Moonshine and Cider

Chapters

Preparation for the Event.
Forest Maze
In The Darkness of the Castle

Preparation for the Event.

If you were to ask around Poniville and inquire about its inhabitants you'll see that the whole town was a brewing pot of really strange and curious types of ponies, ranging from the ones who loved sports and physical activities just for the sake of it, the type to study and ponder about the world at large and the ones that focused on the small things like work and friends, but all in all it was still a small town right under Canterlot Mountain where not a lot of things happened on a daily basis.

One of the most notable names around this little town was the Apple Family, their bloodroots traced all the way back to the foundation of the town itself, and its branches reached to all the known places of Equus, the name was a well-known one, not "famous" like the heroes of novels or famous actors and models, but it carried a certain reputation with it that all of the family members were proud to honor in their actions and words.

Dependable, diligent, genuine, selfless... Honest

One word a certain family member, Applejack, was more than happy to carry with her everywhere she went.

However, one word she didn't related to herself would be "thinker" and she truly wasn't the type, sure, she wasn't an ignorant of the world around her like so many other ponies liked to think thanks to her status as a farm pony, she knew her numbers thanks to the matriarch of the family, her granny made sure to teach all her kin how to run a farm in top notch condition, after all she was gonna own the place someday. She also knew how to give advice and directions to others, and her dependable nature had helped others find their own way around their problems, but the occasional advice here and there was one thing and an entire different one was to stop in the middle of the day to let her mind be marveled by the imaginary concepts of existence and the meanings of life, things like philosophy was more BigMac's topic of interest, only Celestia knew where all that junk had found its way into her brother's head of how he had the time in a single day to ponder on said junk.

The only time she had to let her mind focus out of work and let lose to have a moment of deep introspection was at the very end of the day when the sunset bathed the apple fields in that beautiful lights of orange slowly giving way to the pinks and purples of the night sky, when the day broke she would find a nice spot of grass beneath one of her trees and she would sit and watch the sky get darker, allowing herself a deep breath to let her muscles relax and the stress of the whole day just melt away un the silver light, the soft caress of the grass and the smell of apples and recently plowed dirt, the daily reminder of her hard work flying away with the breeze, the stars, one by one, twinkling in the sky, almost as it they stepped forward to announce the presence of the moon , making way for the silver mirror to illuminate the world in its gentle night that painted the whole orchards in a soft blue.

Looking at the moon as it were a mirror she reflected on her own life, it was like a small treat for her, dreaming while awake about what the next day of work would bring, her mind slowly wandering towards her family, her friends and all the other ponies she knew in town, her relationship with Poniville itself, it was a very good life, she was thankful to be here, her true home.

As she looked up to the starry night drawing pictures with them, for she had never bothered to learn the actual names of the constellations, she slowly noticed how the clouds obscured her vision of the night sky, following their wind directed trail her gaze fell upon the Everfree forest, the clouds had been gathering there a lot lately, she simply dismissed the thought, this wasn't the time to worry, this was her time to go back home and catch some sleep, and besides, that accursed forest didn't seemed that intimidating bathed on the silvery light of the moon, and it being very far away from her, that was another good thing of the night, many of her worries and fears seemed to simply vanish and go away, that was another reason why she liked moments like this, why she had always loved the night.

*~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~*

Things had started just fine the day of the Sumer Sun celebration, the house was in its perpetual state of activity, only much more active than usual for they had received a letter a week prior, directly from Canterlot of all places, informing them that, not only Poniville had been selected by Celestia herself to be the host of the event, but also the apple family had the honor of preparing the feast!

Poor Granny Smith almost fainted on the spot after hearing the news, and even BigMac began celebrating alongside Applebloom after Applejack had informed her what the news brought in today.

Of course, this being a massive event, she began preparing everything necessary the moment she finished reading the letter, that is, all the things that had to do with the feast, the mayor had informed her of the names and tasks of the other ponies involved, but besides a friendly hoofshake here and there, no more words were spoken, her work was her work and unless asked she didn't like to poke her nose in other pony's business.

Though she made a mental note to keep an eye on that yellow Pegasus, poor thing almost had a heart attack after they ran into each other on the outskirts of the town, good thing Winona was with her to ease her nerves and make a good conversation starter.

'We have been practically neighbors for the last 15 years and we haven't exchanged a single word until now...' She thought as she went through the town to check on a few things she might need for the kitchens.

Back on the topic, she had sent the last letters to her extended family after the letter form Canterlot arrived and that morning the homestead had received the first guests, from all Equestria more and more Apples had come for this event, even more than what she remembered from the last family reunion!

Seeing a new face was always a pleasure for her, even more when those new faces were already family.

Things had been going great from that point onwards, she decided to take a break to fetch some things and check upon the rest of the ponies in charge of the event, the sky was still a bit cloudy, but she knew Dash was a better worker when under pressure, so she continued her way towards the City Hall.

Entering the somewhat big building she was left in awe at the colorful spectacle before her very eyes, she was as much of an Interior Designer as she was a Thinker, but even she was amazed by the work the White Unicorn had put into it, the Main Room adorned with fine silks and banners, fresh flowers hanging from the ceiling, allowing a neat web of vines to wrap around the columns, bringing the beauty of nature inside and mixing it with the more sober and serious architecture, giving everything a home like feeling to it.

it was worthy of Royalty? if Rarity said so, then yes.

Speaking of her, she knew the look in her eyes, she was "in the zone" as many artists would put it, so she excused herself quietly as to not interrupt such an important moment and decided to stop by the bakery to buy a few essentials.

Clouds still in the sky, no worries, Dash was just waiting for the right moment.

The ever-Energetic Pinkie Pie had congratulated her for what felt like the millionth time this week, gave her a free muffin as always and wished her luck after packing her baking ingredients, she was happy the Pink Pony didn’t feel left out, she had offered her help with the baking, but Applejack turned her down.

'I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but we have enough Apples to take care of everything' she assured the party pony the day after the letter arrived.

Sky still filled with clouds, now it was starting to become worrisome.

She didn’t want to risk scaring the Yellow Pegasus again, so she avoided going too close to her cottage, but maybe she could have time to talk with her once more before her choir sang in the celebration itself.

Clouds, Sky, Rainbow Dash!

She was about to call out for her wherever she had been hiding into, Applejack wasn't the type to worry too much about organization, perfect times and poking noses into another pony work, but she knew it was about this time of the day that some pony from Canterlot would arrive to give a last inspection and...

That specific train of thought had been derailed as she saw, amongst the clouds, the distinctive shape of a carriage, its golden silhouette glistening in the sunlight the same way the armor of the pegasi carrying it.

She gasped, no time to find Rainbow, no time to worry about that, she had to focus on her Own work, now!

Rushing back towards the farm she arrived in record time, upon seeing her entering at top speed some of her cousins asked what was going on, but before she could say a single word a rushing wind passed overhead, clashing from one cloud to the next, making them all disappear with a hollow sound, finally clashing with one directly on top of Applejack herself, disappearing on the direction of the central plaza, leaving a faint rainbow trail behind and almost knocking her hat away from her head. Everything happened so fast she had no time to process what has just happened.

Now a few dozens of eyes were focused on her, all of them with varying degrees of surprise and worry.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and fix her mane, that was now a little frazzled by the sudden rainbow trail, she announced the arrival of the overseer from Canterlot.

Not a single word was exchanged after that, for all the apple family started to put their all in their respective task, the hours were counted and they all needed to finish this by yesterday.

Applejack didn't know the route the Overseer would take, but it was likely that they would leave the farm for the last visit, it was the furthest place from their arrival and it would likely give her ample time to prepare.

The thing with food is that most of it is perishable or it needs to be eaten a short time after being prepared, this meant that all the food needed to be ready for tomorrow night and still be fresh, it was a race against the clock, that’s why so many Apples were needed, more workforce meant less work for all the individuals and that resulted in each dish being prepared in the least amount of time possible while still having the famous Family Touch!

...

If any pony was to enter the household while the inhabitants prepared the food they would discover one of nature's most complicated rituals: Form one room to the next almost all the furniture had been moved away, leaving only chairs and tables covered in flour, dough, sugar and other ingredients to make pastries, each pony working by hoof, kneading, filling and placing the prepared confectionary on trays to be sent to the kitchen ovens, slowly the rhythm was forming, like the perfect momentum of a clockwork machine, ponies worked at a steady pace, once they had done a certain number of pastries another would take its place to avoid fatigue and overwork, the ones resting being served glasses of cold juice by the younger ponies, not ready for all the effort it takes to work at the tables, all of this repeating, weaving and circulating until it became second nature to the entire household, forming a perfect machine of production.

All of this is exactly what the overseer shouldn't nor want to see.

...

Out in the orchard Applejack was telling herself over and over not to worry about the whole situation as she bucked the apples near the entrance of the orchard.

She had been assigned to collect fresh apples that later will be carried by Mac to the main kitchen, she was the only one in this specific part of the farm not only because she was capable enough to harvest this section without trouble, but also to keep watch to the entrance of the Overseer.

The "ritual" of preparing food for a feast wasn't private nor sacred by any means, it was a joyful moment and it wasn't something entirely reserved only for members of the family, but she knew the pony from Canterlot wouldn't be interested in participating or supervising anything beyond the quality of the food, so the plan was simple, meet them here, then call the family outside and make sure they leave this place with the stomach full knowing fully well why the Apples had a reputation as the best chefs around Equestria.

Wiping away the sweat from her brow she went one more time over the finer details of the plan, and allowing herself a few seconds to catch her breath as she started to contemplate why she came up with this plan on the first place.

'It’s like a play, everything has to be perfect for the ones watching it, while we work behind the curtains to keep it that way'

Applejack never liked participating in the school plays during her blank flank days, it felt like chores to some degree, having to be the picture-perfect pony in front of others, it felt too much like being back in Manehattan, but fortunately she discovered she quite liked working on the stage direction and behind the scenes.

Cutting and painting the wooden prompts, pulling the ropes to make the backstage picture move or to bring down the blanket for a change of scene, it was fun, and she didn't need to face the public at all, it was a win, win!

As she assured that sentiment wasn't stage fright, not at all, she heard the quiet taps of hooves over grass, was Mac already coming to pick up this batch? she stood up, back to her hooves and fumbled with her hat a second, it was obscuring her vision

"Here, they told me to give this to you"

Oh, it must be one of her cousins with a glass of cold juice, perfect!

As she removed her hat from her eyes, slowly adjusting back to the light of the blazing sun she extended her hoof and accepted the cold beverage from the kind Grey Pegasus

'...Wait, what?'

"DERPY?! What are you doing here?" Applejack asked, clearly surprised, but not enough to drop the glass, it was blasphemy to waste food in this farm after all.

For her part the Blonde Mare looked form one side and then to the other, as if checking if other ponies were listening and then inched closed to Applejack

"I don’t know! I went to the house because I had a letter for you, but then some pony shoved this tray onto me and told me to give juice to all the ponies working in the orchard, I have been looking for you for the last hour and a half!"

She answered in a worried and hushed tone, like wanting to scream but having to whisper or else others would hear.

When Applejack was about to apologize for the trouble, another thing captured her attention at the worst moment possible, or rather two things.

One, there was a Red Pony coming her way, BigMac, ready to pick up the apples she hadn’t finished harvesting

and two, a pair of voices she didn't recognized were coming closer and closer, the wind carrying them, not enough to make out what they were saying, but the right amount to tell it wasn't anyone she knew.

Without much options she started to rush poor Derpy towards BigMac while rambling a little

"Ah'm mighty sorry Derpy, but Ah have to receive some pony right 'bout now, so if ya would be so kindly as to follow Mac back to the house!"

"B-But what about the letter? it says its urgent!" Derpy protested as she was being pushed

"Right, give it to Apple Fritter, she'll keep it safe while Ah' talk with the Overseer, MAC!" she shouted towards her big brother, who understood immediately, trotting quickly towards the baskets and picking them up effortlessly, placing them all in the cart and giving a nod towards Derpy to follow him.

"Wait, overseer? you forgot one basket... Who is Apple Fritter?!" she shouted one last time while being carried away with the baskets full of apples on top of the cart going back to where she came from.

"Hmph, he didn't forget it, Ah keep this one here so the Overseer would 'catch me working', it’s all to make a good first impression" she said, to no pony in particular because Derpy was out of earshot, she drank the rest of the juice quickly and waited for the first sign of a pony walking into the acres, she was prepared, getting every pony on board was the difficult part, but now all it was left was showing this pony the trademark Apple Charm! She had this in the bag.

Now, time to wait.

Author's Note

This was supposed to be a one shot
This was supposed to be a one shot
This was supposed to be a one shot!
(this took almost 10 revisiton before it was finished, oh my stars!)

Forest Maze

The forest loomed overhead, the gnarly and twisted branches of the trees, more akin to a snake nests' than actual nature seemed to point directly at her, her hooves, her eyes, her throat, her heart.

How things can take a turn for the worst so fast was... kind of amazing, really.

After receiving the Overseer from Canterlot, Applejack realized that overseer was, maybe, too strong of a word.

Poor filly looked fresh from a panic attack and ready to have another, and while Fluttershy was, well... Shy, she could at least maintain a conversation with her animals and open up little by little, the purple pony looked scared of the sole concept of meeting others and making friends! She was ready to pass out by the end of the presentation of the whole family.

Of course, having an enormous extended family meant that Applejack wasn't a stranger when it came to shy ponies, despite their famous hospitality and outgoing nature the Apple family had their fair share of introverts, so she already knew what to do.

Up until that point everything was going smoothly, she tried not to bother Twilight with many questions, mostly focusing their conversation with the preparation of the feast, something Twilight really appreciated, since she was more than eager to talk about it while sampling the food, Applebloom was helping in her own way, making conversation with the young dragon, none of the Apples had ever seen a real dragon, so it was becoming a show of its own, driving attention away from the unicorn.

Little by little, Twilight went from the main topic to her time so far on Poniville, opening up a little about how was her day before arriving in the acres and, by Celestia, Applejack could relate.

It was a funny story really, after that rainbow guided her back to the farm, apparently a new pony had moved in, they met in a party, organized by Pinkie Pie of course, another new arrival, and Applejack bumped with the white unicorn, quite literally after Dash dared her to do a trick with her rope.

While she, as ponies often do, didn't appreciated having another pony almost trample over her, her demeanor quickly changed after giving a good look at the Orange mare, rushing presentations, and giving her little to no time to present herself, Rarity went over how pretty she was and magically teleporting a sketchbook from nowhere, going over designs, colors, types of fabrics and accessories, all the while Applejack was desperately trying to get her attention or make her scape from the fashion enthusiast.

Both failing horribly when the unicorn picked up Applejack with her magic and dragged her outside the party towards what would now be the location of Carrousel Boutique, it took more than sweat and tears to scape and since then they barely crossed words.

By the end of the story Twilight was actually chuckling a little, and to Applejack that was a victory.

After everything was set and done, she sent Twilight towards the cottage near the Forest, with a word of seeing each other again at the festival and a warning to not scare the shy Pegasus.

Now, that was when things truly went straight to Tartarus, for her worst nightmare had come to pass.

To be honest, that was only half the truth, she has never dreamed of the return of a Mad Demigoddess who happened to rule over the moon and had a vengeance against the Princess, but she knew the consequences of not having a sun above their heads and helping the plants grow, most of the sources of food would be gone in a matter of months without any hope of replanting them, her farm would go down with everything else, she had to do something.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one with that idea, nor the only one without a plan, Rainbow Dash almost dived hearts first trying to pick up a fight against the Nightmare Moon, that is if Applejack hadn't stopped her from what was certain death.

Who seemed to have an actual plan was Twilight herself, at first it was suspicious that she knew so much about the Alicorn and how she recognized her instantly, but by the way she crumbled under the hard gaze of the Queen it was obvious to see she wasn't on her side.

Of course, Applejack was scared of the Mare from the Moon too, but she still rushed to put herself between Twilight and Nightmare, of course the Moon Goddess saw right through her and chuckled, mocking her cheap attempt at heroism before turning into starry mist and disappearing through the window, leaving everyone stunned and frozen on the spot.

Nobody moved for a while, until something shifted behind her, Twilight quickly recovered, pushing herself upright once more, she murmured something to no pony in particular and rushed towards the main entrance of the hall, pushing the wide gates open with her magic and running in the direction of the library.

Of course, Rainbow jumped to conclusions before asking questions and was ready to play bad guard with Twilight, Applejack arrived just in time with the rest of the group to stop her.

Explanation where in order and with the knowledge necessary they entered the Everfree, ready to stop the Mad Queen and bring back the Sun.

The Forest was just as expected, but even more eerie somehow.

The furthest Applejack has ever gone was just a few meters once she accidentally threw a toy ball too hard and had to look for Winnona before she harmed herself inside the woods, and she bolted with tears in her eyes a few minutes later, fortunately Winnona was unharmed and unaware of the possible danger, that had happened when she was only a little filly, no older than Applebloom, but reliving that experience sent shivers down her spine still.

The unnerving feeling was made worse every time her gaze dared to go upwards into the sky, she saw the moon full and bigger than ever, but despite the natural beauty of a dark sky that she adored so much, this felt... unnatural, like the Moon itself had become an eye.

One giant eye focused on her friends and her, and every drop of water in the pastures, leaves, rocks and flowers was a mirror, rendering hiding futile, giving the Queen a full view of her quarry with ample opportunity to strike without resistance.

Her hat was low on her brow, trying in vain to make her stop gazing towards the moon, but each step was getting heavier and her breath was shallower, all the eyes felt like needles just barely brushing her coat, one wrong movement was enough to pierce her pelt, it felt like Nightmare Moon was right in front of her, judging the movements and bringing a sharp wing closer and closer to her neck, she tried to swallow the lump on her throat, but it only served to make her feel like choking.

A sharp intake of breath was drawn once she felt something colliding with her, breaking that downwards spiral of dread and her trance of the invisible Moon's Eyes, Rainbow had just pushed her?!

"Hey, don't need to get nervous, you girls have ME helping!" she said as she made her trot towards the front of the group where Twilight and Rarity illuminated the way using their horns.

Applejack snorted loudly, was she making fun of her or what? she resumed her trot behind the group, her fear now forgotten and replaced by the beginning of anger, she knew RD was a bit cocky and overconfident, but that was just plain rude, if looks could... set manes on fire, Rainbow would look like Spitfire now.

"D-don't get mad at Rainbow, she may come off as brash at times, but I’m sure she means well" Fluttershy spoke walking closer to her, her voice, normally barely above a whisper sounded clear in the eerie quiet atmosphere of the forest.

Despite her previous, almost up burst, she couldn't be mad at the gentle look of Fluttershy, so she took a deep breath and released a long sigh

"Mighty sorry 'Shy, don't know what came over me" now she was reflecting on her fear, where had that come from? her mind was starting to form theories about an effect the moon might now have thanks to the mad alicorn influence, maybe being under the moonlight caused a sort of paranoia.

"Don't worry, we all are scared, and we might be facing against something truly scary and dangerous... b-but we are all together, so there is nothing to worry about!"

Despite the dark dip in the middle her enthusiasm was contagious, and she was right, helping each other was key, no need to start malcontent between them all.

With renewed vigor Applejack was smiling despite the situation, this was possible, she didn't know why or how, but they will save the day, quite literally.

In The Darkness of the Castle

Applejack slowly opened her eyes, what had just happened?

She felt numb, weak, all the energy in her body was gone, this wasn't like the soreness of the afterwork, she felt like every ounce of strength had been taken away, vanished instantly without any trace left, even the pale moonlight burned her eyes and forced her to close them.

...The moonlight!

The cold bite of the castle floor against her belly awakened her when she finally registered sensations again.

Staggering, she rose from the floor on wobbly legs, her head throbbing and still unable to open her eyes, a searing sensation in her muscles slowly vanished only to left a dull ache behind.

After making sure she was still in one piece she looked for her friends, the last few hours slowly coming back to her:

Every step they took revealed more and more dangers within the forest, creatures born from dark magic and illusions of terror, each one more challenging than the last, not even the ground beneath their hooves was safe, the plants, the trees, the forest itself was a predator ready to pounce, but despite it all they managed to get by, each challenge only bringing them closer.

Saving Twilight from that cliff was a nerve-wracking event for sure, and the lavender unicorn putting so much trust in Applejack felt nice, but all the confidence form beating the forest vanished when they finally found The Castle of the Two Sisters and the Alicorn who had reclaimed it.

First came the shock of Twilight disappearing out of nowhere when Applejack had suggested giving her space to work, then came the cry of Twilight as Nightmare turned the elements to dust in front of her, and finally when that same hopeless pony recovered in record time to talk about friendship and the true elements of harmony.

Applejack was skeptical at first, all of it sounding like a solution one would see on a foal’s book, but when the stone actually started to shine and float, she had to suppress a gasp of surprise followed by a little laugh.

The way Nightmare's face went from cocky to scared was priceless, and the expression of pure terror would be forever burned in her memory...

"Are ya'll okay?" called Applejack while cracking open an eye, first silence was the only answer the castle dignified itself to give, later followed by groans and confirmations, even a 'did we win?' came from Rainbow, checking her wings first for any sort of damage.

Before Applejack answered she scanned the room carefully, not wanting to invite misfortune by running her mouth too quickly, the room was just like they had seen it last, dark stone perfectly cut and more or less well maintained taking in account the castle was on Everfree grounds, no sane pony would dare to build in this accursed soil, well, almost no pony.

She looked carefully one more time and then another, tension growing with each look, where in tarnation was Nightmare Moon? she didn't know a lot about how the elements worked, but they certainly did not vanish her back to the moon, right?

One look towards a faraway window in an adjacent room confirmed this, the silhouette of the Mare was no longer on the full face of the moon, Applejack thought ironic how it made it feel... empty, like something was out of place now.

Her thoughts went to a halt when she heard something, a distinctive murmur in the distance, her ears moving from one place to the other, trying to pinpoint what the sound was and where it was coming from, then came a little louder, and she recognized the sound just fine, a quiet sob.

Looking towards her friends she saw them still on the ground, all of them seemed fine and with no signs of crying, Rarity, still with her back on the cold stone ground, had a pocket mirror on one hoof and running the other through her mane, Applejack snorted through her nose humorlessly and went back to the pressing issue.

Her gaze landed once more on the moon, and she had to suppress a gasp from escaping her lips as she saw the silhouette back on the snow-white disc, she stepped closer to give herself a better angle, the shadow moved, but the moon didn’t, was there another pony around here? then she saw the shadow shaking and her ears were filled with the sound of sobs once more.

Not losing a moment she silently looked back at her friends, confirming they were alright and trotted towards that dimly lit room, ready to find out who that pony was.

"Applejack? what are you doing?"

came the voice of Twilight from behind, she took a look and saw the purple mare getting to her hooves, shaking, but she was still too weak, she collapsed on one side and Rainbow was quick enough to catch her and stop her fall, still, Applejack whispered at them to stay here without further explanation, climbing a set of stairs and entering the place where the crying mare was.

It was a sight to behold really, right in front of Applejack was a tall mare, even when her barrel was directly touching the stone floor she was almost at eye level with her, it was safe to assume that standing she would tower even over BigMac, Applejack tried to take in the situation while looking at her, a deep blue coat similar to the color of the sky in the early hours of the morning, right before the sun is out and a light blue mane that flowed freely to the side of her head, obscuring one of her eyes.

The one eye free of hair slowly opened locking sights with Applejack’s, it was of a gentle teal color, and running from the corner was a trail of dark tears, like running mascara, it almost looked like the dark sky and its starry clouds where being washed away by the water running from her eyes.

Minutes must have passed by now, or maybe just really long seconds, but Applejack finally found her voice once more, recovering from being lost in that sad gaze of hers, she chose her words carefully and pondered her steps with upmost care, not wanting to scare the mare, as if she was an injured rabbit.

"Ya’ll, okay?"

Apparently, that wasn't the correct option, she looked shocked for a second and after that her eyes started to water again.

Applejack was taken aback when the blue mare pounced on her, wrapping her around the neck and burying her face on Applejack's chest, at first it was difficult to make out any sound out of the poor thing, almost everything that managed to break through the sobs and wails was nothing more than sad gibberish, hiccups and murmurs hidden between orange hair, but as she recovered the words became clearer and clearer, they were nothing more than a quiet hush, but in the silent rooms of cold stone of the old castle they still managed to resound and echo in the walls, finally it was clear, being repeated over and over, almost like a mantra, a silent prayer, nor entirely directed at Applejack, but still heard by her.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."

None of the situation made sense to her, but she shoved everything aside to try and comfort the crying mare currently nested in her chest until her cries and words where now silence, the only sound being their quiet breathing and the unseen life of the Everfree outside the walls of the castle, Applejack wanted to ask so many questions and inquire about the crying mare, but she didn't dare to break the silence, fearing it may lead to more crying or worse, the mare trying to escape, it wasn't wise to corner a frightened pony and judging by the long string of apologies she knew the blue mare was feeling guilty about something.

Instead, Applejack continued to hold her, running one hoof on her mane like Granny Smith used to when a thunderstorm didn't allow her to sleep.

The silence was broke by the sound of metal clad hoofs making their way towards the room where Applejack was currently in, of course this made her nervous, none of her friends used the kind of horseshoe to make that noise, and she feared Nightmare Moon was back for revenge, it didn't made sense, they had just defeated her, but fear rarely was founded on rational thought, the mare with a blue coat shivered once more and hugged her tighter, her breathing once more in panic, no matter what came through that door she was ready to fight and protect herself and the blue mare of everything.

Once more her expectations were shattered by reality, she was ready to see everything but this, Princess Celestia was standing before her, and instead of the easy smile that many ponies adored and often talked about was replaced by a neutral expression with serious eyes, even if said blue eyes weren't focused on her, she still felt the weight of her presence loom over herself, she couldn’t talk, she couldn't look away from the glistening presence of the princess, she couldn't even breathe until the voice of the princess shattered the silence and forced her to gasp.

"It has been a really long time since I last saw you, sister"

Applejack flinched at the coldness of the words and once more found herself unable to untangle the knot that had formed on her throat, she looked down at the mare between her arms and she stared back, her eyes wide open with fresh tears running freely at the sides, her mouth contorted into a painful expression with her teeth almost grinding against one another as she tried not to let her cries come out again, but it all changed from sadness to resignated determination, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clamping her mouth shut and releasing herself from Applejack's embrace, as expected the Blue mare, Celestia's Sister, was much more taller than her, but not as much as the Solar Princess.

The little princess stood in front of her sister, defiant, not wanting to run away anymore and ready to accept any punishment her sister deemed necessary for her crimes as the host of the Night Mare, she kept her eyes closed tight, even in her last stand she dared not to see the face of her only family plagued by the disappointment of her actions or the pain of having to punish her once more, she didn't had time to react when the solar princess hugged her and began to cry.

Most of the conversation went unheard by the apple farmer, only able to decipher some words here and there, but Celestia was happy to have her sister back, and was already planning on how to break the news to the whole royal court and the Queendom, the conversation was mainly being controlled by Celestia as Luna was too stunned to speak, but as soon as Celestia mentioned going back immediately to the new castle to present her to all the nobles she recoiled in fear, unnoticed by the princess she looked back towards Applejack pleading for help silently.

Of course, the farmer stood and did the first thing that came to her mind

"Excuse me, ma'a- Princess"

Applejack interjected making the solar princess stop on her tracks and turn to see the new element of Honesty

"Oh, you must be one of new elements, I must thank you, as well as your friends, for saving my sister from that dreaded curse"

Applejack was thrown off by having the ruler of the land she worked on bowing before her, what was she supposed to do now?

"Come Luna, you have many ponies to meet and many things to catch up to, things have changed since the time we were crowned"

No time to think, the princess was about to leave!

"Will all due respect... y-your majesty- she tried again, Celestia gave her a questioning look- You see, today's the afterparty for the Sumer Sun celebration, and we had something prepared..."

......

The Farm of the apple family was once more in a ruckus despite being late into the night, all the lights were shining brightly on the barn and the main household, music permeated the air around the buildings and in the kitchen of the main house was the biggest surprise of the night

Big mas was entertaining every guest at the dinner table, despite his normal quiet attitude the red stallion was mesmerizing Applejack's new friends and the Princess herself with a grand story his father had told them two about his youth, everyone enrapted by the tale, not noticing the trouble brewing at the other end of the table where Applejack herself sat alongside the princess of the night.

Despite the tale, the laughs and gasps at the other side of the room the mood on Applejack's side was as dense as a carriage full of lead, after convincing the princess to go back to Poniville to conclude the celebration and move the party to the farm she didn't crossed any more words with Luna, at every opportunity that presented itself she couldn't think of what to say to break the ice and get to know the new ruler better, or how to calm her nerves about this new situation, most of the citizens of Poniville focused more on their "new heroes" and the Solar Princess to pay any attention to the tall, blue mare alongside them, something Luna was grateful for, when the party ended and they made their way to the farm Twilight lead the conversation with the Princess about what a new ruler would meant for Equestria, Luna and Applejack were at the very back of the group, still in that uncomfortable silence, even now with BigMac taking all the attention to himself so she could have a peaceful moment with the Lunar Princess she didn't had anything to say.

She turned her gaze back towards Luna, she was looking at a window, one that lead to the orchard, following her gaze she saw her little sister and other 3 fillies she didn't knew playing with the dragon brother of Twilight, Spike, the sight brought a smile to her face, she looked back towards Luna, she had the faintest ghost of a smile on her face too.

"Ya know, ah' have never seen a dragon before" Commented Applejack in her first attempt since the castle to make casual conversation.

Luna's face went from almost neutral to full on panic for a hot second before reminding herself that Applejack had been accompanying her since the travel back to the farm, she took another second to process the fact that Applejack was addressing her and another to form and answer to the comment she had made.

"We... I have met some dragons before, the ambassadors from their Lord, though I can hardly see any correlation between the rowdy and prideful ones I met and the little brother of my sister's student"

Applejack then started to ask more question about what was life for Luna before the Moon thing and they quickly took a good pace in their conversation, leaving the table and finding a nice spot of grass beneath a tree close to the orchards, watching the remaining apple family members from afar.

Finally looking at the sky Applejack confessed not knowing any of the constellations seen in the brig sky, Luna took no offense and instead offered to tell her all about them, how she had designed the starry sky she always adored and the story behind every one of their particular patterns, of course Applejack accepted immediately.

Under the gentle gaze of the moon they sat, one wing protectively draped over an orange mare the Queen talked about the things she loved the most.

Author's Note

FINALLY!