Them

"Princess Luna is strong, she can handle it." Spike said, patting Twilight's back.

"But for how long, Spike?" she asked. "She will eventually get tired, Infected Celestia won't. We have to do something!"

"Something, but what?"

"Hm... I know! The Elements Of Harmony. We can use them to stop her."

"But Applejack is... Unable to do her job as Element Of Honesty. Without one of them, the other five are useless."

"I know, but I also know what to do!"

"Really?"

Twilight nodded.

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"In theory, yes, but the Reference Guide about the Elements Of Harmony said this was never really used before, so we can't be sure." Twilight answered. "But even if it doesn't, at least we tried."

The five wielders of the Elements Of Harmony were reunited around the sixth's bed, all of them (Applejack included) with their respective Element.

"Only one can go in there. I know the answer is obvious, but the book said I'm supposed to ask, so I'll ask; which one will go?" Twilight asked.

"I will." Rainbow Dash said. "She is my marefriend and it's my fault she's like that."

"Everypony agree?"

The other three nodded.

"Alright, then."

They closed their eyes and the Elements started glowing.

"Nopony but Rainbow Dash touch Applejack until everything is over. Now go, Rainbow!"

The Element Of Loyalty nodded, leaned over her marefirned and planted her lips on hers.

* * *

Applejack opened her eyes. She was back on her bed in Sweet Apple Acres. She tried getting up, but forelegs wrapped around her waist prevented her from doing so.

"Good morning, AJ." said Rainbow Dash, pulling her closer. She had both eyes on her face.

"Good mornin', RD." she said, kissing her marefriend's forehead. "Ah had the craziest dream. Equestria was a mess, there were zombies everywhere and you had lost yer left eye."

"It wasn't a dream."

"Wh-What?"

"I said 'it was a messed up dream'. Me, a cyclops? As if!"

"Well, Ah'm glad it was a dream, 'cuz mah situation wasn't the best."

"Let's talk about this after breakfast, ok? I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too!"

* * *

Applejack was bucking the apple trees in the orchard and Rainbow Dash was sitting on a branch, watching her. The farmmare looked at the daredevil and winked at her. But when she winked back, Applejack could have sworn she saw for a split second an eyepatch on Rainbow's left eye.

"That dream is messing with my head..." she thought before resuming her chore.

* * *

That night, while they were having a moment of privacy on her bed, they weren't where shw thought they were, but on a bunk bed in a small apartment.

"Are you ok, AJ?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, why?"

"You suddenly stopped a while ago and started looking around. We're alone here tonight, y'know. And it's not like we're doing something wrong, we're engaged."

"Ah know, it's just... Ah'm not feelin' very well today."

"Do you want to stop?"

"It's not like Ah want, Ah'm just not feelin' well. Ah'm sorry!"

"It's ok, AJ. We can do it again another day. We have our whole lives ahead, it's not like the world is going to end."

"Ah suppose yer right." she hugged her fiancée. "G'night, RD."

"Good night, AJ."

* * *

Applejack was in a dark room with no walls, windows, doors or furniture; there wasn't anything, but there was somepony behind her.

"RD, where-- Wh-What happened to yer eye?!"

Rainbow Dash touched her left eye with her hoof and it came back bloody.

"Guess my eyepatch didn't came with me."

"What are ya talkin' about? Came from where? What's goin' on?"

"You're sleeping, Applejack. We need you to wake up. I need you to wake up!"

"Just wait a few hours and--"

"No, AJ, not that kind of sleep. You're in a deeper sleep. Like a VERY deep one."

"What are ya tryin' to say?"

"This place is fake, Applejack. Sweet Apple Acres is gone. Ponyville is destroyed. Don't you remember?"

"It... It was a nightmare."

"No, it wasn't and you know!"

"No, yer-yer lyin'! That ain't true! It can't be! It jus can't!"

"I'm sorry, AJ."

"Don't call me 'AJ'! Yer not mah Rainbow. Yer just a nightmare. Ah'll close my eyes and when Ah open them again, Ah'll be back in my bed in Sweet Apple Acres with mah real Rainbow." she closed her eyes.

"Don't do that, AJ."

"Opening mah eyes in three..."

"Listen to me, AJ."

"Two..."

"The only way out is accepting the truth!"

"One!"

* * *

Applejack opened her eyes once again. It was still dark and there were dried tears on her face. She was on her bed with her marefriend/fiancée, who was sleeping.

"Just a dream." she said, kissing Rainbow Dash's forehead. "A bad dream." she hugged her lover. "Another bad dream."

"Tell me about it!"

She almost shouted when she felt hooves hugging her from behind. She turned around; there were two Rainbow Dashes on her bed (but one didn't had the left eye).

"How-- What-- Who-- When--"

"Apparently I'm now real in this side of your brain too. Cool, huh? And guess what? You can't send me away and I'm not leaving so soon!"

"No. Shut up. Go away. Yer not real."

"Really? Then give me an explanation for why I'm here with you."

"I'm--"

"And don't give me that 'I'm dreaming' crap, because that junk got really old two dreams ago!"

"Ah... Ah..."

"But you know what? You're right! I'm not real! That other Rainbow Dash isn't real either. Not even you are real! None of this is real. And since none of this is real, I'll give you a piece of my mind because, after all, it won't be real anyway." she took a deep breath and sighed. "Don you wanna know what I think? I think that after that incident in Manehattan you became afraid of the real world and decided to create your own, perfect, crappy world. to escape reality. A pretty world with nothing but sunshines, rainbows and apples."

"Rainbow..."

"I am not dating a coward, AJ, but that's exactly what you're being right now. I'm not your Rainbow Dash, well, you're not my Applejack! The choice is yours; do you want to die alone in this perfect fantasy or wake up, pony up and live with me and our friends in our real, messed-up, chaotic world? I want the Applejack I know and love back, but do you want the Rainbow Dash you know and love back too?"

After a brief moment of silence, Applejack wiped her tears.

"Will ya be there when Ah wake up?"

Rainbow Dash smiled and nuzzled her. "I'll always be there for you!"

* * *

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Rainbow Dash's eye. It was really close, Rainbow was probably kissing her, but her body was still numb, she couldn't feel things very well yet.

"Look! Look! Her eyes are opening!" Pinkie Pie said while bouncing and pointing at her.

"And the magical kiss woke the princess up." Rainbow Dash said as she got off her.

Applejack looked around and saw her friends, their eyes moist with tears. Even Pinkie Pie was crying a bit while bouncing and giggling.

"Howdy, everypony! What did Ah missed?"

"I don't care what you are or who you used to be!" Luna said while trying to hit her foe with her scythe, but failing to do so thanks to Celestia's superior speed. "You will fall!"

Infected Celestia tried to bite Luna, but she blocked her attack with her scythe, making Celestia bite the handle instead of her sister.

"Keep your filthy infectious teeth away from me. I am the Goddess Of The Night, you're just a mere monster. You may be strong, but no match for me!" Celestia shot a beam of magic, which Luna deflected with her scythe.

"Why am I trying to reason with a mindless plague?"

"Oh, no..." said Shining Armor, observing the fight from the balcony of the throne room.

"What's wrong, dear?" his wife asked.

"Look at her!"

"What--" Cadence's eyes widened when she noticed Luna was panting.

"She's getting tired."

"We have to help her!"

"There's nothing we can do."

"What? Why?"

"Because she is about to do something stupid and reckless and if we tried to interfere we could fit what would be left of us in a corndog."

"What are you talking about?"

"When Princess Luna returned to her normal self, we thought everything was finally over, but we were wrong. Nightmare Moon wasn't dead yet. In fact, she can't die. Princess Luna and her have been one for so long that they're now part of each other."

"But what Nightmare Moon has to do with it? That's Luna!"

"Because we managed to seal that power. It wasn't easy, many of us almost died that night."

"And what is keeping Nightmare Moon sealed?"

"Luna's garnishes."

Luna's armor disappeared, soon followed by her scythe.

"I'm sorry, Tia." she took off her shoes. "I know you told me to never do that." she took off her necklace. "But I'm gettting tired." she took off her crown. "And Nightmare Moon is stronger than me."

A cloud of dark energy surrounded Princess Luna, soon assuming the shape of a dark ball.

"Hope she defeats Infected Celestia soon." Shining Armor said. "We have thirty minutes until she develops resistance to the garnishes and the only way back to Luna will be the Elements Of Harmony."

The ball of darkness exploded in a cloud of black smoke. When the wind disspated the cloud, Luna was no longer there. Instead, there was a black alicorn taller than Celestia, wearing a light blue armor and wielding Luna's Crescent Moon scythe. She laughed evilly.

"Poor wittle Woona, couldn't keep up with her beloved sister and decided to set me free to take care of the dirty job." she said. "What makes you think that I'll do what you want, 'Goddess Of The Night'?"

Celestia tried attacking her, but Nightmare Moon quickly dodged and held her in place, using the handle of Crescent Moon to immobilize her by the neck.

"But, on second thought, it's going to be a great pleasure to kill the one who banished to the moon for one thousand years!"