Revenge is Family Business

It was almost one week since Big Mac went for his date with Princess Luna. Applejack hadn’t thought much about it when he didn’t return next morning. Maybe he had to keep a low profile to make it out of Canterlot or possibly his plan needed more time than they originally thought.

On the second day of his absence she grew more anxious by the hour. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith also started mentioning that they worried about him, he should have returned by now.

Finally, three days after his departure, the orange mare couldn’t bare it any longer and made her way to Twilight’s castle to ask her friend if she knew a spell that could help find Big Mac. And secretly she hoped to hear something that could help her determine if Mac’s attempt was a success or not.

When Applejack arrived at the castle two royal guards, with significantly heavier armor and more weapons than usual, stood in front of the gate. They eyed the newcomer suspiciously and with the obvious intention to either stop her or die trying.

One of the two stepped forward and pointed his lance at Applejacks chest. “Access to the castle is restricted.”

Applejack’s eyebrow raised, ever so slightly. “Princess Twilight and I are close friends, I don’t think I’m a security risk.”

The guard seemed unyielding in his decision. “We have strict orders from Princess Celestia, to let nopony inside. These orders furthermore got sanctioned and backed up by Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am deeply sorry Miss Applejack, but we cannot let you in. Despite the fact that we know exactly who you are.”

Obviously there was no point in arguing with these two, but at least they gave away a few hints Applejack had searched for. It was very likely that Celestia was deeply troubled by something to give such orders. And as far as the orange farm pony knew, this something was probably the death of her one and only sister. Which would mean that Big Mac had succeeded in his attempt to get rid of the night princess. Furthermore it was highly unlikely that they captured him, otherwise they surely would have arrested the other Apples already. As far as Applejack could tell at this point, her brother had succeeded in killing Luna and was now either on the run or hiding from authority.

She decided to stay at the castle and wait until she got permission to enter, then she would ask Twilight what was going on and maybe even got a few words from Celestia herself. With a little bit of luck, she might even get a chance to arrange the next blow against the sun princess.

It took a whole morning of waiting until the doors of the castle opened. Twilight peeked her head out and instantly recognized her friend, sitting under a tree not far away. “Applejack? What are you doing here? And why are you sitting outside?”

One of the guards cleared his throat. “Princess, we had very specific orders to not let anypony in. We informed Miss Applejack that there could be no exception to that order.”

The lavender princess grinned, blushed and nodded simultaneously. “Yeah, right … good job.” She focused on Applejack. “I’m sorry you had so sit outside, do you want to come in?”

Slowly the orange mare rose to her hooves and made her way over to her royal friend. “It’s no problem Twilight. I may not be around royal guards that often, but even I can see that these two aren’t here because it’s a nice day to be in Ponyville. Anything serious happened?”

Twilight cast down her eyes and scraped the floor with one hoof. “I can’t really talk about it here. Walk right in, then we can talk about everything.”

Applejack did as she was told and walked past the royal guards. After she was in, Twilight resumed with what she originally came for. “Princess Celestia is asleep for now. I need to handle a few things, so only disturb me if there is something really, really important. Anything and anypony else has to come back in a few days.”

The guards saluted in perfect unison before Twilight closed the door and heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry Applejack, but can we talk in the kitchen? I really need something sweet to calm my nerves.”

The farm pony nodded firmly. “It’s that nasty?”

A humorless smile creeped onto Twilight's muzzle before she started to walk towards the kitchen. “You have no idea...”

Both mares sat on their haunches over a piece of apple pie and hot chocolate. Applejack thought about directly asking what had happened, but in the end, she didn’t want to put more pressure on Twilight than strictly necessary. She was her friend after all and despite her resentments against Celestia, she didn’t want to hurt her friend more than she had to. In the end, the sun princess was almost like a mother to the lavender alicorn.

After Twilight had eaten almost half of her pie she looked her friend in the eyes. “Celestia is devastated. She arrived here yesterday evening, shortly after moonrise and almost cried for one hour straight. She didn’t even tell me what was wrong, she just jumped at me, hugged me and started crying.”

Being the embodiment of the element of honesty had one clear advantage, Applejack was perfect in reading other ponies expressions. And when somepony can read other ponies’ feelings like an open book, she learns to control her own expression sooner or later. Nopony could tell what was going on behind Applejack’s facade if she didn’t want them to know. Besides, nopony even suspected her to lie. And so, the orange farm pony managed to put on a sorrowful, almost hurt, look, all the while her heart was filled with mischievous joy.

After a few moments, Applejack took off her Stetson, put it on the table and sighed. “Is it okay if I ask why she was like this?”

Twilight simple nodded and took another sip of her chocolate. “Luna is gone.”

The pained expression on her friends face was too much to bear, Applejack looked at her hooves before she asked the obvious question. “I’m sorry Twilight. I know how it feels to lose a member of the family. Did she at least pass away without suffering?”

The lavender princess shook her head and a tear rolled down her cheek. “That’s it, we don’t know. To be accurate, we don’t even know if Luna is dead, although there is no other explanation.”

“Explanation for what?”

“As I said, she is gone. There is practically no trace of her since three days. She left the palace shortly after she rose the moon and was not seen afterwards. The strange thing is, we can’t locate her. Normally an entity as powerful as Luna would be very easy to track down.”

Applejack cocked her head. “So, you can track down the princesses?”

Twilight nodded. “Technically you can track down anypony. Every living being has a magical aura that is unique in strength and appearance, like a cutie mark. The more magic a creature has, the easier is it to track it down.”

“So, shouldn’t be any princess extremely easy to find then?”

“Yes, that’s exactly the point. A normal pony, regardless of her tribe or anything, would only be like a single match in a see others. But an alicorn, especially one as old as Celestia and Luna, would be like the sun itself in comparison. YOU SIMPLY COULD NOT OVERLOOK THEM.”

“But wouldn’t that light vanish if she’s dead?”

“Not instantly, it’s like the warmth of a body, it diminishes over time. If there was a body, even a small shred of her, we could find it. But there’s nothing, it’s like she never even existed in the first place. Celestia searched for one and a half days straight, after she remarked Luna’s absence. This morning we searched together and still found not even the slightest trace.”

“What do you plan to do next? Somebody has to take care of the moon, right?”

Twilight looked down at her hooves. “After she told me about everything, I tried to help her. But even with all my magic, I can’t guide the moon. For now, the princess has resumed control over sun and moon, although it’s quite taxing for her.”

“How’s that? She did it for a thousand years, while Nightmare Moon was banished.”

“Of course, but back then, it was also extremely exhausting for her. She told me it took her several years to get used to moving both, sun and moon. And in the end, magic is like a muscle. If you train it, it becomes stronger, if you stop using it, it weakens. After Luna’s return, Celestia committed the control of the moon back to her. She didn’t use the magic to control it since then and therefore it weakened. I think it will take her at least one year, maybe two, until she gets used to it again.”

“I’m terribly sorry Twilight. Can I help you two somehow?”

Twilight smiled warmly and wiped a few tears from her eyes. “Thanks Applejack, but for now, I think it’s best for Celestia not to be around that many ponies. I think I will need your help soon enough, when she is a little more emotionally stable. I will call for you and the others then.”

Applejack smiled and nodded. “I think we all will do what we can to help the princess.”

Twilight kept smiling. “Thank you. But before you go, what did you want from me?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“You waited outside the castle when I peeked out the door. You must have been there for a reason.”

Applejack shook her head and gave Twilight a warm hug. “Nothing important, I just wanted to ask you a few things regarding family business. But it can wait until we dealt with the princess’s problems.”

Twilight nuzzled her orange friend thankfully. “I promise, we will deal with everything after Princess Celestia is back on her hooves.”

Without another word, Applejack left the kitchen and the castle of friendship. She had to restrain herself from smiling over Celestias condition.

When she was back in ponyville, she allowed herself a few giggles. This was perfect, she didn’t know how Mac had done this, but he dealt a blow towards Celestia that was even more devastating than they could ever have imagined.

His own absence was most likely due to his feelings for Luna. The evening before he went on his date with her, she saw it in his eyes, he wanted to follow her. It was quite likely that he did exactly that. Strangely, Applejack had no problem with that, her brother was most likely dead and still, she felt only happiness because of Celestia’s pain.

With every second Applejack thought about the sun princess’s pain, she grew happier and happier. It felt good to know that she suffered. She deserved to suffer and if possible, she would let her suffer for all eternity. Yes, to her, Celestia’s pain felt good, very good indeed.