"I have to admit," Twilight said with a sigh, "I'm glad I didn't lose Spike forever over a life debt." She giggled softly. "I don't know how I'd ever get by without him!"
Applejack scratched her head. "Seriously?" she asked. "No offense, sugarcube, but...ever' blessed thing he tried t' do was a disaster. He couldn't even sweep right!"
Twilight blinked. "Really?"
"He made an epic fail of an apple pie, made a huge mess everywhere he went...why, he jes' made a total mess outta ever'thing he put a claw to!"
"Huh," Twilight said with a puzzled frown. "That's funny. He keeps the library spotless, does all the cooking—his blueberry pancakes are to die for, by the way—he baked those amazing cookies we had when we watched the meteor shower that one time, and he stays on top of all the household chores with the efficiency I've come to expect from years of faithful assistance!" She shook her head and smiled. "Not to mention he always seems to know what I need before I do."
Applejack's muzzle scrunched up in confusion. "Huh. So how in th' hay does that even...Ah mean..."
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," she said. She frowned and tilted her head. "Well...unless," she drawled thoughtfully.
"Unless?" Applejack prompted.
"Well, sometimes—sometimes—Spike gets a little overeager, usually when he's trying to make a really good impression or when he's done something wrong or feels guilty about something. Around here, when it's just me and Spike, he just does what he always does, but..." She smiled. "I guess since he thought he needed to impress you because he felt like he owed you, he got carried away. That's when he makes mistakes." Her smile turned somewhat sheepish. "Maybe if I'd been paying closer attention, none of this would ever have happened."
"Aw, shoot, sugarcube," Applejack said dismissively, waving a hoof. "You can't be on top of Spike all the time."
"True," Twilight said. With her ears folded back, she added, "Actually, sometimes he's the one who has to stay on top of me."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know what I mean," Twilight said defensively. "Like that whole thing with the tardy friendship report."
Applejack chuckled. "Ah know." She shook her head. "Well, Ah'm jes' glad this whole thing's behind us." Adjusting her hat, she added, "Now, if'n you'll excuse me, Ah gotta git on feedin' th' pigs." She sighed. "Seems t' take longer every time fer some reason..."
*slow claps*
Excellent call-forward to Applejack's Day Off.
To be honest, though, that episode showed that Spike has incredible competence in certain areas. For instance, he did manage to count every single blade of grass in Sweet Apple Acres within a single day, which would mean he has a fantastic degree of organization, focus, and comprehension.
Any explanation for why Spike wasn't his usual helpful self in that episode is a good one since the episode itself didn't bother to give one.
I tried to upvote but I'd done that already.
Certainly a reasonable explanation.
Good to see an explanation for why Spike was like that in that episode. And humorous, too.
If you're going to make a chapter for Applejack's Day Off (good reference by the way ) I would like to point out one thing:
The reason I hated that episode: Applejack doesn't know how to run a farm.
I mean WHAT?!
AJ is a strong, smart, hard-worker pony who was literally raised in a farm! And you tell me that she doesn't know how to use an irrigation system?
I like Applejack, but there are no wanders that she is the less popular mare if the writers make a fool of her.
The episode had a good morale per se, and everypony can make one mistake here and there...
but you can't tell me that AJ didn't have time for her friends because she didn't know how to run a farm!
You know, I never even noticed Spike's apparent loss of skill in Spike at Your Service until you just now pointed it out. Oh well.
Well, that's one way of interpreting it. I'm sure it's possible and does happen, it just probably doesn't happen very often.
7264658 Actually watching how she was handling the sprinklers told me that at some point there was either a leak or other loss of water pressure. Turning them on one at a time like that probably let her find them and fix them. Then she did the slow check a few more times while doing that chore and it just became the way she did it, as evident by all the other chores.
Hm... I don't think AJ would be the type to use the phrase "epic fail". I do love this story, though.
Yeah, no kidding. Sometimes Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom want a turn.
....
I can't say anything to make that sound worse.
As SilverQuill would say
🎼Future Continuity🎼