Somewhere a clock tower struck the hour. The sound of two bells echoed through the streets. Not that any amount of noise would raise the fiery-haired pony curled up in bed. She had to be a deep sleeper not to be awoken by the busy ponies of Ponyville going about their days. What did wake her, as every day, was the sun. Her bedroom window, facing west, let in the afternoon rays to fall on her face.
Blinking, Applebloom rolled away from the sun and out of bed. Her hooves hit the floor heavily and she stood there for a moment trying to clear the fog from her brain. She wasn't really a morning person. Or maybe she was, but afternoon was her morning and she wasn't so good at those. She shuffled over to the blue dresser opposite her bed to have a look in the mirror set atop it.
The dresser, wardrobe, bed and night stand were still the same ones she'd had as a child. Maybe it was silly to remain so attached to worn old furniture, but that's just how she felt. When she moved away from Sweet Apple Acres to a small house in Ponyville, she'd needed to take something with her or it wouldn't have felt like home. She smiled at herself, remembering. She'd convinced herself that moving out was a necessary step to becoming an adult, but looking back she knew she could easily have lived the rest of her life there. Oh well, too late now. A cousin of hers had moved in to be closer to the man she would marry, and now the two of them occupied her old room. It was better this way. She didn't have time to help with apple-bucking and such anymore, so it was good to know there were extra hooves around to get the work done.
She looked herself over in the mirror. Being a blank flank was well in her past, but sometimes she paused for a moment to admire the crescent moon on a sheriff's star that adorned her muscular leg. She had grown into a strong earth pony, likely stronger than her sister (although she'd never test that). A quick look at her mane had her reminding herself to visit the barber soon. She kept it short so it wouldn't get in her eyes while she was working. She could always tie it back like her big sister did, but she'd had a close call once when her mane came loose and blinded her momentarily. There was little room for mistakes as one of Luna's Night Guard. The most dangerous monsters came out at night and it was her duty to keep ponies safe from them.
Satisfied that she looked presentable enough, she trotted into the kitchen for a quick breakfast before heading out.
Most ponies were still working as she wandered through town, but the streets were never empty in Ponyville. Everypony greeted her as she passed by, and she returned in kind. She wasn't always as popular. At first they hadn't really understood what it was that she was doing for them, since it was all so out-of-sight for the average pony. Things really turned around though when Pinkie decided to run an awareness campaign for Night Guards. She wanted everypony to know who kept them safe at night, and she threw herself into the task with typical Pinkie Pie enthusiasm.
Smiling and pausing to chat with the occasional pony, she made her way toward Carousel Boutique. Tapping on the door, she was answered with "is that you Applebloom darling? Please do come in!"
Stepping into the subtly perfumed air of the boutique, she smiled at it's perfectly coiffured owner. "Hey there Rarity. Been keepin' busy?"
"Oh of course, you know me. I'm glad you could come, I have a gift for you!"
"Ah'm guessin' that ah'm here then to have a dress fitted."
"Oh dear, am I that predictable? Well yes, my gift is indeed my latest creation."
"Ah am grateful Rarity, but me again? Ah can't be easy ta make dresses for." Applebloom was referring to her size. She'd grown quickly through her teens, and was now eye-to-eye with her big brother. She was almost as heavy as him too, but there was at least a little femininity to her shape. She tried not to think about it too much though.
"Nonsense, darling! I relish the chance to make dresses for you. I swear, every mare in Ponyville is the exact same shape. It's a pleasure to do something different."
Applebloom knew Rarity was being genuine when she said this. She was her friend. Also she was a terrible liar. So she took up a familiar position on the platform while Rarity whirled around her. A half-finished dress was placed on her, fabrics and gemstones were placed and removed. She chattered away as she worked, but Applebloom tuned her out. She was only talking to herself anyway.
After a time, Rarity removed everything from her guest. "There, all done! I'll have this all finished soon. Quite in time for the Heart and Hooves Day Singles Mixer, I'd say" she commented with a sly look over her shoulder at Applebloom.
The tall pony flushed at the thought. "Ah never said ah'm goin' to that!"
"But you simply must! Pinkie throws the best parties as you well know, and with this dress I'm sure you'll catch the eye of a handsome young stallion."
"Ah- ah'm not so sure of that."
"Well, at least think about it."
Applebloom agreed and made her exit. She wasn't going to think about it though. She had her friends, her family, her work. She didn't need anything more than that.
As for her family, dinner tonight was at Sweet Apple Acres. She went to dinner there several times a week, and they always had a place set for her. She may not live there anymore, but she was still family. Warm greetings and hugs were exchanged, and it was almost like it was when she was young.
She helped Granny in the kitchen to finish cooking. Granny was a tough old gal, like a good Apple should be, but she was also the oldest pony in Ponyville. She needed a hand from time to time.
Conversation was mainly about the orchard. It was always that unless Applejack or herself had some exciting exploit to tell. But they both had an uneventful day, so Apples talked about apples. That was fine. She enjoyed just being an Apple for a couple hours.
Waving goodbye to her family, she headed to a small building between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. It was a barracks of a sort, constructed to house a small contingent of Luna's Night Guard. A dozen soldiers lived there, having volunteered to serve under her command. She was still not quite comfortable with the idea of being in command of a unit, but Luna insisted she was ready.
She stopped for a moment to inspect the chariot outside. She nodded her approval at how well-maintained it was. When patrolling the skies, she had to ride. Unlike most of her troops, she was no pegasus.
Entering the barracks, she found the men preparing themselves for sunset. They completed their final inspection of their armour and were strapping it on. They stopped to salute, and Applebloom saluted them in return. She retrieved her own armour, which was lighter than theirs, mainly leather. She preferred mobility. The most metal she wore was on her hooves, both for protection and to add weight to her kicks.
The destructive force of those kicks was well-known to many monsters within the Everfree Forest. The smarter ones stayed well clear of Ponyville. The stupid ones ended up in a cage, having their broken bones tended to by Fluttershy. When they were well they were relocated far from civilization.
Applebloom kept a close eye on the forest as they passed over it. The canopy was thick, but she had practice at spotting the momentary flash of colour that indicated some creature lurking down there. To her right was the only other non-pegasus in her squadron, a silvery unicorn by the name of Mercury Sky. He was a capable fighter, but his most important role was as messenger. If Luna spotted something through her telescope that she thought Applebloom could reach faster than she could, she would send him a message by magic. Since they had received no message, they were doing a once-over of the forest. Nine times out of ten any local trouble could be traced back to this place.
"All quiet on my side, ma'am. That Chimera you bucked the other day howled loud enough to drive everything else into hiding" Mercury noted with a hint of pride in his voice.
Applebloom smiled as she watched the landscape pass by below them. "All quiet here."
The forest offered them no trouble that night.
Returning home from patrol, Applebloom had a quick bath and climbed into bed. She curled up under the covers and got nice and comfortable. It was time for her other duty, the one she shared only with Luna. Breathing slowly and deeply, she willed her body into a state where sleep came rapidly.
She opened her eyes and looked up. Above her the leaves of a pear tree rustled gently. She'd never seen an actual pear tree, just an illustration in a book. It was because of this she'd chosen it as her trigger image when lucid dreaming. It was the signal her subconscious gave her that she was dreaming. She'd practised with Luna until the pear tree was the first thing she saw every time she fell asleep. She never dreamt anymore without being aware she was dreaming. Standing, she began trotting forward. She hardly noticed what was in her dream, it wasn't important since she was leaving immediately. She neared the border of her dream and reached out with her thoughts. Pulling another dream close to hers as Luna had taught her, she passed through into another pony's mind.
Hopping from one pony's mind to another, Applebloom reached out with the senses she only had her in the dreamscape. She felt Luna pass nearby from time to time, but they were on the hunt for Nightmares so they didn't try to meet. The Nightmare energy that had transformed Luna into Nightmare Moon was still here in the dreamscape, existing as fragments that preyed on ponies' fears. Luna and Applebloom hunted them down and destroyed them, but they were either never truly destroyed or more were created somewhere. Either way, they had both noticed a slow increase in their numbers in recent years. Not more than they could handle, but they had discussed how they could find other ponies with Applebloom's talent so as to train them.
The last two nights had been particularly successful in destroying Nightmares, and Applebloom could already tell this would be a night free of the creatures. After she searched for what she considered enough time, she began instead looking for dreaming foals. This was what made her duty something she truly loved doing, using dreams to make ponies happy. Her favourite pastime was to find a young foal's dream and fill it with whatever wonders her imagination inspired. She especially loved to do this for foals who had no cutie mark yet, as they usually awoke bursting with enthusiasm to try new things. She had the Cutie Mark Crusaders to inspire her not to give up, but not everypony was as lucky as she had been.
She felt a filly's dream radiating loneliness and honed in on it. Slipping into her mind, she found her and introduced herself. She created a garden of fantastical plants for them to wander through, colours and shapes that may never be found in the waking world. It didn't take long for the filly to start sharing her problems with Applebloom, and she listened to everything she had to say. Applebloom didn't give as good advice as Luna, but sometimes just listening was enough. After a time, she felt morning approaching. The filly would be waking up, so she said goodbye and travelled dream to dream back to her own sleeping body.
Satisfied with a job well done, she let herself go into a deeper sleep, where she would not dream. Being outside her own body wasn't restful, so she'd need to have some proper deep sleep. She rested easy, as today had been a good day, and she'd wake again when the afternoon sun shone on her face.
