In The Forest

by Tchernobog

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Comedy
Length: 8403

Applejack and Rainbow Dash are lost in the woods.

The Princess of the Night has always enjoyed her sleep - especially when the weight of her memories bears heavily on her shoulders. As another Summer Sun Celebration aproaches, her sleep grows troubled. Applejack and Rainbow Dash learn the hard way that waking a Princess should be done cautiously.

They learn, at their peril, that their methods weren't cautious enough.

In collaboration with Art Inspired (warning: questionable images on that page). Cover art by Neko-me

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-06 19:26:42 UTC

Chapter 01

The surface, a pale, almost featureless white, nearly reminiscent of her sister’s coat. The sleek, craterless orb above looked back at its master, and friend.

This was the only moon Princess Luna knew, not the one that took up her absence not that long ago.

She had, of course, seen images of her moon as it was during her confinement. In olden times, many renown artists like Quiver Slick had tried desperately to capture the dread her moon evoked shortly after her untimely banishment.

Generations later, as Nightmare Moon was nearly forgotten, that dread had become curiosity and wonderment for many. The shift had clearly been visible in those numerous paintings, sketches, murals, and too many other now scattered pieces of art to name.

Her favorite, perhaps, was much more recent. It hadn't even been created by an artist, though she personally believed it deserved such a description. It was a simple photograph, taken right when technology had started to improve, and gave those black and white sheets of paper actual color.

It had not come from a special photo shoot, nor had it been taken by a professional. It was a simple picture, sent in by a reader of the newspaper she’d found the article in.

It was a picture of her sister, smiling, looking up at the moon.

Yet all she saw in her sister’s expression was sadness. It showed her exactly what a thousand years of solitude and agony can do to a mare like her; it showed how much her sister had truly been missed.

For a thousand years, Celestia had hoped for Luna’s return.

For a thousand years, Luna had been consumed by hatred.

Nightmare Moon had taken utter control of her entire being. All that anger, hate, and rage was not Luna’s, but her darker half. She could scarcely say she knew the nightmare she had become.

Not a single thought had been spared on family, because Luna’s thoughts were no longer her own, but Nightmare Moon’s.

It had been years since her return. She’d thanked her savior, and all her friends for assisting. She would someday see that hero of a mare grow under her sister’s tutelage. She’d also seen her ascend to join her in the ranks of royalty, and would also celebrate the returning summer with her.

Despite how welcomed she had been made to feel, one simply could not erase a millennium of hate in only a few years. Though, they had been expunged from Luna’s perspective of others, they still echoed sharply at times.

Luna knew that Celestia hadn’t been fooled. She’d been able to mask it the previous year, when Twilight had performed her role with them, but she’d caught her elder sister glancing at her.

Perhaps that’s why they had returned to Ponyville this year. It was the first major town willing to openly celebrate Luna’s return to Equestria, a place where she was welcomed, and treated not merely as a princess, but as a friend.

It had Celestia’s stylish writings smeared all over it.

With a deep breath, Luna summoned her magic, gently coaxing the moon down from the sky. She exhaled some air as the sphere dipped below and into the horizon, smiled as the sun rose to take its rightful place, ushering the day into being, and turned around.

With her job done, she trotted off the balcony of Twilight’s library, and made a beeline towards the guest room. She still had another day of sleep before her, another day before a new Summer Sun Celebration dawned.

Another day before she had to put on her mask.

With Luna’s moon finally down and her highness in bed, sound asleep, Twilight woke up with the warmth of the sun gracing her cheeks. She slanted up, her mane ruffled worse than Rainbow’s wings after a race, and yawned.

Her two front hooves stretched far up, reaching high for the ceiling, and then came right back down to the blanket. As they made contact, a nice, noticeable pomf noise followed the gentle impact. She smiled tiredly and looked out the window. Not a cloud in sight, perfect weather for…

Twilight gasped, remembering what day it was. “The Summer Sun Celebration!”

Spike rolled over and onto his back, catching Twilight’s attention. She leaned over her bed, muzzle down, flank up in excitement, and said, “Spike, Spike! Guess what.”

In response, the sleepy reptilian snorted quickly, just barely breathing open mouthed.

“That’s right,” Twilight said with glee. “Today, I get to help everypony prepare not as a mere unicorn living in a library that smells like maple syrup all the time, but as a princess living in a library that smells like maple syrup all the time!”

Spike peeled his left eye open momentarily to see if Twilight was still looking at him. She was, rather creepily, too. As she glided over him with her wings, she took out a book called “The Checklist” and walked up to Spike. With her magic, she teleported him into a standing position away from his basket. “Here,” she said, handing her assistant the book.

“No…”

“And, you’ll need these…”

Twilight started bringing forth parchment after parchment, a quill, some scrolls and an emerald. Up until he saw the final item, Spike was simply saying, “No… No…” in a rather rebellious, though dull tone, half tired, half resistant to the work like any other morning.

Twilight waved the shiny jewel in his face, and then snatched it back before Spike could grab it with his tongue. With the slithery thing returning to his lips, he grumbled, “So close.”

“Good, you’re awake.” Twilight lead him down the stairs while instructing, “You’ll get this by the end of the day, but only if you’re able to keep up with the list and help out.”

Of course, Spike had no trouble with that. It was handling Pinkie Pie that would become a bother. As they left the house, Twilight was shocked to find her whole house decorated from top to bottom with streamers, balloons and one, big bow right above her window. The rest of the scenery was relatively the same.

Pinkie could be seen of the far side of town with a jumbo-sized party cannon blasting the city like no tomorrow. Upon seeing Twilight’s angered face, she simply waved at the alicorn before firing at somepony with her welcome wagon’s baking artillery.

Twilight quickly trotted up to the pink pony, asking as calmly as she could, “What’s all this?”

Pinkie, in all her natural funk of foolery, said, “A party!”

Twilight shook her head. “Pinkie… this is…”

“Amazing?”

“Too much!” She giggled while still taking in her surroundings. Balloons on the beam bars, ribbons on every roof, and surprise streamers ready to shock the very lives out of anypony that might trigger them, purposefully or accidentally; it didn’t matter to Pinkie Pie. Whatever felt the funnest is what she went with.

“I know, right?” Pinkie asked. “I think I’ve outdone myself this year!”

Twilight face hoofed, fighting back a grin. “Look,” she said. “It’s great you’re doing your part so well, but there’s a limit. This crosses it in more ways than I can count.”

Spike looked up at her, and said, “Decor… triple checked.”

“Spike, I want you to take all these decorations down.”

“What?!” Spike bounded back and looked around at the catastrophe composed of mixing colors that currently plagued the once quaint town.

“But,” Twilight said importantly, “save a few, and rearrange things to look presentable for the princesses, not a bunch of five year old fillies.” She looked at Pinkie while saying that.

“Tee hee!”

Twilight rolled her eyes while asking politely, “As for you, Pinkie Pie, think you can handle helping Spike out?”

Pinkie nodded frantically with her eyes closed. “No problem, Twilight!”

Though her assistance would be welcomed if she was anypony else, this was Pinkie. Spike, at that point in time, thought it best if he did this alone, but didn’t speak up. Not that he had a chance, that is. The second Pinkie got her orders, she tugged on him suddenly, and they were off to fix the errors she’d justly made.

Giggling, Twilight levitated the checklist Spike had dropped up to her muzzle. Next on the list was none other than Rarity, who had been tasked with making the guards presentable. The unicorn had grumbled at first, as the military’s hygiene and cleanliness rules were strictly enforced, but she’d suddenly vanished a few days ago, singing about an idea that had struck her.

Twilight made her way to the Carousel Boutique where she knew her friend could most likely be found. She knocked once and pushed the door open, not waiting for Rarity to call out - she was, after all, one of the few ponies that could enter the fashionista’s home at any time, day or night.

Her hooves stopped as she stepped into the main floor, her eyes wide in shock and no small part of horror. Rarity had asked for two guards to model for for her ideas, and two stallions had eagerly stepped up to help the mare.

Twilight imagined that right about now, one of them was regretting this decision.

The poor stallion’s armor was nigh unrecognizable. The metal was barely visible under the white frills and navy blue ribbons that covered his body, and what metal was still visible was dyed a vibrant, but regal purple. One that matched Twilight’s coat, if she wasn’t mistaken.

To the guard’s credit, his expression remained neutral. Though, his eyes spoke of a stallion that had given up, and was waiting for the sweet, merciful release of death. Or unconsciousness. Preferably reassignment, anything other than this.

Both he and his fellow guard saluted quickly as Twilight entered, breaking Rarity’s attention away from her ministrations.

“Tut! I said not to move! Why are you- Oh, Twilight!” Rarity beamed her way as she followed her victim’s gaze. “What do you think, darling?”

“I…” Twilight hesitated. She knew exactly what she thought, but she wasn’t sure how to formulate it correctly. Or, at least, in the fashion that would cause the least amount damage not to Rarity, but to herself. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at?”

Rarity rolled her eyes, smiling at Twilight’s naïveté. “This is why you leave fashion to me. You see, I’ve always thought these uniforms looked too, well…”

“Yes?”

“Male!”

Twilight blinked. “Male?”

“That’s what I said.” Rarity stomped a hoof. “Too chauvinistic. Too macho.”

“And… that’s a ‘problem’?”

“It is! After all, who are these guards guarding? Hm?”

“Uh…” Twilight hesitated. “Me? And the other princesses?”

“Exactly! Princesses! Females, Twilight!” Rarity cried out, waving her hoof at the guard. “I thought I’d reflect that with a slight tweak in the design.”

“Slight?” Twilight repeated, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

Rarity nodded. “The colors match your coats. The frills are obviously Princess Celestia. The ribbons are for Princess Luna, and I’ve dyed the armor to match your own lovely shade of purple.”

“I see..”

“So, go on! what do you think?” Rarity offered her signature, toothy grin.

Twilight winced before replying. “I don’t think my opinion is the one that matters here,” she said cautiously, before fixing her attention on the afflicted stallion. “Soldier?”

“Yes Ma’am!” The stallion saluted, standing to attention.

“What is your name?”

“Sergeant Glinting Spear, your highness!”

“What do you think of these designs, Glinting Spear?”

“I plead the fifth, ma’am!”

“Thank you.” Twilight nodded in satisfaction, redirecting her doubtful eyes back to Rarity.

The unicorn sighed, her rump hitting the ground. “Yes, I know, it’s terrible. I just don’t know what came over me.”

Twilight smiled as she fought back a few chuckles, and placed a hoof on Rarity’s back. “I know how you feel. I can’t count the number of times I’ve tried to experiment with something, only to find that I’d made it worse.” She glanced at the other guard, who had not moved since her entrance. “What about him?”

“Him?” Rarity repeated, looking up. “Oh. Sweetie Belle dropped some Luster Dust on him yesterday, and he loves it.”

The guard in question cleared his throat. “Permission to speak freely, your highness?”

“Granted. You are?”

“Lieutenant Hammer Smash, your highness. This stuff is delicious.”

Twilight giggled, nudging the fashionista. “Think you could make some edible armor?”

Rarity stared at the Lieutenant, rubbing her chin with a hoof. “I may be able to ‘cook’ something up.” She snickered at her own pun.

Twilight groaned. “That was awful.”

“You are very welcome!” Rarity grinned. “Leave it to me, Twilight.”

As Twilight turned around, she looked over at the two stallions once more. “Your land’s ponies thank you for your services and especially your sacrifices. Rarity, they’re all yours.”

With that, Twilight left the two at their mistress’s mercy, or what little she truly had. Next up was the weather, and then the food. Those were the easiest apart from the music which would be Fluttershy’s duty to take care of. “Things shouldn’t be too bad with Fluttershy, so I’ll just check on Applejack and Rainbow Dash for the time being.”

While leaving the outskirts of town, she noticed most of the decorations previously infesting the place had almost been completely dealt with. Pinkie and Spike waved her goodbye as Twilight made her way to Sweet Apple Acres only a few minutes down the road.

She’d imagined that she’d find them deep in the orchard, hard at work. At least, she imagined Applejack would be, and Rainbow would be fast asleep in one of the farmer’s trees.

She hadn’t, however, counted on finding the both of them lying lazily against an apple tree just off the side of the road at the edge of the Acres. Especially not with a mug in hoof.

Twilight pressed a hoof to her forehead, sighing loudly. She shook herself and trotted up to the pair, who waved a hoof at her arrival.

“Howdy, Twi!” Applejack grinned up to the alicorn. “What brings you ‘round these parts?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.”

“The usual?” Rainbow repeated, glumly staring at her empty mug.

“Yeah, the ‘make sure everyone’s working hard on their task for the Summer Sun Celebration’ usual.”

“Ne’er mind that, Sugar.” Applejack chuckled, and pat the ground with her free hoof. “Just kick back with us. Got some fine cider here! Err, somewhere, that is.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped open while Applejack kept looking. “Kick back? The celebration’s tomorrow morning! What the hay have you two been doing all afternoon?”

“Hey!” Rainbow barked. “We’ve been busting our chops!”

“Really?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “Looks like you’re not doing anything at all right now!”

Applejack chuckled, silencing the pegasus before she blew up by hoofing over her own, full mug of cider. “That’s ‘cause there ain’t nothin’ to do, Twi. We’re done!”

“Oh, so you’re done!” Twilight scoffed. “I’m sure that-” She blinked as her brain caught up with her ears. “Wait, you’re done?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud belch. “Yeah, you see any clouds in the sky?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof upwards. “No? You’re welcome.”

“The cart’s filled with the 'orderves', waitin’ at Sugarcube Corner, Twi!” Applejack broke in. “We’re all set and rarin’ to go.”

“I…” Twilight sat down, sheepishly grinning at the pair, ears folded up against her head. “Sorry, girls. I’ve just been running into a few mishaps so far, and I kinda thought you were making it worse.”

“Mishaps?” Rainbow asked.

“Pinkie tried to turn Ponyville into a Party Warzone, and Rarity tried to turn the guards into clowns.” As Twilight explained, she brought a hoof up stop Rainbow from opening her mouth. “I’ll tell you more later. Seeing as how you two are doing just fine here, I’ve got to check on Fluttershy now.”

Rainbow snorted. “Seriously, egghead? It’s not like Fluttershy has much to mess up. Just chill with us!”

“Sorry.” Twilight shook her head, giggling. “I just want to make sure. Maybe later?”

Applejack lifted a hoof to her chest, mock gasping. “What, y’actually have time on yer busy schedule?”

“Oh, ha ha.” Twilight stuck her tongue out at the laughing pair. “We’ll see.”

Rainbow grinned, downing the last of her drink. “Actually, don’t. More cider for me! Ow!” She cried out, rubbing the back of her head where Applejack had hit her. “What, it’s true!”

“Still rude, featherbrain!”

Twilight shook her head in amusement, opting to escape before her friends started another wrestling match. She trotted off towards Fluttershy’s cottage, confident that the pegasus would be the least of her troubles.

Despite the earlier minor setbacks, the day was shaping up rather nicely.

“And then-” Twilight shook her head in bemusement. “Then Harry the bear tried to join in on the singing, and the entire cottage was just howls and shrieks and grunts.”

“Did he now?” Celestia chortled, her teacup lifting in a cloud of her golden magic.

“Yep!” Twilight coughed, attempting and failing to hold back a giggle. “And we just had to run out because we were laughing so hard!”

“I didn’t want to hurt their feelings…” Fluttershy said, the edges of her mouth still curved upwards.

Pinkie had long since started giggling. “Let’s get him the lead spot! Can we? Can we, can we?” She bounced up to Celestia, grinning for all she was worth.

The alicorn turned her head to look at Fluttershy, deferring to the pegasus’ judgement. “What do you think?”

“Um.” Fluttershy blushed. “He has a lovely tenor voice. B-but I think h-he needs more practice.”

Celestia nodded. “Next year, then.”

“Awww!” Pinkie pouted, then sped off to help the Cakes behind Sugarcube Corner’s counter.

“Don’t ya worry, Princess! Dash’s singin’ sounds bear-able.” Applejack quipped, her front hooves quoting the air. “She’ll take the job!”

“Hey!” Dash squeaked. “At least I sing more than just hoedowns!”

“You got a problem with hoedowns?” Applejack asked intimidatingly, but smiling all the same.

“And what if I do, huh?”

Applejack responded by smacking the table with a hoof. “You and me, hoof-wrestle, right now!”

“You’re on!”

“I swear, those two are beasts in disguise.” Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Speaking of beasts.” Celestia broke in as she glanced out of the window, over the grunting of the hoof-wrestling pair . “I believe it is getting close to dusk. I should go wake Luna.”

“We got ya-hrgh! Got ya covered.” Applejack grunted. “Right-hng! D-Dash?”

“Huh?” The pegasus blinked, momentarily distracted. Applejack pounced on the chance, slamming Rainbow’s hoof onto the table. “Ow! Hey, you cheated!”

Applejack smirked. “You’re just sore ya lost! Now c’mon, let’s go!”

“Go?” Rainbow blinked. “We’re going somewhere?”

“Pay attention, Sugar. We gotta go wake Princess Luna.”

“We do?” Rainbow asked stupidly.

“Race you there!”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted as Applejack thundered out of the bakery. “Fine!”

In the wake of their sudden takeoff followed four sets of eyes staring at the slowly closing door. A gentle cough drew everypony’s attention to Rarity. “I beg your pardon, Princess Celestia, but…”

“Yes, my little pony?”

“Am I mistaken, or did those two charge off before you gave them permission?”

Celestia laughed gently, shaking her head. “They did, but they should be fine.”

“Sh-should be?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Though, Luna does have a bit of a temper in the morning.” Celestia paused. “Or evening, as the case may be.”

“Oh dear…”

Meanwhile, back at Twilight’s tree house, everything was quiet. A few birds stirred in the branches, and a gentle breeze blew across the leaves moving one or two along.

It was peaceful… until the front door flew open with a crash as the blue and orange blur tumbled in together laughing.

“Ha!” Rainbow crowed as she disentangled herself from the pile they’d landed in. “I win!”

“Y’need to get yer eyes checked, Rainbow.” Applejack said, grabbing her hat from the floor to place it back on her head where it belonged. “I won that race fair and square!”

“Ha! In your dreams!” Rainbow said, brushing dust from the tufts of her chest.

“Speakin’ of dreams, we should go wake the Princess.”

Rainbow blinked. “Wait, what? Why?”

Applejack rolled her eyes, and gave a light swat to Rainbow’s cheek with her tail as she made her way up the stairs to the guest room. “Princess Luna? Summer Sun Celebration? That ring any bells? Or are you too lost in the clouds to even pay attention?”

She gave the numbskull of a pony this annoyed look, and Rainbow on the other hoof just took the lead while understanding slowly crept over her expression. “Oh, that’s what we’re doing here? Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Rainbow questioned smugly, almost sarcastically as she watched her friend run up along side her.

Applejack rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to swat Rainbow’s head. The only thing keeping her from doing so was the potential thickness of Rainbow’s skull. Once they faced the guest room’s door, she lifted a hoof and gave the door a few good knocks. “Hello? Princess Luna?”

Silence stretched on, so she glanced at Rainbow. “Think that did it?”

With a shrug, Rainbow leaned forward to tap the door herself, even harder than the farmer had. While she did, she snickered, “Princess! You awake in there? There’s royal sweets and treats and alicorn goodies just down the stairs!”

Applejack leaned away, rubbing at an ear with a hoof. “If she wasn’t up before, she’s sure t’be now, assumin’ she’s got her sister’s sweet tooth fer cake. Plus, your howlin’ would wake up the dead!”

Rainbow glanced away from the door to remark, “Funny, Rarity said the same about my snoring after that camping trip.”

“I wasn’t gonna mention it, but she’s kinda right.”

The pair waited in silence for another minute. When no noise was heard, Rainbow glanced at Applejack. “What… what if she is?”

“Is what?”

“Dead?”

Applejack blinked. “What in Equestria are you on ‘bout, Dash?”

“You said I’d wake up the dead!” She retorted, and pointed at the door. “But I’m not hearing anything!”

Applejack’s hoof met her face. “Oh for- Maybe she’s just a deep sleeper? Did that ever occur to you? Princess of the night! Protector of the stars! ‘Course she sleeps long, Dash.”

But Rainbow wasn’t satisfied. “Let’s check.”

“Check? What-” Applejack’s words faltered as the pegasus grunted, and shoved the door with a shoulder. Amazingly, it creaked open, having not even been locked in the first place. All it needed was one good push.

Slowly, the door creaked, revealing a room darkened by closed blinds. A few dense patterns made by looming smoke wafted in the rays that seeped through the window making it seem more and more like moving art the closer Applejack and Rainbow Dash got. Behind the bed and sitting next to the window sat incense, vanilla flavored, the ashes falling to the tray freely. Next to that laid a peaceful looking alicorn princess. The room was still the same, though, save for the bed and the scent that currently flooded any free space.

“Princess Luna?” Rainbow whispered, ears flat on her head as she creeped in.

“Oh, now you’re whisperin’?” Applejack asked, unconsciously whispering herself, but Rainbow didn’t reply. Instead, she merely pointed at the large shape on the guest room's bed. Applejack couldn’t help but gulp. “Is-is she alive?”

“Only one way to find out,” Rainbow replied, crawling closer to the bed. Each step sounded like thunder in her ears, or maybe that was the beating of her heart. Either way, Rainbow couldn’t hear anything until she was within touching distance of the alicorn.

It was only there that she heard what she’d been looking for - the deep intake of breath, the slow exhalation. She could even see the mound rise and fall under the covers.

Rainbow sighed in relief, only to jump as she heard Applejack speak into her ear. The farmer had clearly snuck in with her, hot on her tail.

“Thank Celestia she’s okay!” Applejack wiped her brow in relief, staring at Luna’s still slumbering form. “How’s she still sleepin’?

Shrugging, Rainbow inched closer. At that distance, she could see that the Princess was facing away from them, sleeping with her muzzle towards the guest room’s window. The long flowing and lightly colored mane peeked out from under the covers, glittering with magic. Acting on impulse, she lifted a hoof and poked the bed.

No response.

Applejack’s eyes met Rainbow’s as they shared a glance. The earth pony took the cue, shoving the mattress lightly. The mound moved, and the bed creaked, but it was merely settling back into position. The Princess’ breathing hadn’t changed.

Rainbow frowned, lifting herself into the air with a few flaps of her wings. She glided closer to the Princess and pressed a hoof to Luna’s back, hoping that some form of physical contact would get some response.

Again, she was disappointed.

Applejack took it a step further, jumping onto the bed and poking Luna’s flank with a hoof. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the bold move, but it remained a fruitless venture. She glanced at Applejack once more, a wide grin splitting her muzzle.

“I bet you a bushel of apples that I can wake her up.”

Applejack knew that tone. She smirked up at the pegasus. “An’ if you lose?”

“I’ll buy a bushel!”

“Two!”

“One and a half!”

Applejack spat on her hoof and grinned, lifting it up to bump with Rainbow’s. “Deal.”

“Wait here!” Rainbow chuckled as she sped off into the corridor.

Wondering what she’d just gotten the princess into, Applejack turned back to face the alicorn. Her eyebrows raised as she noticed that Luna had indeed moved, probably while she’d been haggling with Dash.

The princess had flipped around, and was now facing her, still asleep. Applejack frowned as she inched forward to take a closer look.

Luna’s expression was… troubled. Her eyes were scrunched tight, her eyebrows pressed together. She seemed to be shivering, gritting her teeth tightly.

“Bottoms up!”

Applejack whirled around as Rainbow returned, carrying a bucket in her hooves. The farmer’s eyes widened in horror as she understood Rainbow’s plan. “Dash, wait-”

But it was too late. With one swift motion, the pegasus flipped the bucket over, dumping the water over to the Princess. The next thing they knew, a bright flash of light hit their eyes hard, and they fell to the floor with a thud.

Everything around them spun rapidly, only growing worse when they tried to close their eyes.

And then, everything went dark.

Chapter 02

Luna’s eyes scanned the immediate area in a blurry daze, desperately trying to get her bearings. After a few moments of sulking under the sheets and panning her head left and right, she finally recognized the Golden Oaks Library’s guest room. No wonder the walls didn't have any stars magically splattered all over just the way she liked it. She shook off the remnants of heavy sleep, dismissing that nagging feeling of unease it always left her with.

She paused at the strange feeling in her mane and lifted a hoof to move a few of the glittering blue strands in front of her eyes.

“Wet?” she whispered aloud to herself. “Why is it…?”

Luna glanced back at her pillow, and frowned as she noticed the damp patch where her head had been. Had the otherworldly experience within her own mind been so distracting that she’d actually ‘sweated buckets’, as some of her subjects were apt to say these days?

“Surely not…”

Her eyes widened briefly as she noticed the level of light surrounding her. She’d always had perfect vision in darkness, as befitted her role as the Princess of the Night. Over time, she’d also learned how to tell the time by the amount of light around her.

As it happened, it was just getting past the time for her to leave the comforts of her bed, if only to rejoin her sister. She bucked off her covers, struggling with one hoof for a minute while trying to disentangle herself from them. A few seconds of stretching would leave her feeling positively beaming and ready for the day, save for the condition her mane and upper coat was. A refreshing spell would fix her right up though. Her growling stomach, on the other hoof, told her she should really get going.

Luna had only taken a few steps when her hoof banged into something. Her eyes latched onto the offending object—a bucket, sitting in the middle of the room. Her mind quickly put two and two together as she glanced from the bucket back to her soaked pillow, and following the addition, she proceeded to roll her eyes the way she’d seen Twilight Sparkle do to her friends every once in a while.

Clearly, even a princess wasn’t immune from the pink one’s pranks. She smirked as she resumed her trot, giving some thought as to how she could get her revenge. After all, she couldn’t let this challenge go unanswered, now could she?

“Old pranks are probably forgotten,” Luna said as she opened the bathroom door. “Slip a toad in her hoof shoe, and… Wait, no, ponies in this city are nudist. That’s right, so that might not work…”

While she thought on it, her highness did her usual morning routine. Upon making sure her mane was presentable, she faced her muzzle towards the ceiling, though kept looking at herself in the mirror, making sure everything was in order. “You look like you could use another hour’s worth of rest.” She rubbed her eyes with a hoof before sighing. “As good looking as I’m ever going to get today, it’d seem…”

Luna would never admit it to anyone, but she would gladly forgo sleep if it meant she could spend more time awake. There was something about being up and about down on Equestria rather than the moon, or even the brief time she got to spend with Celestia, that just felt right. A thousand years of solitude meant she had much to catch up on, and sleep only slowed that down.

It had become something of a chore, and she only did it to hurry along and get to the next journey-filled day. Or, in her case, the next journey-filled evening. That was precisely what  she saw her awake time as, an adventure. She just did a good job at hiding it.

She made her way out of the guest room and into the lobby. Checking the time, she grumbled at just missing her breakfast, or for everyone else, dinner. It was becoming a bit of a problem for Luna, sleeping in so late, sometimes only just stumbling out of bed at around eight to lift the moon for her sister.

There was no time for even a quick bite from an apple. She was already late to the celebration meeting that was taking place over at Sugar Cube Corner, where all her new friends and her sister would be by now.

“They’ll be missing me if I don’t hurry up.”

With that attitude seemingly set in stone, Luna wandered out and into the unsettling light her sister’s sun made for the day’s nearing end. With one hoof raised to the right, she leaned in on the left. Then, she looked down the right at an alley way.

Everything, for her at least, looked completely different. She had only been to Ponyville once before, and that was during the night, her time. Being in the shining glory of a concluding afternoon made the whole surrounding area look different, and highly unrecognizable to her.

“Uh,” she said in a panic, eyes darting around the decorated town. “Maybe this way?”

She chose to take the long shot and headed right, the completely wrong way. Of course, had she thought to fly up and simply look around, she might have spared herself some trouble. The thought simply never crossed her mind, not that she needed to go through that sort of trouble to achieve her bearings.

Off to the side of some quaint lunch shack sat Spike with a notepad in one claw and a ruby-centered, carrot cut sub sandwich in the other. He seemed to be having a tough time with the owner who refused to have a scarlet bow wrapped around his banana yellow beach umbrella. “Look, pal, this side needs more glitter!”

His head shook while he denied Spike out right. “That’s nice, kid, but it’s too frilly.”

Luna took it upon herself to reveal her thoughts on the matter. “Actually,” she said while trotting up socially, “I think it’d be a nice addition to your umbrella.”

When the Princess of the Night says something looks good, even if it’s all around completely ridiculous, everypony knows good and well to agree and let it be. That included the pesky shack owner. With wide eyes at who he was addressing, he immediately changed his attitude.

“Yep! Best bow I could’ve ever gotten for my umbrella! Thanks, little dragon… kid? I’ll put it up right now!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “It’s already up.”

The keeper glanced up, smiled sheepishly, and offered, “Uh, complimentary subs for all the trouble?”

Spike grabbed another while Luna started walking away, headed for the city limits. “Uh, your highness?” Spike asked while timidly following her. “All due respect, Princess Luna, but we really should be headed for Sugar Cube Corner.”

She scoffed, “Well, aren’t I going in the right direction?”

He wasn’t about to try and say anything remotely offending, but he couldn’t let her go the wrong way entirely. “No…”

She stopped. “I’m not?”

Before grabbing her hoof and leading Luna in the right path, Spike said, “One of the tasks I got assigned to was following up on others and making sure they did their parts right. I guess that also means escorting you to the meeting as well.”

Luna nodded. “Yes, well, speaking of, the pink one did her job admirably...” Her eyebrow twitched as she said the last word.

While she walked with him, Spike giggled, “Yeah, I helped, actually!”

She gave him an angered look. “Really? I shall keep that in mind.”

In little time at all, Spike was able to lead them straight to where they needed to be. Were it not for him taking her down several dark alleys, she could’ve honestly said the walk did her good.

They were greeted by Pinkie’s usual decorations blocking the door like a curtain, but Spike merely shuffled the assortment of hanging ribbons, streamers and party favors aside and entered the establishment the way he usually did. Luna rose a hoof before pressing her head through, feeling as if she were stepping through some strange portal.

The inside, however, could’ve been considered another world. The counter was coated in moss-like sheets of varying, tacky colors that screamed, “Birthday!” Pinkie’s odd love for spontaneously lathering everything with color was foreign, at best. Hardly anything like what they did up at Canterlot. Still, after a good set of days had gone by spending time with everypony else including Twilight, Luna was mostly used to their differing qualities.

Upon seeing her sister sitting at a round table with the others, she took note of everypony else that was there. Pinkie’s name sometimes slipped her mind for reasons she couldn’t explain, especially during the morning. Rarity sat next to Fluttershy, showing her the fabric she planned to use for the guards, and Twilight was talking with her mentor.

“Huh…” She glanced at the three empty seats, figured Applejack and Rainbow Dash were off goofing around somewhere, and took her own seat next to her sister. “Sorry we are late.”

“Sorry I’m late, Luna,” her sister said teasingly.

“You know what I meant!”

She, her sister and Twilight laughed together, keeping to themselves as opposed with getting mixed up in Rarity showing off. Luna caught Pinkie recommending a splash of hot red, and Fluttershy listened to the fashionesta’s banter, too kind to confess she really didn’t care. “So, Luna?” Celestia asked.

“Hmm?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Oh, fine… just fine.” She tried to avoid much more conversation on that particular subject. “How were the arrangements?”

“Tell me about your dreams,” Celestia said coyly, not even hearing Luna’s question.

“The arrangements first,” Luna said with a more serious tone.

“Luna, are you sure?

“I’m alright, sister...” Luna looked from Celestia’s concerned face to Twilight’s more confused expression. “I will tell you everything in our room back at the library, okay?”

“Are… you two alright?” Twilight asked. “You’ve been like this since we all met up. Is everything okay?”

Luna spoke up just before Celestia could assure Twilight everything was fine herself. “Things like this are private, Twilight. It’s nothing against you or your friends, but I prefer to keep things like this between me and my sister.”

Laying her cheek on her hooves, Twilight remarked, “Well, now I feel like the odd mare out.”

Celestia placed her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s nothing big, Twilight. Not like the celebration will be. What have you planned out thus far?”

Twilight skimmed her notes briefly, her tongue poking out while she thought, and said, “At the beginning, you and Luna will make your welcoming speech, bow to everypony, and proceed to the left of the stand.”

Rarity spoke up, “And that’s when the guards will play their classic trumpet theme for everypony.”

Fluttershy quietly added in, “Around that time, I’ll have all the birdies and pigeons well settled down enough to chime in with the music.”

Twilight resumed. “Right, and the clouds will need to be crystal clear for tomorrow. Don’t get me started on the food, either!” Her eyes landed on the still empty seats next to Princess Luna. “Speaking of which, where is Applejack? And Rainbow Dash?”

Luna, whose personal opinion on those two was still being developed, thought they would show up to the group meeting for sure. By what she’d seen, those two could both rival Pinkie when it came to eating, though the party pony would’ve won in a competition hooves down no matter what, and there was plenty for them to eat sitting right before everypony but them.

Along with good friends and royalty waiting for them, there was hardly any reason for them not to come. “Maybe they’re just running late,” Rarity offered, though shortly returning to her fabric.

Pinkie voiced with a mouth full of chocolate cake, “They could be out pranking somepony! That’s what I’d be doing if I wasn’t here!”

Luna’s ears perked up at that. “Undoubtedly.”

Pinkie smiled at Luna. “Undoubtedly, what? Undoubtedly I’d be pulling pranks? Or, undoubtedly Applejack and Rainbow dash are pulling pranks?”

Luna sighed, “Both.” She smiled with a glint in her eyes. “In fact, I’ll be repaying you for the prank you pulled on me when I got up.”

The whole table fell amazingly silent. Everypony there heard Luna quite clearly, but was unable to put two and two together. Twilight’s worried eyes looked at Luna as she said, “Pinkie’s been with us the whole time.”

Luna blinked twice. “What?” She glanced from Twilight to Pinkie with her mouth ajar. “But, somepony dumped water on me not half an hour ago to get me up… Pinkie, you mean to tell us it wasn’t you?”

Pinkie shook her head with a frown. “Sorry, but that sounds fun!”

Twilight’s raising eyebrow told everypony else she was thinking. Once she looked up and back at Luna, she said, “Applejack and Rainbow volunteered to go wake you up… You mean, you were woken up by a prank?”

Luna explained, “It was a bucket filled with water, and it laid at my hooves empty and dripping wet, much like my mane, coat and pillow were… It must have been them.”

Twilight gave one last glance at the empty chairs, and asked aloud, “Then… Where’d they go?”

Rainbow Dash could honestly say she’d experienced waking up feeling not her best plenty of times in her life. In fact, most of the time, that feeling had followed some of her bigger crashes. She’d been through mishaps most would never even wish to think of going through, some of them being her very own fault. Waking up dizzy was nothing new to her.

This, however, was something else entirely. She’d barely twitched a feather by the time she felt her gut twist, and only barely managed to twist herself onto her stomach when she couldn’t hold it in, and let it empty itself. She coughed, trying to calm her body, only meeting success after a few dry heaves wracked her.

It felt like weightlessness, floating in the sea, only there were no waves. The waters were completely still. Of course, there was no water around them, but she certainly did sense an odd funk in the air. If one’s head were stuck inside a small, multicolored vase, he or she might feel much like Rainbow did.

She collapsed back onto the ground, exhaustion having sapped her energy, but she remained awake just enough to try and open her eyes. However, she didn’t understand what we saw… No, she couldn’t understand what she saw. Instead of the library, she saw trees. Lots of trees. Lots and lots of trees.

Her pained head turned sharply to look upon the vines, flowers, and all kinds of plants all around her. So densely packed was the beauty that she couldn’t see much else, and barely a few patches of sky as she glanced upwards. Though, what she could see through the small, blurry gaps in the leaves almost looked like a single cloud…

And then, it disappeared, bringing her to say, “Wuh…?”

As she tried to spread her wings, an odd sensation ran through her back. Maybe trying to fly immediately after barely looking around was a bad idea. She’d take note of that cloud, though, and try her best to find a clearing so she might find it. Other than that, Rainbow was able to deduce the obvious with little difficulty: She had no idea where she was.

She couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten there. Maybe Applejack knew?

“Applejack!” Her breath got caught in her throat as she remembered she hadn’t been alone, and choked out the name while collapsing yet again, holding tight to her throat.

“The… hea…” She tried to curse her voice free from the tough, muting spot clogging up her lung pipes. Instead, it came out scratchy, and that hurt, too.

She took a deep breath to the best of her abilities, was able to take in a tremulous amount of oxygen, pushed herself to her hooves to look around and wheezed all that air right back out with a shadowy, cringing expression almost hidden by her brightly hued mane.

Applejack had been right next to her—she remembered that much—and couldn’t be that far.

“Appl-” she coughed again, her throat sore from her heaving, but she pressed on. “Applejack?” The word sounded raspy as it left her lips. Whatever happened to them was torturous at best.

With the lack of any kind of response worrying her, Rainbow pressed on, taking a step on… whatever it was she was trotting upon. All she could feel was a numb pressure on her hooftips, and all she could hear was… noise. Lots of it, actually. Birds, insects, all sorts of animals making a racket all around her. “Applejack?!” She cried out again, louder. Her brow pinched in worry as her eyes flicked back and forth.

There.

A hint of lighter brown between all the confusing trees. Applejack’s hat. Rainbow shambled towards it, her legs shaky, and her stomach still queasy, but she was slowly feeling better. However, that wasn’t important—she had to find Applejack.

Sure enough, a small distance away from the stetson, Applejack was lying on the ground, out cold and motionless. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. With the plants this dense, she’d probably never have found Applejack if they’d been separated much farther from each other.

She quickly shuffled over to her friend, shaking her with a hoof. “Hey, A.J.” She glanced away to cough sickly for a moment, but quickly returned to what she was doing. “Wake up. A.J! Applejack!” Her eyes widened in horror as the earth pony remained motionless. Rainbow quickly bent down and placed her ear next to Applejack’s mouth, but the noise surrounding her drowned out any sound she tried to hear.

She lifted her head, growling. “Shut up already!” She yelled that as loud as she could, and squealed a little at the end thanks to her still burning throat. To her surprise, it worked, if only for a few moments. Then, the noise came back, but subdued. With a satisfied nod, she leaned back down, only to jump in fright.

“I tol’ ya you could wake th’dead, Dash, but I ain’t dead yet!”

“Applejack!” Rainbow cried out, dropping next to her friend.

“Owch... Now, simmer down, girl. My head hurts!” Applejack grumbled as she attempted to lift herself up.

“Careful, you might-”

“Hurk!” With wide eyes, the farm mare galloped behind some bushes.

“-puke... Yeah.” Rainbow held her nose with both hooves as she heard Applejack empty her stomach. Once they were able to quiet things down, she stroked her friend’s back upon her return. “You okay?”

“Been better…” The farmer muttered. “Can barely see a thing… What the hay happened, Dash?”

“No clue,” the pegasus admitted while grunting after every blink. She was trying to get a better view, but much like her friend, Rainbow felt near blind. “I think we’re in the Everfree F-Forest, or something.”

Applejack squinted as she took in her surroundings. “Th’Everfree? What in tarnation are we doin’ all the way out here?”

Rainbow shrugged in response. “Don’t look at me. Maybe we got drunk?” She rolled her squinting eyes in an attempt to look cool as Applejack stared at her in disbelief. One thing that brought about that disbelief was the eye roll looking more like a horrid imitation of Derpy after being wasted. “I’m just saying! We wake up puking, no idea how we got here…”

“Whaddya mean, y’don’t remember?”

“What, you do?” Rainbow said, gesturing her hooves forth, but cringing slowly as her left shoulder cracked. “Ouch…”

Applejack nodded as she wiped her mouth off with a hoof. Her mouth curled in distaste as she flicked away what she could. “We were tryin’ to wake up... Princess Luna?”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow scratched the back of her head, the memories slowly leaking back. She also remembered a bucket had been involved. “Think she’s angry?”

“Considerin’ it looks like she sent us here, I’d say that’s a yes.” Applejack groaned as she lifted herself off from the ground. “We gotta get back then!”

Rainbow kept a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “Don’t rush it. Take it easy.”

Applejack couldn’t stop herself from giving a smug snort, grinning at the mare beside her. “You of all ponies are tellin’ me to slow down?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and shook her head. “‘Cause I know how you feel, Applebutt. I just woke up too, you know.”

“That still don’t help us get home, though.” Applejack glanced around. “We gotta figure out where we are.”

Rainbow nodded. “Maybe we’re near Zecora’s?” She stood slowly, turned around, and got a sudden shock from Applejack gasping out of nowhere. “R-R-Rainbow… Your wings!”

“What?” Rainbow turned her head, her body turning with her in a circle as she tried to get a better look at her back. “Wh- How? It’s…”

“Crossed!” Applejack stared open mouthed, Rainbow doing the same.

“No way! My feathers... No wonder it stung worse than a hornet bite!” Rainbow leaned her head to check the other wing. “Is it just that one?”

The other wing was fine, but right after they inspected Rainbow’s other side, she felt a sudden jolt through her back and neck. Looking around at the deformed wing, she shook her head, her mouth much more open now. “What the…”

“What? What now?” Applejack asked quickly, circling around her.

“Look!” Her wings opened wide, perfectly fine without a single feather out of place. They even seemed preened, too.

“Ah… Now, Dash, y’know I’m not crazy. You saw that voodoo, too.” Applejack lifted a doubting hoof and pointed it at her friend’s wings. “Yer feather was pretty much mushed up with its partner. Either we need glasses; and I know I don’t, or you and me were just-”

“What?” Rainbow asked, her eyelids lowered and a brow raised. “Chopped up and then mutated back to normal? I still can’t make out your hat! And it’s right next to me.”

“My hat’s next to…” Applejack looked down and finally caught up with what Rainbow was saying. “Oh… you got a point there. Maybe our eyes weren’t doing too well. Uh, the sun musta been playin’ tricks on us!”

Rainbow smiled brightly. “That’s what I’m saying! Now, let’s stop wasting time, and get to work on that canopy!”

With a mighty flap of her wings, she tore past branches and leaves, ignoring the startled cry she left behind. She briefly wondered why she felt so good. In fact, realizing that she felt great, as if she’d never been sick at all, she wondered even more how that was remotely possible.

Not a few minutes before, both she and Applejack were feeling worse than they ever had in their entire lives. Despite that, she dismissed the thought and flapped a few more times, slowing herself down to a hover. With a bead of sweat falling from her forehead, she looked around.

She saw green everywhere.

No sign of Zecora’s hut, or even the old castle. Just featureless green. Maybe Luna had sent them deeper into the forest than they thought possible? Her wings buzzed as she gained some more height, but the more she looked around, the more worried she became.

Green.

More green.

She didn’t know the Everfree by heart, but she’d flown in and above it often enough to get a good idea of its size. She knew the Everfree wasn’t this big. She flew higher and higher, her breaths coming in huge gasps now as she felt the air grow thinner and colder all around her frame.

She could even see the horizon curve.

And still, all she saw was green.

“This just can’t be the Everfree…”