleep-deprived ears, less a gentle ringing than the cacophonous clanging of iron cookware, falling from a great height, and demanded, yet again, of her own mind to know why she had agreed to stay awake for the entire night.
"Just a moment, my dears," sang a voice from within. Rarity. Of course. They were at the boutique. Luna – Sable – had insisted that very morning, only a few hours after Twilight had finally stumbled into bed.
"I see that I should not have required your attendance," said the mare in question. She shuffled up at Twilight's side and nuzzled her cheek, before pushing past to nose open the door. "If you wish to return–"
"No." Twilight blinked and shook her head until she could think straight. "It's not the first time I've pulled an all nighter. Besides, it's nearly lunchtime. I can have a nice, long nap after that. Mom always said that's what the afternoon is for." She stretched and yawned, and stumbled after Luna into the welcome shade of the interior, where she fell gratefully into the soft embrace of an overstuffed couch. "I'm starting to understand why."
Luna seated herself on a stool close to the door. "T'is a wonder more ponies do not follow her example."
"Jealous?"
A smile was Luna's only reply.
The interior of Rarity's was always an adventure in surprise. Some days it would be spartan, white-walled and empty, save for a set of gaily clothed ponequins, frozen in the midst of a complicated dance that invited the visitor further into the room. On others, it would be a riotous carnival of colour, as bolts and rolls of fabric lay strewn and propped, and flew like flags from the ceiling beams, while Rarity herself pranced and pinioned around the skeletal form of her latest creation.
Today it was mundane. The displays were perfunctory, arranged to entice quick sales with little fanfare. A small stack of rolls propped up one corner of the room, while a ponequin lurked in another, draped in layers of discarded ends of all colours, and wearing a selection of wire hat forms atop its featureless face.
Between them, opposite Twilight and the door, Rarity huddled in quiet discussion with a customer, while the mare's young filly stood, rock-still, in a colourful cage of rough-cut linen and silk.
"I think you can see the shape of it, at least," said Rarity. She tipped her head to the mare by her side, a grey pegasus mailmare Twilight had encountered from time to time on her travels around the town. "Dinky has a rather unusual colouration, one that's rather difficult to match or contrast with the materials I normally use. Lucky for you, I found this rather fetching cerise silk lurking at the back of my store-room."
"It's pretty," said the mare. "Don't you think it's pretty, Dink?"
The filly grinned, but stayed still. Rarity let out a small sigh and began to untangle her work from Dinky's back.
"It looks like you're going to put on a growth spurt soon," she murmured, then waved her hoof across the filly's back. "I've left a little room across your withers and shoulder to let it out, if it comes to that. No extra charge," she added, with a wink to the mailmare. "No point in buying a dress and then not getting to wear it, is there?"
"Thanks!" the filly squeaked, wriggling free of the dress as it was lifted from her back.
"You can come and pick it up in, oh, three days." Rarity set the dress on a nearby form, tugging at it with her magic until she was satisfied it wasn't about to fall off, and then turned to the pair. "If there's nothing else, miss Hooves, I'll see you then."
"Please, call me Derpy!"
"Of course," Rarity replied as the two trotted to the door, chattering excitedly about some upcoming event. Rarity waited until they had left and then turned a broad smile toward Twilight. "I must say, Twilight, I'm surprised to see you up and about. After your excursion last night, I had assumed, even at this hour, you would still be in bed and fast asleep."
"I won't ask how you knew about that," Twilight replied. She settled further into her couch and closed her eyes, and tried to stifle a yawn without success. "I'm here now, anyway."
"Quite. I shall put on some coffee in a moment, but first, Sable, if you would be so kind?"
Rarity motioned to a raised platform by her side, in front of a trio of tall mirrors that Twilight could have sworn weren't there when they entered. Perhaps she just hadn't noticed.
By contrast, she couldn't help but notice the eager appraisal Rarity gave Luna as the latter stepped up the dais. Her measuring tapes were curling through the air before Luna even had her hooves settled, but then she paused, stepped back, and smiled.
"Forgive me, I should ask what sort of outfit you require before tying you up in knots, shouldn't I?" Rarity leaned in close to Luna and peered at her in the mirror, narrow-eyed and smiling. "I imagine it will be quite the challenge."
Luna, for her part, only stared at her reflection. She was frowning, twisting her head this way and that, as if she had never seen herself before. Perhaps it was the case. Twilight wasn't sure if she'd seen Luna looking at a mirror before today. It was difficult to imagine what it would be like to find your own body so altered.
Finally Luna spoke. "A hat."
At her side, Rarity froze. "Hat? Nothing else? Just a..." she raised her nose and closed her eyes a moment. "Hat?"
"Yes." Luna nodded slowly, turning sideways to look at herself in the mirror again. "Ah! And a suit! They are rather becoming, are they not?"
"Well..." Rarity took a long breath and held out her tapes again as she stepped back, as if warding against some terrible influence. "Well, we are certainly feeling quite the avant garde today, aren't we? A suit..."
Luna turned her gaze to Rarity in the mirror. "Twilight tells me that you are a seamstress of some great skill and creativity. Indeed, I have heard nickerings of your reputation even unto Canterlot herself, where it is said that your works are of great artifice and elegance. If my request offends–"
"Oh no! Nononono most certainly not, my dear, no!"
The eagerness had returned, Rarity's whole posture sharpening with each pronouncement Luna had made, until her nose was barely a breath from Luna's side. With a sharp swing of her magic, she swathed a tape about Luna's neck, while a notebook and myriad pens and pencils gathered behind her.
"I simply hadn't considered such an unusual request. At the risk of sounding forward, I had already sketched out several designs that seemed suitable, but if it's a suit you want–"
"It is." Luna shuffled as another measuring taped slithered around her belly. "As I find myself, in this moment, I see little appeal in the thought of wearing such... such delicacies as high society finds fashionable. If I must be clothed, then I would have it be in something elegant, but also practical."
"Yes, you did strike me as quite the practical type," Rarity replied. She glanced at Twilight. "Didn't I say as much?"
"Athletic."
"Yes, of course. I think I have something that would work for this." Rarity turned to scribble a note. She slipped a pair of glasses onto her nose and peered at her notes, then at Luna over the rims. "Do you have any preference for colour? Such a dusky shade rather demands a contrast, I feel."
"I am unsure..." Luna peered toward the ceiling as another tape slithered around her neck. A low, distant growl of thunder rolled through the room, settling to nothing once she turned her attention to Rarity again. "Pale. As pale as the unblemished face of the moon. And a vest, it must have a vest. They are most handsome."
"Pale. Vest." Rarity peeked at her tapes, then at her notes, then toward the window as another sonorous rumble echoed through the town. "My, that sounds rather ominous, doesn't it? I was sure the storm wasn't due until the end of the week." She made a final note and looked up at Luna with a broad smile. "As for accompaniments, blouses aren't my speciality as such, but there is a lovely little place over by–"
Before Rarity could finish, Luna teleported out from the confines of her measurement. Twilight rose from her seat and moved to the window, where she had seen the bright flash of a teleport spell concluding. She found Luna outside, peering up at the sky. Fitful gusts of wind tugged at her mane, almost giving the lie to her disguise.
"Quite the eccentric, isn't she," said Rarity, at Twilight's side. She shuffled her notes and laid them on a short table by the door, before carefully stepping out. Twilight could only nod, mutely, as she followed.
Beyond the shelter of the Boutique, the air was muggy and chill enough to suck the warmth from Twilight's body, though the sun still shone brightly from the south. An icy gust set Twilight shivering. Or perhaps it was the sight of the towering, grey-green wall of cloud heaving itself over the horizon and already obscuring all but the tallest towers of distant Canterlot.
"Was it something I said, dear?" Rarity hustled up to Luna's side. Her voice sounded light and upbeat, but her taut stance and quivering ears gave the lie to her cheer. "I hadn't even got to the price!"
Luna didn't reply at first. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon. Then, with the next low growl of thunder, she twitched and shook her head, and turned to face Rarity.
"Oh, lady, forgive me, you have done nothing. T'is the storm." She tipped her head to the horizon again. "It is early."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time the weather service have got their timing wrong."
"Yet we were assured–" Luna dug her hoof at the road and snorted. "There has not been enough time. I must go."
"Go?"
Rarity had taken a step back at Luna's outburst. She watched as Luna set off at a brisk trot across the green, then turned to Twilight, with her eyebrows raised.
"To Applejack?"
"Where else?" Twilight shook her head and cantered after Luna. "Sable, wait!"
Luna did not slow at the cry, but she twisted her head to watch Twilight across her shoulder. "I cannot be convinced to desist, Twilight Sparkle. I apologise for breaking my promise in such a manner. I feel the weight of this storm's approach upon my back, and its power within my body." She slowed a fraction until Twilight had caught up to her side, then renewed her pace. "She– they are ill prepared for such as this."
"It's ok, Luna, I understand." Twilight huffed and shook her head. "I don't want to stop you. I want to help."
Luna's head jerked back at the thought. She turned a narrow gaze to Twilight, but it was accompanied by a taut smile. "We may have difficulty finding suitable work for you," she said. A fresh rumble of thunder drew her attention back to the coming storm. "We do not have much time."
"I can help that much, at least," said Twilight.
Her pace slowed as she concentrated on forming the spellwork for a long-distance teleport; Luna slowed and circled with her, frowning at first until she recognised the growing magic with a quiet ah!
"Don't celebrate just yet," Twilight said. "I'm not used to teleporting so much mass over such a long distance. It's usually just me and Spike."
"I have no doubt in your abilities," Luna replied.
With the spell complete, Twilight shuffled close to Luna's side and let it loose. A curtain of white rose about their hooves, racing in tight waves as the world slowed around them. Then it rose up in a ball, silencing the storm about them for a fractional moment. Twilight felt her hooves touching the earth there and here all at once, and then the skein of magic dissipated with a loud pop, followed by the crashing of thunder and the rush of wind through over-laden branches.
Luna turned about, glancing at trees here and there, until her gaze caught the distance silhouette of the farmhouse. She tapped Twilight's shoulder and pointed toward it.
"Attend to Granny at the homestead, she shall find work for you. I must seek Applejack yonder."
"How do you know where she is?" Twilight had to raise her voice above the rising wind. Luna shook her head and gave a grim smile.
"To explain would take time we do not have," she said, before turning to the south. Luna paused then, one hoof held aloft. She looked back at Twilight and nodded, before cantering away into the shadowy depths of the orchard, to be lost to Twilight's sight only moments later.
Abandoned again, she thought. But then lightning flashed across the base of the cloud bank, followed only seconds later by a roll of thunder and another fitful sprinkling of rain. Resentment could wait. Twilight turned and skittered toward the house, with the desperate hope that someone there could give her something useful to do.
The light was already fading as Luna plunged into the deep marches of the orchard, heading to the south. She had picked up enough in conversation with the other workers to know that the trees there were vulnerable to strong wind, and surely she would find Applejack there too, leading others by her example.
Rain fell in momentary bursts, carried from the approaching storm by gusts of icy wind that rattled and hissed amongst the treetops. Another rumble of thunder drove Luna to a swift canter, though she refrained from galloping, lest she catch a hoof in an unseen hole or twisted root.
A few paces more and she heard another report, loud and sharp overhead. No thunder was this, though; Luna looked aloft and saw a rapidly dispersing vapour trail, the sign of a pegasus flying full tilt in the moisture-laden air. A rainbow haze shimmered in the trail as it flew, arcing down in the same direction as Luna's travel. Now she galloped, racing the pegasus, regretting most keen, in that moment, the banishment of her wings to take this shape.
A gust of wind brought more pattering drops of rain against the heaving heads of the trees, and to the hard-beaten path ahead of Luna, where they fell with a series of quiet plaps before easing off again. The drum of thunder persisted in the distance, each rumble tailing into the start of another, until it seemed that a whole herd of horse galloped across the sky behind her.
This was not, if she were honest, quite the chase her deepest imagination had envisioned.
Ahead, a row of trees stood against a clearing, a boundary between orchards, filled by a rocky meadow. Luna burst through the trees with a loud haloo, certain that Applejack could not be far away now.
Her hope was soon rewarded. Across the field, just beyond the next line of trees, Luna saw Applejack amongst a knot of ponies, who stood surrounded by seemingly unending coils of rope and stacks of heavy, iron pegs.
She turned as Luna cantered toward them, frowning at first, until a bright smile lit up her face.
"Sable! Fancy seein' you all the way out here!"
"I could not but come to you," Luna replied, shuffling into the group at Applejack's side.
They made way without complaint, welcoming her to their midst as just another of their companions. Luna looked around at each of the ponies in turn, seeing the same shared, ragged exhaustion in their grime-streaked bodies.
"There's seventy trees hereabouts that have shallow roots," Applejack was saying, more for Luna's benefit than anyone else. "Been meaning to bolster them somehow all year, but time steals away, don't it?" She pushed her hat back and peered up at the closest tree. "We'll pair off. Sable with me, Cortland and Zestar south, Elstar and Broadshanks east."
"Do we got time, boss?" This from Zestar, whose ruddy coat was stained near grey with dirt and sweat. "That storm's awful big and awful close."
"We'll do what we can." Applejack's jaw tightened as she looked around at the group. "Don't overwork. If you can't keep up, head back to the farmhouse. I don't want to have a pony needin' a rescue party because she didn't know when to quit."
"There speaks the voice of experience," said another, though Luna didn't recall his name, and didn't feel it pertinent to ask.
She hung back as the others gathered up supplies, shrugging great coils of rope about their shoulders, or heaving sacks of fat, iron stakes onto their backs. Only when they had started to move away did she pick up a mallet and sack of stakes, and stumble after Applejack.
"She speaks more true than she may realise." Luna swung her mallet, testing its weight, as the two marched forward. "There is a nature to this storm that I have not encountered in many years. I fear it shall come upon us without warning."
"So now you're a weather pony, too?" Applejack cocked her ear and then looked over at Luna with an exhausted smile. "Don't you worry none, Sable, there's plenty of time before it reaches us yet" She paused and tipped her ear to the sky. "You hear that?"
Beyond the ever-present wind and the rolling thunder, Luna could hear a low, but growing roar. She looked up between the trees; overhead, the same pegasus trail she had seen earlier was again crossing the sky in a broad, erratic loop toward them, dragging an ephemeral, flickering cone of mist and colour.
"I believe a messenger seeks you," said Luna. She pointed toward the approaching pegasus, that she now recognised as the mare Rainbow Dash. "She appears quite distraught."
Applejack turned her attention to the rapidly approaching pegasus. "Rainbow? What in the sam hill–"
"AJ!" was all Rainbow could manage before her hooves skidded against the ground. Momentum carried her onward and she slid past Applejack and Luna, slowly turning, with her legs splayed wide as she tried to remain upright.
At the end of her landing, she faced them again, with a dull, angry glare burning at nothing in particular. Her eyes were red and rheumy, while salt and grime streaked her cheeks and the sides of her face.
"I screwed up," she moaned as she made her wobbly-legged way back to Applejack. "I screwed up the storm, AJ. It's my fault!"
"Rainbow–"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Rainbow collapsed in a heap around Applejack's neck, not caring how she tangled herself up in the yards of rope already there. At first, Applejack gingerly patted Rainbow's neck, but then she abruptly struggled out from Rainbow's grasp, dropping her rope at the same time.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack took a step back and pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Look, whatever you did, it ain't your fault. Even if it is, it ain't. Now why don't you sit yourself down and explain to me what exactly is goin' on."
"I screwed up!" Rainbow Dash dropped to her haunches and bowed her head.
"You said that part."
"Indeed," Luna added. She moved a step closer to Rainbow Dash and touched a hoof to her shoulder. "Pray tell, Rainbow Dash, what has befallen that this storm comes early, and bearing such wildling rains as it does?"
"Wildling..." A sigh became a bitter laugh. "I–I promised AJ I'd get her a couple of days breathing room. Head office signed off on it, but order must have gotten lost somewhere, because right after we started hauling it back, we collided with a front moving over from the coast."
Applejack touched the brim of her hat, then set her hoof down again. "And that means?"
"It's bad, ok? Really bad." Rainbow stood up again and paced away to the furrows she'd left in the ground. She stared at them, blank-eyed and motionless. "They turned in on each other and set up a cyclone that was way, way more powerful than we expected. We've been trying to break it down to component fronts, but it kept gathering them all up again, all but this one. It broke off and ran ahead of the storm under its own power. We were trying to tear it apart until an hour ago." She flapped her wings once, spraying a fine mist into the air. "It's too fast now, too big."
Slowly Applejack turned to look at the distant bank of the storm, as it sped across the plains. It came visibly closer even as they watched. "Is there anything else you can do about it, now?"
"I wouldn't be here if there was. " Rainbow Dash slumped to her haunches again, with her wings hanging limp at her sides, showing off a poor collection of ragged and broken feathers. "I'm such an idiot."
"T'was not your fault, Rainbow Dash," said Luna. She edged toward the pegasus, but halted in her tracks when Rainbow turned a puffy-eyed glare toward her. "If you insist to bear the burden of blame, then share it equally with all at fault, just as you would all share the glory of success in other, better days. No pony has the right to take such blame upon her back, alone."
"But–"
"She's right, Dash." Applejack moved to Luna's side as she spoke. "Get back to the farmhouse and rest up. We've got work to do out here."
"AJ, it's gonna be here any minute! It only took this long because we were holding it back."
"I fear our harbinger is correct, Applejack," Luna added. She stepped around Applejack and looked up toward the cloud bank. "This storm approaches with uncanny speed."
"But the trees–"
"We cannot save them, Applejack, not–" Luna paused, as a scattering of rain fell against the tree tops. "Not if we are to preserve ourselves, also."
Applejack stood silent, staring at Luna with hard, unblinking eyes. Only her mouth moved, twisting itself around unspoken thoughts, of which form Luna did not dare speculate. She briefly looked at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged and backed off, before turning on the path back to the house at a high, if shaky trot.
A drop of rain, fat and heavy, fell to the earth between the pair with a loud plap. More followed, as the rain began to fall in earnest, until the air was filled with a quiet roar and the rattle of beaten leaves. It was only thanks to the dense foliage overhead that the two were not immediately soaked to their skins.
"If you want to head back, too," Applejack said. She held herself stiff and apart from Luna as she spoke. "You know the way."
"I would not abandon you, Applejack, but please, see reason." Luna took a step forward, which Applejack mirrored with a step back of her own. "It is folly to remain here! I shall not pretend to understand the esteem in which you hold these trees, nor the familiar bond you share with them, but in the end, trees are all they are!"
"These ain't just trees! My grandpappy planted this orchard when he was a year out from dying and he knew, he knew he'd never get to eat a single damned apple from their branches!" Applejack waved her hoof across the scene, across the distant workers as they laboured in the chill rain to tie down another tree. "He planted them for us! For me, near as dammit! They're a legacy!"
"As you also are his legacy," Luna replied. "I do not believe he would require you to choose his trees over your own life, dear Applejack. To lose you now would be unbearable."
"That's my choice to make," Applejack shot back. She hefted the rope across her back and made to turn away, only to stop with a hoof raised in the air. She took a long breath and lowered her gaze.
"Please, Applejack, turn back from this folly."
Thunder cracked through the air, close and violent, followed soon after by sonorous, drawn-out echoes from distant hills. The sound seemed to shake Applejack from whatever stupor she had fallen to; she lifted her head again, her eyes tracing the shivering sheets of rain that were torn and tattered by the winds high above, while her ears and hindquarters slowly sagged under the weight of her exhaustion.
"You're right," she said. "I don't want you to be right." She tugged at the rope around her body and then lifted her hat and waved toward the nearest of the other ponies in the orchard. "Zestar! Pack it up! We're heading back!"
The command was acknowledged with a quick wave, and Zestar turned to chase her companions, trailing half-coiled rope behind her as she ran.
"Maybe the wind won't be so bad," Applejack said, almost too quiet to be heard over the rain. She flashed a wan smile to Luna, then, with her head low and rain sheeting from her hat, sloped away to the open meadow.
It should have been a relief, Luna thought, to see her friend accept the truth, but she couldn't shift the iron ball hanging in her gut at the sight. She looked up at the rain, then at the trees, and back to Applejack. "Wait."
Applejack raised her head at the word, then turned at the sound of Luna's magic as it seized the rope on her back. She turned to follow the rope as it flew back to Luna's side. "Sable?"
"I came to help, did I not?"
Not waiting for a reply, Luna uncoiled the rope, while her magic reached out to gather up the remainder from where it lay, on the ground or on the backs of departing ponies. She hesitated, sending a reassuring smile to Applejack, and then set the rope snaking through the air to the nearest row of trees, coiling two around each, in the manner she had seen the others tying down their charges minutes earlier. Pegs followed, clanking in pairs to the end of each rope, where open knots now waited for them. With a last flash of magic, she thrust each of the pegs into the earth by turns, until every tree she could easily make sight of was staked firmly to the earth.
She paused to take a breath. In her truncated form, it seemed she could not sustain the same power to which she was accustomed. It was surprising, how tired such exertion made her feel.
"I felt circumstances called for a little deviation from your traditional methods," she said, once she had caught her breath. Applejack's brow twisted; she shook her head, but she was smiling all the same.
"You could have led off with that," she replied, nudging Luna with her elbow. "Lets get inside, before one of us catches a lightning bolt."
Huddled together against the rain, the pair made their way back out to the meadow, and the long path back to the farm.
