Night Sharers

[Applejack]

It's a chilly early spring night. Winter is over, but the warmth of summer is still months away, and the breath of anypony outside this late would be clearly visible in the light from the streetlamps. Not that anyone *would* be; midnight was at least an hour ago and the citizens of Ponyville are well and truly asleep... save for one. Bundled in a scarf against the last lingering chill of winter, Applejack trots quietly through the sleeping square, and stops at the Golden Oak Library front door. She hesitates for a moment, then raises a hoof and knocks softly.

After a moment, you hear someone coming to the door -- not the clip-clop of pony hooves, but the softer clicking of claws on the floor, betraying that it's Spike and not Twilight answering. He opens the door wearing a night cap with a little pom-pom dangling from the pointed tip. "Oh, hi, Applejack! C'mon in."

Applejack smiles, hesitantly but then properly, at the little dragon. "Hay there, Spike." She trots inside and looks around; the library always looks stranger and somehow forbidding in the dark, but it's not the first time she's been here at night. "Ah'm sorry ta wake y'all up like this, but Ah'm also mighty glad ta see ya. Ah, uh, need some help."

Spike shuts the door behind you, and takes your scarf, hanging it on a coat rack near the door. "Right. I should probably go wake up Twilight, then."

Applejack sticks out a hoof, gently stopping Spike in his tracks. "Actually... let her sleep. It was y'all Ah came ta see. Ah need ta know somethin'. Ah know ya send letters back an' forth with Princess Celestia alla th' time. Can ya send 'em t'anypony else? Like, fer instance... Princess Luna?"

Spike stops, surprised that it's *his* help you've come for. "Oh...sure! I mean, I'm pretty sure I can do it for any of the princesses. It's just usually Celestia people want to send messages to."

Applejack chuckles and says under her breath, "yeah, that was always the problem, wasn't it..." then straightens up. "Good. Ah'd be much obliged if'n y'all'd do me a favor, then." She picks a scroll out of her saddlebag and passes it to Spike. It has a dark blue ribbon instead of the usual red, and the horseshoe Royal Seal has been applied sideways, almost like a crescent moon. "Please... send this ta Luna. An'.... an' don't tell nopony. It ain't a big secret, exactly, but, uh, it's kinda private. Know what Ah mean?"

Spike nods. "You can trust me," he says, solemnly. He doesn't betray any suspicion about your secrecy -- he's a trusting soul, and besides, if you can't trust the Element of Honesty, who CAN you trust? He turns away from you, and in a by now familiar gesture, holds the scroll up between two fingers before sending it on its way with a flourish of green flame. "I'll let you know if she replies," he adds.

Applejack watches the scroll flare and go, the little dragon's firelight turning her orange face green for a moment. She may never know how much she resembles her grandmother in her youth. AJ sags with relief. "Thanks kindly, Spike. Ah owe ya one. Reckon Ah'd better mosey on home an' let ya get back ta sleep now." She wraps a hoof around the little dragon and pulls him close for a quick hug, then collects her scarf from the rack.

Spike hugs your neck. "Any time." He smiles, always happy to be helpful.

Applejack opens the door and steps out into the chilly night. She pauses on the doorstep and looks back. "G'night, partner. Sorry ta wake ya up. Sleep tight now, ya hear?" And then she leaves, trotting away under the cloudless velvet night sky. There's no way to be sure, but it certainly seems like she is walking easier now, like a burden of some kind may not have lifted, but gotten lighter.

[Applejack]

This here is th' text o' th' letter Ah sent ta th' Princess.

---

Dear Princess Luna

I've been going back and forth a lot on whether I should write this at all. I've been worried this might seem kind of presumptuous and high-faluting of me, but I'm no good at keeping things bottled up. I'm just going to have to hope this doesn't offend Your Highness too badly.

I'm mighty sorry about what happened with the opera and Nightmare Moon. I'm sorry for what it did to you, and Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy, and also what it did to me. It hurt a lot, Your Highness. Way more than I can let my family know, or they might lose faith in me, and I don't think I can stand that happening again.

I don't remember everything, just bits and pieces, but I remember what it felt like. More pain and hate than I even knew a single pony could contain. You're the only one in all of Equestria or anywhere else who knows what that felt like - but it's not like that, is it? It's the other way around. Your Highness carried this here burden longer than I can even imagine, and just a taste of it nearly broke me in places I didn't even know I could be hurt.

So... I was originally writing this to ask for help, but that don't seem right no more. I'm going to offer it instead. I know I'm just a farmer, and a lot of folks reckon it's silly to think an ordinary pony like me could help a princess, but this feels different. Maybe it'll help knowing that somewhere out there's somepony who knows what it was like, even a little. I sure hope it does. That'll make dealing with it, well, not easier, but at least worthwhile. I just wish I had some way to make it worthwhile for you, too.

I'm sorry, Princess Luna. For everything, then and now.

Your loyal subject,
Applejack

[Applejack]

An' this is what happened th' next night... when Ah was asleep.

---

Luna is there. The moment your eyelids flutter, or a hint of draught or an ended dream chases you from sleep even for an instant. Standing right next to the bed, looking down at you, is the Princess of the Night. Her softly glowing mane, glittering with stars, makes it impossible to miss her even in a dark room. She is almost motionless. Her mane and tail ripple, she breathes, her eyes track, but otherwise she is standing there looking down at you with her sad, detached, regally impassive face.

Applejack is snoring, if you can use such a simple word to describe what sounds like the grand chorus of the Chainsaw Tabernacle Choir. Or rather, was snoring. Something feels wrong, and after tossing back and forth a bit, the young farmer finally cracks an eye. Oh. Just a giant pony standing over her while she sleeps. Right, no prob- "JUMPIN' JEHOSAPHAT!" AJ yells and scrambles away, dropping herself unceremoniously on her head on the side of the bed!

Luna is not only a very tall pony, she is a very fast pony. A huge indigo wing flicks out, catches your head an inch from the floor, scoops you up and around to let you finish your fall head up instead of head down. The moment that is done, her wing curls back up again at her side. For all of her expression or the notice she gives of what she just did, it might not have happened. "We owe thee an apology, Element of Honesty."

Applejack shakes her head out. When her focus returns, she is a lot calmer, and speaks in a low voice. "Luna?? Ah mean, Princess Luna?!" AJ immediately bows, prostrating herself in front of the alicorn. "Uh, thanks fer catchin' me... Uh... Yer Highness... what in tarnation are ya doin' here? Far's Ah know ya don't owe me nothin'..."

Luna turns, silver-shod hooves lifting and falling daintily, until she stands directly in front of and towers over you again. "Neigh, Element of Honesty. We owe- but perhaps, under the circumstances, some familiarity is due." Luna's face softens, at least a little. Hints of concern and gentleness tilt the corners of her eyes, and she lowers her head to meet you as her wing curls under your chin and lifts your face from the floor. Her voice similarly shifts from stony to merely quiet and vaguely mournful. "I have wronged and harmed thee, goodmare Applejack. That thy letter arrived ere I found time to deliver this apology only affirms this. I am grateful for the nobility with which thou bore a burden not thy own."

Applejack allows herself to be encouraged back to standing, but is still clearly nervous. Frankly, she doesn't know how to deal with Luna under the best of circumstances, and suddenly being woken up isn't the best of circumstances. Or is it? "That... there's nothin' ta be grateful for. Really. Ah know ya didn't have nothin' ta do with causin' what happened at th' opera. Ah just... do what Ah gotta do fer mah family an' friends, an' what had ta be done ta come back ta them. Ah think. It... ain't easy ta remember." She scuffs the floor a little and looks away, embarrassed.

Luna's eyebrows rise - well, a little. As you stand, her head rises as well, but not up so high that she's doing a lighthouse impression anymore. Her stance is almost casual, except for her eerie stillness and the whole rippling galaxy mane and tail thing. "Nothing to do with the opera? I had everything to do with what happened at the opera. I and my sister fell into our bitterest memories, and we dragged thee into them with us. As thou know well now, those memories are of such pain that a pony can get lost in them. I deeply regret forcing thee through them, and I thank thee for thy endurance and the wisdom with which thou overcame another mare's trial."

Applejack blinks. "It WAS y'all? But... th' tree, them sorta-Elements? Wasn't it all just some big ol' magical accident? Sure seemed like it. An' it sure as shootin' weren't somethin' yer Highnesses were TRYIN' ta do." A brief pause, and suddenly she lifts her gaze directly to yours. "Wait. Lost in yer memories? Th' ones WE brought back? Oh mah dear pony, an' yer apologizin' ta me?? WE did that! Flutters an' Bardigan an' mahself, we threw yer worst night back in yer faces an' didn'e even realize what we were doin'!" AJ sits down hard, both hooves on her mouth, eyes wide in realization.

Luna's faint surprise becomes faintly admonishing skepticism. Her head even turns about an inch as she looks down at you. "That is *art*, Applejack. Thy performance and the Playwright's craft were more powerful than we expected, but it is the nature of art to stir deep and meaningful emotions. For me, they are fresh and stinging. For Celestia, they are an ancient wound she has never recovered from. For both of us to heal, we must sometimes face these pains. There is a word for this process, 'catharsis', and it is one of the great virtues of art. To my regret, a princess's power is such that if madness takes us even for a moment, the world goes mad with us. Yes, there is accident and coincidence, but the ultimate truth is that thou bore a grueling burden not thy own for me, and I am both sorry and grateful."

Applejack takes a deep and straightens up. "Ah gotta be honest: Ah didn't bear it fer y'all. Ah doubt Ah'd have been willin' ta go through it if'n Ah'd know what Ah was gettin' into.... an' then it was just a matter o' survival. But, fer what it's worth... yer welcome, an' Ah don't hold anythin' against ya. Or Cel- uh, Princess Celestia, if'n it matters." For the first time tonight, Applejack smiles. "If'n somehow it helped, Ah reckon maybe it was worth it after all."

"A mountain is not flattened in one blow," Luna answers. Then she dips, one foreleg sliding ahead, her other foreleg bent, her horn dipping down to an inch over the floor and her wings spread out to either side. "Yet thy service to me and to my sister was great, and achieved under a burden forced upon thee unawares. For myself and for Celestia I thank thee and apologize, goodmare Applejack." Rising fluidly upright again, she looks over at the bed. Cold formality settles slowly over her face again, and she suggests, "Rest, now. Thine own labors are may, and need sleep. We shall see to it thy dreams are not troubled by fears and pains not thy own."

Applejack is momentarily startled at a princess bowing to her, but rallies and returns it. "Ah reckon... yeah. One step on a long journey." She takes one more deep breath. "Wasn't too long ago Ah was wonderin' 'bout Earth ponies an' alicorns an' how we fit inta th' way things are. But Ah gotta say, Ah don't envy y'all no more. Th' most precious things ta me are all alseep in th' other rooms down th' hall here." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "They say ya don't know what ya got 'til it's gone. Well, Ah lost them fer awhile, an it's only luck Ah got 'em back." She grins. "Ah belong here. An' Ah'm glad of it. Good night, Yer Highness. Ah'm glad ta be of service."

Luna quirks just a faint smile, and notes, "A lesson thou share with thy princesses." Then the glittering of stars in her mane fades out, and the rest of her blends into the shadow, and Princess Luna is gone.

Applejack looks around for a moment, alone again. "Ah ain't never gonna understand princesses. 'Course, Ah don't understand Rares or Pinkie neither, so's Ah guess it's fair." She slips into bed and lies there for a moment, staring out the window. The last thing she sees before drifting off into a peaceful sleep is the low-hanging moon in the night sky, the place that was Luna's prison for a thousand years... and which in some sad ways, still is.

[Applejack]

Just as a little bonus, this here's basic'ly th' theme song fer what Ah've been goin' through since th' end o' th' Nightmare Moon arc, includin' alla th' above.