Today was the day Applebuck Season starts.
I know that Applejack could be as stubborn as a mule sometimes, but seeing what damages an exhausted earth pony can do to a town, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The problem was that Applejack won't accept help from anypony no matter what.
That’s when my brain hatched an idea. Instead of asking for help, I could buck some of the trees without her noticing. I knew she would still be tired, but she won’t be as tired as in the episode. Hopefully.
I quickly went to Sweet Apple Acres. I saw Applejack looking at some of the apple trees.
“Well, I better get kicking,” she said. “These apples aren't gonna shake themselves outta the trees.”
Speaking of shaking, the ground below my feet shook like an earthquake. I knew what it was. It was a cow stampede heading straight for Ponyville.
“Oh, no!” Applejack hurried to get Winona.
I ran to the barn. It was hard to run when the entire world was shaking, but I was able to make it without falling over. Soon, the shaking subsided.
“Are you alright, Big Mac?” I asked.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied. He was still bandaged around the waist. I wondered if that girdle had anything to do with it.
I told Big Macintosh what I was planning to do. I asked him for any advice on how to effectively buck the trees.
He told me, in his own words, that I had to hit a certain spot on each tree in order to knock the apples off. He showed me where, and I kicked that spot. A basket-full of apples fell, but there were still some on the tree. A second kick made the rest fall.
I thanked Big Mac for the advice and started working on bucking the trees. When I felt tired, I took a five minute break before bucking again.
I bucked at least five trees when I heard hoofbeats approaching. I hid behind one of the trees.
“Huh, well I’ll be dipped,” I heard Applejack say. “Some of the trees here look like they’ve been already bucked. I guess that stampede helped me a bit.” I heard her sigh. “Better get to work on the rest of them.”
I planned on bucking the trees on the other side of the orchard, but as I snuck away I stepped on a branch.
“Huh?! Who goes there?!” I heard Applejack yell.
“It’s me! It’s me!” I said as I came out from behind the trees.
“Oh, Spike. What are you doin’ here? Don’t tell me you’re eatin' my apples again.”
“I’m not. I was in the area, and I saw how big this orchard was. It looks like you’re here by yourself.”
“That’s because I am by myself. Big Macintosh hurt himself, Granny’s too over the hill to buck, and Applebloom is too weak.”
“And the others?”
“What others?”
“Those family members Twilight and I saw when we first came here. Where are they?”
“At their own farms. We had a family reunion that day.”
“So you’re bucking the whole orchard by yourself? Don’t you want some help?”
“Ah’ll be fine, just go send a letter to the Princess or something.”
No, you won’t be fine.
“Alright, then,” I said. “Good luck.” I knew what was going to happen the following week. Applejack would be so tired, she’ll launch Rainbow Dash into the sky, send a bunch of bunnies going crazy, and poison an entire town. I don’t care if Spike liked those muffins, I wouldn’t want to eat those even if I had a lead belly.
I can’t let any of that happen. I ran to the other side of the orchard and bucked the trees there. After I bucked about twenty trees, my legs started hurting. I sat on a stump and rubbed my feet.
Now I’m wishing that Big Mac didn’t get hurt.
I decided to stop for today. I knew that a week later, Applejack would start feeling fatigued. I don’t know how much sleep she had during the week, if she had any. But I still had a week left before things were to go bad, and I didn’t want to overdo it.
As I headed back to the library, I thought about what other episodes I could change. There were a couple I had in mind.
“Oh, there you are, Spike,” Twilight said as I entered the library. “Where have you been?”
“Just went for a walk,” I replied. “Sorry to worry you.”
“It’s alright. Did you see what Applejack did earlier today?”
“Yeah, she stopped that cattle stampede, right? Very heroic of her.”
“I agree. The girls are thinking about throwing a party for her next week.”
“That’s great. Let’s hope Rainbow Dash doesn’t get too jealous.”
“Very funny, Spike.”
I looked around the library and pulled out a few books. One of them was about Zebra culture. I decided to read that first. I was only a few pages in and already it had more information about Zebras than the show itself. I heard that the writers wanted to make an episode about zebra culture, but Hasbro wasn’t really keen on the idea.
Zebras mostly lived in a place called “Zebrica,” a name I didn’t know was canon. Like Zecora, they spoke in rhymes, made potions, and had a culture that was very unique to ponies. I even read about what they found taboo, just to avoid awkwardness if I say or do something that they might find offensive.
The next book I’ve read was about different creatures. I flipped through the pages until I saw a section about parasprites. Parasprites were known to eat a lot and reproduce asexually at an alarming rate. The book also mentions that there was no spell to get them to stop eating. Any spell casted on them would just have them eat something else. That would explain how Twilight got them to eat everything but the food by mistake.
“I didn’t think you’d be so interested in reading anything besides comic books, Spike,” Twilight said as she was reading a book herself.
“Twilight. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What are your thoughts on Zebras? Be honest.”
Twilight thought about it for a while. “That’s a random question, Spike. Why do you ask?”
“I was just reading about Zebrican culture, and I wanted to know what you think.”
“Well, I have read that book before. It’s very interesting to learn about different cultures, but it would be nice to talk with somepony who grew up around them.”
“Or...somezebra. Oh! I had another question. Have you ever seen a parasprite before?”
“A para-what?”
I showed her the book I was reading. “I’ve been reading how parasprites can eat and multiply. I’m just glad we don’t have any in Ponyville.”
Twilight read the section. “My goodness, so am I. I just hope if we do see one, we’ll get rid of it before it causes destruction.”
The next day, I woke up really early. I did my morning routine: ate cereal and milk, brushed my teeth, and cleaned my face. I wrote a note telling Twilight where I was, and then I headed out to Sweet Apple Acres.
When I got there, I already saw Applejack bucking apples. Bags started to form under her eyes.
I did my process again. I went to the other side of the orchard, and I bucked each tree until the apples fell. It was easier this time. Yesterday, I had to kick the trees two or three times, but today I only had to kick them once or twice.
As I was about to buck another tree when I heard somepony coming. I quickly hid in one of the baskets. I heard somepony yawning. It was definitely Applejack.
“Huh? Did I buck these trees already? I don’t remember doing so.” Applejack yawned again. “Maybe I should take a quick break.”
I sighed in relief as she left the orchard. I continued bucking the trees until my legs started getting sore again. I bucked way more trees than yesterday. I couldn’t tell if I was getting stronger, or since I knew where to hit the trees, the job was easier.
This continued on for the next few days. I bucked some trees, hid from Applejack, and bucked more trees until my legs got sore.
Applejack was still getting tired, but she took short breaks. I couldn’t help but giggle at the confused look on her face.
Oh, Applejack. What a silly pony.
On the final day, there were only five trees that needed bucking. I decided that I should just watch her buck the last five.
“Hah! Ah did it! I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without anypony’s help!” Applejack triumphed as she finished bucking the last tree.
Big Mac walked up to her. “Well, I hate to say it, but you’ve proven me wrong. You bucked all the trees without a single pony helping ya.”
Man, it’s weird to hear Big Mac say anything other than “Yep” or “Nope.”
“I just hope I don’t have to do it all again. It was hard keeping track of what trees have and havent' been bucked. I’m gonna go have a rest.”
As Applejack left, Big Mac thanked me for helping Applejack out.
That night, the girls and I hung out for dinner.
“Hey gals, guess what? I was able to buck my entire orchard in less than a week!” Applejack raised her glass. “Ain’t that something?”
The girls were impressed.
“All by yourself?” I asked.
“Of course. I received help from nopony.”
“Right...nopony.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Think about it.”
Applejack scrunched her eyebrows. She stared at her glass. Then it clicked.
“No! It was you?!”
I nodded.
Applejack slammed her face on the table. “No wonder I kept seeing trees already bare! I thought I was losing my marbles faster than a squirrel eating sugar!”
“That would explain why you were going to the farm so often, Spike,” said Twilight.
“I’ve seen how big your orchard is, Applejack,” I said. “There’s no way you could buck all those apples on your own.”
“But I didn’t need any help!” Applejack barked.
“Applejack, Spike was worried about you,” Twilight said. “We know you’re one of the most dependable ponies out there, but sometimes even the most reliable ponies need help.”
“Did anypony else knew you were doing this, Spike?”
“Big Mac did. He had doubts for you as well,” I said. “That’s why he let me buck some of the trees.”
Applejack sighed. “Well...thank you for helping me anyway, Spike.”
“You’re welcome. And now, you won’t have to worry about falling asleep while helping out other ponies.”
In the end, Applejack was grateful to me for helping her. The following days went pretty well. Applejack was able to get Rainbow Dash into the air, bake delicious muffins, and hoard a bunch of bunnies without causing a stampede. I was glad I could prevent that disaster from happening.
Amazing story's, keep up the good work
Can’t wait for the Zecora episode. Should be interesting
10104308
I'll make a blog.
Well at least we’ll get that in a comic book.
At least one disaster is averted.
Well is that a fine way to thank a brony for averting disasters?
SO far so good. I like how you have the personality of each character down almost to a "T" given you have to adjust for the different outcomes and scenarios.
10104478
I was going to imply that "Spike" said the F word, but I wanted to keep the story under the "E" rating.
I've always seen Spike as a total bro in later seasons, and now he's gonna be that way for the whole series. Well done!
If this was just regular Spike with an alternate universe, it would still be good!
I like this new Spike!
I'd like to see Spike use some reverse psychology on some of the characters.
I think some of the non-essential episodes he's like to avert of "Mare-Do-Well" and "28 Pranks Later", due to how extreme they seem to be, even with his least favorite of the Mane 6. Basically, just have Spike help her stay calm and less arrogant. This'll stem from certain fics that he's read where Dash has a more extreme reaction to the situations.
Ex: Getting outright violent against the 'Zom-ponies', even lethally. Or leaving Ponyville due to feeling betrayed by them from the 'Mare-Do-Well' fiasco.
Also, will you be doing any of the comics or are you sticking strictly to the cartoon?
Actually, if you're interested, I have a fun idea for having Luna discover the truth about 'Spike'.
10104789
I hardly read any of the comics, so they won't be canon in this story.
10104794
Ok
Anyway, wanna hear how Luna finds out or do you have your own idea or are you just gonna keep her in the dark?
10104796
You'll have to see for yourself.
10104804
Looking forward to it.
My idea went as so...
-Spike has a nightmare regarding him fixing/averting a problem, only to somehow have make a big situation much worse, like one of the timelines where Starlight stopped Rainbow from doing the Sonic Rainboom.
-Luna finds it and helps Spike through it. She questions why he had such a nightmare and out of some kind of pseudo-guilt tells her the truth, wanting to be tell someone about it.
-This would happen during a smaller version of this happening. Such as the girls getting into an argument and when Spike tries to do something that he thinks will help, somehow ends up making it worse.
Does that make sense?
10104961
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/18087/the-best-night-ever
10104969
nice thanks
10105216
Have faith, honey.
Very nice set of chapters, though it makes me wonder if the lessons are actually getting learned. Hopefully the consequences won't be too dire. Maybe he could pay an early visit to the tree of harmony alone to have a chat on what to do and what's safe?
Another thought.
"Hey twilight?"
"Yes spike?"
"Since I can mail things wih fire breath by burning them, and dragons like me are fireproof, would I be able to mail myself? Or would I be covered in mail fire?"
"O_O" "we need to test this, for science!"
I'm looking forward to the next chapters!
“SHUT UP, YOU STUPID PONIES!!!”❓
is it was Spike really said.
it was rude but not that bad.
All of this is pretty god
Good job. :)
Apple Family Reunion Granny tell AB that reunions are every 100 moons
This is either a continuity error or the gathering in the pilot wasn't an official reunion,
just a lot of Apples getting together
Yes, AJ calls it a reunion. She also forgets how large her own orchard is.
IMO, calling it a reunion is just another mistake that AJ made
& One quibble. They show the uncleared section towards the end of the show.
Spike cleared all that?
10104490
10104478
Well everyone freaked out when Fluttershy said peeved so that counts as a swear in Equestria
10104794
I would suggest checking out a few comics, some are a mess, but a few give spike interesting things to do. Though some are now absolutely non-canon. Long story short, they are considered canon by the staff... until the show says otherwise. Which might sound confusing, but it is just called a retcon, it is canon until it isn't. For example, we know for a fact that eqg is canon because Sunset was shown in the last episode song, and in an eqg special, they said that the storm king didn't die, and he was sealed away in his staff. This means that officially the storm king's death isn't canon.
https://readcomiconline.to/Search/Comic
Can spike set the tres on fire and teleport the apples to a bucket? We know from bigmac's proposal episode that he can teleport a bowl of paper while keeping the bowl unburned, and I think he has teleported objects other than paper before, so how precise can he be with it?
Not quite sure if Appeljack would have gotten over her stubborness after hearing Spike did help her and with that destroy her goal of doing things on her own.
Her actually being mad at him and not listening to reason might have been much more likely and made for a new conflict, instead of the old solved one. Heck, this could have soured their relationship for many episodes to come, showing wide-reaching consequences, despite doing the right thing. In the same vein, he could gain favor with such an intervention, for example with Big Mac, or any other ponies out there. Heck, I certainly would love to see him interact with the CMC.
Imagine how fun it would be if he got actually dragged into the club by them!
Fuck Hasbro!!
It seems to me that Spike ... somehow childish or what? I do not understand why he is opposed to having the Great Six arrange a totalitarian fucked up. According to the series of Celestia, I even liked it ...
Есть кто из России?)
What a self centered narcissistic prick. Please excuse my language but that is the impression I got from "Spike".
It wasn't as obvious in the first chapters but it became more and more visible:
In the whole scene with Nightmare Moon he was not helping at all, he just put himself in the spotlight instead of letting Twilight have it. He did the same thing to Pinkie Pie with the EoH reference guide and the explanation why Twilight isn't going alone into Everfree. Those situations would have played out just as well but he felt the need to show off.
In Ticket Master he resolves to help Twilight out by simply accepting the ticket for himself. That resolve flew quickly out the window when he saw the opportunity to be oh so generous and offer AJ his ticket knowing the chain of events that would follow. Even worse he knew that AJ wouldn't get what she wanted at the gala anyway. In essence he wanted to look like the good guy instead of actually doing the good thing. And he doesn't even stop the events unfolding by just insisting on his ticket which would have looked selfish.
In this chapter it took him being exhausted until he even considered that the whole thing might have been avoided if BigMac wasn't hurt. Either he didn't care at all that BM gets hurt or our dear author just didn't bother telling us why "Spike" didn't or couldn't have tried to prevent that injury from happening. The episode starts with that as an established fact but "Spike" has been there, continuously. But that isn't even the biggest problem I have with him in this chapter. "Spike" is in the body of a baby dragon. He has stubby little legs, he would be head butting the trees to reach the hight of AJs applebucks, even more with BigMacs. And apparently Applebloom is too weak for applebucking but he isn't. Really devalues the physical requirements needed for that work if a baby design without any training can just go ahead and do it. In the end he couldn't even keep his mouth shut he had to earn the praise for the work. In doing so he gave AJ the dent in the ego she would have gotten anyway if he hadn't interfered while at the same time robbing Twilight of her friendship lesson. If he had just wanted to avoid the desasters from happening he could have just volunteered to take AJs place in the various activities or in Rainbows case just talk her out of it since that was a stupid idea to begin with. But no, he had to find a way so he became the center of attention and praise and thanks.
One could see this as a character flaw of "Spike", one that he will have to overcome to grow as a character. But, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this feels to me like a thinly veiled self insert with the author trying to put the spotlight on the character and by extension on themself. If the world itself is going to bend over backwards to do that than my suspicion will be confirmed. I see AJ saying AB is too weak as an indicator of that happening, not definitive proof however as underestimating AB is kinda in character for AJ.
Rant over. Tl,dr: I don't like "Spike" for what he does and how he does it.
10286912
Totally agree. I can't wait to see "Spike" fall into the hole he's digging.
I can’t imagine Spike being able to kick high enough to hit the sweet spot. Maybe a punch or headbutt but definitely not a kick.
Don't you just hate it when a Merchandise-Driven Franchise develops a cartoon that appeals to a larger demographic and has tons of World-Building in place already for the main characters, yet the Merchandise Team nix'd any further ideas for other races or sentients to be fleshed out more than what we were given. I'm still very sore over how the Diamond Dogs were just simply forgotten about after their episode in Season One and not being considered for enrollment in The School of Friendship: especially when the Diamond Dogs are a helluva lot closer to Ponies by living within spitting distance of Ponyville. And all we got afterwards was a throwaway line by Spike in the series finale telling that he brokered peace between the Diamond Dogs and Abyssinians.
Think how much the story and setting would have changed had Twilight helped to integrate Diamond Dogs into Equestria during Season 4 instead of spending all of those episodes bemoaning how she has literally nothing at all to dignify her role being made a Princess. Take Rarity and Applejack with you to the Diamond Dogs and start up a small alliance between their settlement and the village of Ponyville and see where it goes from there, run it by Filthy Rich and Ivory Scroll (because "Mayor Mare" is too stupid on-the-nose of a name to have when you are the Mayor of Ponyville, what happens if you are booted from office?), and supply medicine and food to the Diamond Dogs in return for Mineral Excavation and Stonework to build better roads and bridges: if the Diamond Dogs are such good diggers, than what's stopping their characterization from being expanded further to incorporate other fields such as Masonry and Sculpting? Why suffer continuously with replacement wagon wheels and axles caused by divots in your dirt paths when you have it replaced with smoother Cobblestone or Flagstone?
To take this further, we could have a way to help ease in a redemption arc for Diamond Tiara by having her take greater interests in the Minerals and Gems that are traded and have her showcase her proper talents and begin to earn admiration and respect from her colleagues instead of constantly trying to put them down or to one-up them by using her father as an excuse. What would her Talent be you may ask? "I thought that her special talent was Leadership" NO! Shame on you! The thing is, anyone can be a leader: Twilight is a leader, Starlight Glimmer was a leader, Celestia is a leader; having Leadership be your defining talent is weak, because how can you truly convince others to follow you when all you have to your name is by saying that you are a born leader? People won't take you seriously. For the longest time before Season 3, there was one Talent that I believed that Diamond Tiara could have that would befit her name and to actually showcase her strength of character and serve as an inspiration for little girls everywhere: Jewelmaking (a fitting enough talent for a filly that is named "Diamond Tiara"), it would serve as a means for her to showcase her leadership notions along with giving her a step in the direction of redemption and becoming friends with the CMC; maybe even enough to rewrite the charter of the organization to include Fillies and Colts that have their Cutie Marks who can use their talents to help others. Beyond the CMC, this would give another half to what Rarity provides when she incorporates Gemstones and Crystals into her dresses by having Diamond Tiara actually create intricate metallic decorations studded with Gemstones; enough that Rarity and Diamond Tiara take on a role of Master-Apprentice with the younger filly providing insights and design suggestions to certain pieces that would make them elaborately stand out while being minimalist at the same time. This would be further enhanced during the events of Inspiration Manifestation where she and Rarity manage to take hold of the book and begin to use it; Rarity going on a junket to make everything "Beautiful", while Diamond Tiara ends up going in a more subtle path by using knowledge gleaned from the book to learn how to "enchant" Gemstones that she has and when designed in a certain way brings about special effects to the wearers based on what kind of Gemstone it is, what patterns or filigree are placed into the decorations and trinkets, how they can interact together, etc. We might even be thrown for a loop when following the aftermath of the hijinks after Rarity gives up the book: Diamond Tiara having absorbed all of that raw knowledge and information and desiring to share her gifts with others to make Equestria a better place manages to pull off a particular hat-trick...
derpicdn.net/img/2015/11/15/1023567/large.png
Armed with her new abilities, and having taken on greater knowledge about Gemstones and Jewelmaking, along with reading a few history books about Earth Pony techniques that were inside of the Imperial Library (because there is barely anything that has been done to help justify the existence of the Crystal Empire since we were introduced to it), Diamond Tiara would be in a similar boat to Princess Twilight Sparkle, only here it wasn't thrust upon her under the pretense of "Destiny"; it was something that happened to Tiara by her own Choice while being left vague enough that the Ascendancy involved reaching something akin to Enlightenment.
By reaching Twilight's Kingdom, Princess Twilight Sparkle would have showcased all of the signs of being an actual leader; along with helping another pony ascend into Alicornhood after becoming better by her choices and decisions, observing the steady and healthy growth of Ponyville from a simple farming town into a prosperous center worthy for a castle: and while the Crystalline Eyesore would be inevitable, Twilight and the others would steadily incorporate their Magic into the Tree to make it into a grand amalgamation of nature and crystal together.
All of THAT being accomplished in one season just by having Twilight shut up about her bemoaning and deciding to go talk with the Diamond Dogs.
It won't be averted unless they let Fluttershy know about them. She's the one who finds the parasprite and introduces it to the town.
10420143
Wow, I never thought of that that's a great idea. And it is pretty sad that the show never really got into depth about that kind of thing.
And then Doctor Whooves starts noticing the changes in the time stream.
10420143
Wow that is well thought out!
How long is Spike in Ponyville by now? A Dairy might be a nice idea... What did David-Spike in the time...
How is Luna?
Since Mules are intelligent... Wasnt that speciesist
David-Spike the Chuck Norris spin kicking Dragon...
I love it ♡ Plus jumping for extra style points
Wait... Do that means David-Spike is actualy strong?
I can see it know... David-Spike jump-spin-kicking appletrees into submission! Chuck Norris would be proudly losing a singel tear of pride. Falling to the ground and making a sakura tree growing despite no seed or not ideal growing condition. It would be colored like Spike and it Dragontail shaped branches cure cancer!
David-Spike the GLORIOUS ♡
Dont skip Torso/arm day David-Spike! Or you look like i feel after a waaay to long day staying in the line in a shop stepdancing Bollywood style
What did he do to David-Spike before? -
Actualy it was
Lore? ... GIVE US MOOORRRE!
David-Spike snack time to fix the problem
Like Ponys Or worse... YOUR POWER-PONY-COMICS NOOO!
No morning routine thanking Luna for her Night? Wishing her a good day of sleep... You heartless Dragon-cutness-shaped... Purple... ... . . . . . .
I like Mint Candy
Day 2: Apple bucking... If this continues i drop kick Tirek so hard in the balls he becomes a mare, rainbow puke magic all over me and i become the all powerful Dragon-Chuck-Norris...
Marshmallow buttRarity is mine... *cute baby dragon squee*Muhahahaaa
Please tell me David-Spike is a prankster! Celestia would be so proud
David-Spike... Your made the Story description proud
AAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I get that reference.
Spike made this chapter very special
Hard to tell if Spike is going to buck next Season Chuck Norris style all Appletrees in he sane kick or not...
11085102
The most silly one be Pinkie Pie
And Lyra Heartstrings
And Derpy Hooves
And Dr. Whooves a totally not Timelord
And Rose Lilly
Got to cuddle them all 🤝
11085102
What's the reference
11391758
It’s an old G1 song.
11391758
it's an old song I heard a lot when I was not in the fandom at the time. 'Who's a Silly Pony' I think, I think it referred back to an older generation of MLP, and it was specifically about Applejack being, as the song states, a silly pony.
I heard the song once or twice in a couple of videos made by either a brony analyst or by someone who made the same reference to the same song that was from said older generation of MLP.
I legit don't know the name of the song, but the text I saw in the chapter 'Applebuck Season' was literally what resurfaced that song for me, and it just got a major laugh out of me.
Also, I'm pretty sure 11391821 already messaged a link to the song, that's what I was reminded of. I apologize for the confusion, but I still find it kinda funny.
I guess this story isn't taking any notes from the comics. Especially the season 10 comics.
That the Apple family had only 2-3 ponies for the orchard made never sense. That why in one of my stories I have them being the employer of other ponies working on the farm.
Rather odd so few care thinking about stuff like that.
Good chapter resolution