Apples in the Moonlight: Crackshipping Applejack and Luna

Applejack sat up and groaned. She kneaded at her eyes with her hooves and angrily squinted at the window. “Stupid sun,” she grumbled, sliding out of bed. “Always so dang early.” She leaned over and glared out the window before pushing it open and sticking her head outside. “Decent ponies might want to sleep a bit longer, you ever think of that?” she shouted at the sun.

Of course, the sun didn’t respond to her question. Instead, it continued shining brightly. Nearby, a bird decided that the morning was too quiet, and began to chirp happily, which, of course, set off a chain reaction of other birds singing as well.

This did nothing to help Applejack’s attitude. Cursing the sun, birds, and Celestia’s name and hindquarters under her breath, she slammed the window shut and scratched absentmindedly at the back of her dominant hoof. It had been nearly two weeks since she’d scratched it, but it still ached and throbbed at strange times.

She stumbled over to the bathroom. As she made her way over, she accidentally stubbed a rear hoof against her desk. Scowling, she delivered a punishing kick, splintering the post and making her desk topple over and collapse, sending books sliding across the floor as one of the supports was crushed into sawdust.

Not even bothering to look back, she shuffled into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

Now, Applejack had lived in this house her whole life, and she knew how the taps worked. They were old, but still more or less functional. All it took was a gentle touch to get the water temperature just where you wanted it to be.

Today, though, it was as if the shower had specifically decided it wanted to annoy her. It was either too hot or too cold, and she couldn’t get it just right.

She ended this problem by punching the knob clean off and deciding showering was highly overrated. As water cascaded down, now uninhibited by the plumbing, she stepped out of the shower and shook herself animalistically, sending water droplets splattering all across the bathroom and all across the mirror. She then headed downstairs, ready to eat something to make up for her ridiculous morning.

“Good morning, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said brightly as she passed by her in the hallway.

“Ain't you right chipper this morning,” Applejack snapped as she trotted by, not deviating from her path and bumping Apple Bloom’s hindquarters out of the way.

That was enough to make Apple Bloom slow to a stop. “Applejack?” she questioned.

“That's my name, don't wear it out,” Applejack called as she trotted down the stairs.

Apple Bloom frowned. This wasn’t like her sister at all. “...Applejack?”

* * *

Breakfast at the Apple household was always delicious. Granny Smith never failed to deliver something good for breakfast, and today was no exception.

What was an exception was when Applejack didn't even wait for everypony to arrive before pulling a pancake over and digging in.

Granny Smith raised an eyebrow. “You forgettin’ somethin’ there, missy?” she asked.

Applejack looked down at her food. “Oh, right,” she said blithely, reaching for the apple butter and slopping a large spoonful across the pancake before dropping the serving spoon onto her plate and digging in messily again.

Granny Smith frowned. That hadn’t been what she’d been thinking of, and that most certainly wasn’t where the serving spoon went.

Macintosh very nearly waltzed in. A wide smile crossed his face, and he opened his mouth as if to say something important.

“Bout time you got here, ya fat lard,” Applejack grumbled.

Macintosh paused. Offended--or was it more hurt?--he scowled at Applejack and dropped to the table. Irritably, he took a pancake for himself.

Applejack didn’t seem to notice. She crammed the rest of her pancake into her mouth and without even an ‘excuse me’ she got up and trotted outside, leaving her plate behind.

Apple Bloom looked over at Granny Smith. “Is it just me, or has Applejack been in a right mood recently?”

Granny Smith rubbed her chin. “Now that you say that, she has been pretty ornery… I'll have a talk with her tonight.”

“Eeyup,” Macintosh added bitterly.

* * *

Applejack bucked the tree and all the apples fell into the waiting baskets below. Just like last time. And the time before.

So what made this so different?

She pressed a hoof against her temple. She was really crabby today and she had no idea why. Why was she so angry? What was with this headache? Why did the back of her hoof burn? What was…

Why…

Maybe she was just sick. Maybe she had just had bad dreams all night. She’d been having strange dreams; nothing worth bothering Luna over (probably because she couldn’t remember them exactly), but some very strange dreams. Maybe a little night- maybe a little sleep would help her feel back to normal. As it was, she was about as steady as… steady as a… a cornfield in a… no… an apple tree in… in winter? No…

She needed rest. That’s all it was. She'd feel right as snow after a nap.

Snow?

She shook her head and tried to walk back towards the farmhouse, but she stumbled and was unable to catch herself. She hit the ground hard. She tried to push herself up, but her forelegs gave out and she collapsed to the ground once more.

For a while she just lay there, content to rest a while here, and then-

Applejack let out a cry of pain as her body began convulsing. Her whole body shook and shivered and she couldn’t control it and then-

Then, she lay still. She lay there for a few minutes, completely ignorant of anything going on around her. A leaf drifted down and landed on her flank.

And then her eyes snapped open, revealing bright green eyes with slitted pupils…