Chapter 10

That night, Princess Luna was far swifter to return.  She landed at the exact spot which they had decided upon two nights ago, a dead apple tree which stuck out like a sore hoof on the verdant and lush farmland.  Applejack was already standing there with a smile on her face when she landed.  As she had done and as she planned on doing, Applejack rushed forward and embraced Luna the second all four of her hooves touched the ground.  There was something different about this encounter though.  She heard sniffling and felt wetness land on her back; her smile changed to a concerned frown.  “What’s wrong?” Applejack asked as she backed away from Luna.

Finally, she saw it.  Either the second most or the most powerful creature in all of Equestria was crying.  Applejack had seen many things, but never did she think that she would see one of the Princesses actually cry.  But that wasn’t important now.  What was important was figuring out what was making the love of her life, the pony she honestly wanted to spend the rest of her life with cry.  “Sugarcube, tell me please, what’s wrong?”

Luna looked up, and Applejack was stunned at how beautiful her eyes looked with tears in them.  They looked more beautiful than anything she had seen.  In a broken and tearful voice, Luna replied, “I… I have been hiding this from you these past few days, but… but it has just occurred to me, I cannot have you, though I want you very badly.  A…Applejack, I want to see the end of days with you!”  Driven by sheer love, she lurched forward onto Applejack and hugged her tightly.

“W…what do you mean you can’t have me?” Applejack asked with a confused look on her face.  She didn’t understand what was wrong, and it made her feel so guilty!

Luna backed away from Applejack and began to explain.  “I am royalty.  The ponies of Equestria, my sister and our court, they would all frown upon me if I was discovered to be romantically engaged with you.  They might not even allow it.  I… I cannot be banished again,” Luna’s voiced pitched higher as the mere thought of banishment scared her, “They could frown upon and hurt you as well, I do not want, and I cannot allow that.  I cannot have you though I want you simply because I am royalty.”  Then, Applejack noticed a change in Luna’s voice.  She saw a flash in the pony’s eyes and watched as the land beneath her crumpled slightly.  Applejack backed away as Luna said through gritted teeth, “Yes… because I am royalty.  Because I AM ROYALTY!” this was the loudest she had ever shouted.  Then her horn brightly glowed, full of violent power, and ripped the tiara from her head, tossing it at a violent and great speed into the nearby tree.  So powerful in fact, that the magically crafted steel tiara went a quarter of the way through the solid wooden trunk.  Applejack was actually frightened at seeing Luna this way.  She knew that Luna would never do anything to hurt her, but the raw amount of power that she possessed was enough to shake even the hardiest of ponies.

But then Luna plopped down on the ground and sighed, her head hung.  She glanced up and watched as the crown magically and slowly disintegrated into a mystical vapor, not surprised to feel it materialize perfectly on her head.  She used her magic, now much more calm to remove the tiara from her head once more and then dropped it onto her hoof.  Staring blankly at it as she rolled it around and observing how not even a scratch or dent had formed on it, she said in a rather defeated tone, “I have flung this a great many times, you know?”  She glanced up at Applejack to see if she was listening; naturally, she was, and continued, “But no matter how hard or far I throw this accursed crown, it always comes back to me.  It just always comes back.”  She frowned, sighed once more and placed the tiara back in its rightful place.

Applejack felt pity for her.  Luna was such a sweet and innocent pony that tried very hard, but in her mind, she could never get things right.  It seemed to her that she was always the black sheep in the eyes of her subjects and in the eyes of the court that she shared with her sister.  Applejack thought that it was only fair and right for her to cry or fling her crown, she knew it had to be difficult.  She admired Luna’s determination though.  After all that had happened, and all that was happening, and all that was inevitably going to happen, Luna remained strong.  Applejack knew that she certainly wouldn’t have the guts or the will to do it.

She approached Luna and sat down in front of her, wrapping her forelegs around Luna tightly.  In a sincere voice she said, “I understand sugarcube.  Ya’ll do what you think is best.  I just wanted to let you know that you’ve shown me what nopony else could ever show me, and that’s love, true love.  It… it’s something I’ve always wanted but was never to brave to admit it.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you.  I love you Princess Luna,” she repeated.

Her words touched Luna, and still locked in embrace with her, she could feel the tears land on her head.  She backed up a little and watched as the most beautiful tear drop she had ever seen fall from Luna’s eyes.  Finally, she realized what made Luna’s tears look so beautiful.  They were mirrors, literal mirrors of liquid with little specks of white in them, mimicking the stars it seemed.  One could see themselves clear as day in those tears.

Though the moment was sad and heartbreaking for each of them, something about those tears that worked to make Applejack feel not so sad.  She watched them fall, one by one in front of her eyes and as each one passed her, observed those white specks in each drop.  Yes, those white specks did look like stars, like the specks in her mane too, like little miniature versions of the things which Luna presided over, the things she was the goddess of.  Yes, stars.  Applejack saw them every night, and as she looked up at them, she knew that if she couldn’t physically touch or even physically see Luna, she was still there with her.  Luna was the night!  You didn’t have to see her or touch her to love her, and that made their love all the more magical to her.

“But that is just it!” Luna exclaimed softly through her tears, “I do not wish to be royalty,  I… I wish to be with you!” she embraced Applejack tighter and cried harder.  She truly did not want to leave her behind.

“Shh, shh, there, there,” Applejack shushed the Princess quietly, like she used to do to Applebloom when she was a little filly who got hurt and cried when she was outside playing, or ran from her room and jumped in bed with Applejack after having had a nightmare.  “I wanna be with you too, Princess, but maybe it just isn’t meant to be.  And just remember, I don’t gotta see you to know that you love me.  You are the night!  As long as the night shall be, I know that you’ll be with me,” she said so romantically.

Luna was touched even further by what Applejack said.  She just didn’t want to accept the fact that this could really be the end.  They let each other go and sat there smiling at each other.  Tears were forming in Applejack’s eyes too.  She glanced down at her hoof and asked, “W…what’s happening to my hoof?” in a surprised tone.

Princess Luna sighed, and moved a little closer to Applejack so that she could pick up her hoof and observe it.  The hair at the top of her front left hoof was changing to a whiteish-silver shape, but it was appearing in the form a great blob with smaller circles forming around it, the rest remaining her shade of orange.  “ ‘Tis the mark of royal love.”  Applejack only stared at the new fur forming on her hoof, but continued to listen.  “You will observe,” Luna stood momentarily only to move her flank in front of Applejack’s face so that she could better see, “that it is the same shade as my moon and is the same pattern as the one which surrounds it.”  Applejack finished looking and Luna sat back down.  “My sister and I each have one, for we are pure magical royalty.  When…when one of us,” Luna choked up again, “when one of us loves a pony very much, honestly and truthfully love a pony very much, this pattern of fur appears around either the left hoof or on the right side of the neck.”

Applejack thought that the new fur forming on her was so romantic!  But at the same time, she didn’t really want to keep it.  If she truly could not be with Luna, she did not want to have to look down at it and know that Luna still loved her, but that she could not even physically see her.  It would absolutely tear Applejack apart!  Trying her hardest to not be rude or uncaring for feelings, Applejack innocently asked, “Well how do I get it off?”

Luna sighed, stood up and faced away from Applejack, looking up at the stars.  “That is just it, I’m afraid,” Luna said, “there are only two methods of removing it.  Method one, as you can imagine, is to prevent me from loving you anymore, to change my temperament towards you.  But the second method, it is a little more complicated…” Luna hesitated, nervous to go on; Applejack continued to listen intently.  “The… the final method is… is matrimony between myself and the pony I love… which… which happens to be you.”  She turned her head to glance back at the understandably bewildered Applejack, but only for a moment before she turned her head back straight and continued to look at the stars.

Sensing that Applejack was about to say something, Luna cut her off to quickly throw one more thing in.  “I know what you are probably thinking, my dear Applejack, but… but I am afraid that I cannot stop loving you.  I… I don’t know how, I don’t want to know how.”  The way the tears took the breath out of her forced her head to fall and look down at the ground.  Feeling guilty and selfish for the way her magic was affecting Applejack, she ran her hoof back and forth over the ground and cried her last couple of tears; everything she had told and experienced with Applejack in those few minutes had practically stolen all of the tears from her eyes.

In a solemn tone Applejack asked, “So… the only way to remove this is by either forcing you to stop loving me, or by me marrying you, huh?”

Luna didn’t look back at her, but merely nodded her hung head and gave vocal confirmation, “Yes, it is.”  She moved her eyes momentarily up towards the stars.

Applejack stood up, walked over to stand beside Luna, and used her hoof to gently pick Luna’s head up and look into her eyes.  Luna smiled at her in a loving way, but it was a sad and sorry smile that hurt to be on her face.  Applejack removed her hat and nodded her head in utmost respect for her lover.  “Princess Luna, if it’s all the same to you.  I… I think I want to marry you.”  Applejack was so sincere and truthful with her words that she hesitated none.

Yet another first happened with Luna, she was absolutely dumbfounded and swept off of her hooves.  “But… but what if they hurt you?  What if they look down upon you?  Wh… what if I am banished once more?”

Applejack only smiled and placed her hoof on the Princess’ mouth so that she could silence her.  “They won’t do that to us Luna.  You know why?” she said softly, “Because we have each other.  Don’t you see?  As long as we have each other, nopony else matters.”

“Th…that is true…” Luna dried her eyes and smiled momentarily at Applejack.  But her smile changed to a frown as she once again raised the question, “And what if I am banished?  I… I cannot do it once more!  For when I returned I was a virgin to this world.  I am not but a broken shadow of what I once was before my banishment.”

Applejack smiled, but her voice was true and firm as she said, “If you go, I go with you.”  She knew that Luna was terrified of even the mere thought of banishment, if not by her sister, then by some other form which was capable of delivering the cruel punishment.  She also knew that if that were to happen, there was almost nothing she could do.  So, as a result, if her lover went down, she would go down with her.  What was life to Applejack without Luna and her magnificent night?

“You… you would do that for me?” Luna asked, staring at Applejack in amazement.

“Ya’ll can bet your bottom hoof!” Applejack said as she stomped the ground with her hoof in determination.

“It… It, it is an interesting thought,” Luna said as she looked at the ground.  Applejack knew though, that inside, the thought to Luna was much more than just “interesting”.  Princess Luna gulped and looked Applejack straight in the eyes.  “If… If I go down…”

Applejack held her stare with Luna and jumped into finish her with a tone of truth, “We both go down.”  Luna looked away and thought about what it would be like being married to a mare.  The practice of mare-on-mare marriage was heard of throughout Equestria, but it was very rare.  But a princess, an actual, real royal princess marrying a female commoner, that was just unheard of nonsense.  But still, Luna loved Applejack.  She didn’t notice Luna look up at her with a conflicted frown on her face for she too had taken to staring blankly at the stars.  She had never felt this way about a pony before, male or female, at least not that she could remember.  Applejack had shown her many wonderful things too.  She had shown her how to do common pony tasks, she had educated her on some of the new technology of the world, and she had basically just fulfilled her dream, her dream of wanting to become a common pony, even if it were only for an hour.  And the things Applejack did to her sensually!  They made her feel amazing, better than she guessed she could ever feel!  In the matter of one night, Applejack released all of the sexual hidden tension that had built up inside of Luna over the hundreds of years she had been banished.

But it was all so hard for her!  She loved Applejack dearly, more than anypony on this Earth, but she loved her subjects too.  After all she did to them they still welcomed her back with open hooves, even though sometimes there were the cautious ponies who didn’t know any better.  And she was afraid of being banished.  She couldn’t go through that again!  Coming back to Equestria was the greatest embarrassment to her, it was something that would scar her for the rest of her life.  She didn’t think she’d be able to live through another one of those scars.

But Luna didn’t care either.  She still loved and respected her subjects, but she wanted to be with Applejack.  Perhaps the “dim-wit” (a phrase used jokingly around the royal court) small-town pony was right.  As long as they had each other, what did it matter what anypony else thought?  It wasn’t their business.  And finally, Luna realized it!  Talking to somepony is nice, and hugging somepony is even nicer, but you do not have to do any of these things to know that their heart beats for you, and only you.  All that matters is that you know that at the end of the day your very special somepony will come back to you.

Upon having this realization, Luna jumped forward, tackled a taken-by-surprise Applejack and pinned her on the ground, placing her lips firmly on hers.  The kiss was short lived though, for Luna had something that she desperately wanted to tell Applejack.  She yanked her lips away from Applejack and said rather loudly, “I shall stay with you!”  She smiled at Applejack once more and kissed her, saying in a calmer voice, “I’ve been thinking about what you said, Applejack, and you are right.  You need not see, hear, or touch somepony to know that they love you and that you love them.”

A smile was beginning to cross Applejack’s lips.  “Then what are you thinking, Princess?” she asked eagerly, yet softly.

“We… I… I mean I,” Luna was so nervous, she cleared her throat and restarted, “I guess what I’m trying to put clearly is… will you give me the title of a married princess?”

Applejack had tears in her eyes as she moved her head quickly up to meet Luna’s lips.  They broke their kiss after a minute and merely sat in that position and looked into each other’s eyes.  Luna climbed off of Applejack and helped her up, using her magic to wipe some of the dust from her back.

When Luna looked back over at Applejack though, she saw that she had a frown on her face.  She was getting married, there was no reason for her to be sad!  Luna had to find out what was troubling her bride to be!  “What is wrong?” Luna asked as she moved a little closer to Applejack.

With an embarrassed and somewhat guilty blush on her face, Applejack looked at the ground and scratched her foreleg nervously with her other foreleg.  “You see,” she began, “this is my home…” she stopped for a moment and looked up at her farm from the hill they were atop.  “I… I don’t think I’ll be able to just up and leave it behind.  My… my family could go hungry and homeless without my help,” she said pointedly.

But that didn’t deter Luna.  She was royalty after all, and with royalty came a big brain, and that brain might have been a little outdated, but it still worked like a dream; she had thought of everything.  So she began her explanation, “I have just thought about this, and I am also saddened to say that I will not be able to leave the palace either.  It is my home, and it is the place where my sister and I may watch all that occurs from a central point of view.”  Applejack’s frown grew sadder and she looked down at the ground with a hopeless expression.  But Luna continued, “We are not lost though.”

Applejack looked up and asked, “What do you mean by that, sugarcube?”

“What if our marriage was shrouded in secrecy?  Nopony knows of its existence except us.  And if you will wait for me, I shall continue my late night escapades to see you,” Luna explained.  “What shall it be?” Luna asked, awaiting Applejack’s reply.

She approached Luna and hugged her, “Till death do I part,” she sincerely said as she hugged in tighter to the Princess.

Princess Luna kissed her lover on the head and looked up at her night sky to conjure a romantically correct shooting star and repeat, “Till death do I part.”