//------------------------------// // Episode Two; Applebuck Season // Story: The Heroes of Equestria; Season One // by TechDragonX //------------------------------// [Tool Shed, Sweet Apple Acres, Tuesday, July 21. 4:30 A.M...] Applejack's brother; Big Mac, was working in the tool shed late at night... "I really hope that, Applejack can drum up a lot of business in Canterlot," Big Mac said to himself. As he was fixing one of the old cart's wheels while absentmindedly kicking his back hoofs. The also old work desk gave out and the large metal wheel he was working on fell on his left back hoof, it didn't help that the wheel weight was 25 pounds and a crack was heard from the hoof. This caused Big Mac to let out a loud non-normal high pitch scream. [Applejack's Room...] Applejack was having a dream about finding an apple that was the same shape and size as her, until she heard a high pitch scream. "Everypony safe?!" Applejack yelled as she jumped out of bed, and summoned her armor and gauntlets. After noticing the time, and seeing the rest of her family aside from her brother she leapt from her room window, did a roll while in the air, landed safely, and then dashed to the tool shed. Seeing no external hoof prints aside from her brother's, Applejack recalled her armor. "You alright, Big Mac?" Applejack asked as she walked inside. "Nnope," said Big Mac flatly. Applejack helped her brother up and carefully took him inside. While inside she called Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, you awake?"Applejack said. "Kinda?"Fluttershy answered. "Do you think that you can come over to the farm right now?" Applejack asked,"My brother hurt himself." Instead of getting a reply there was a knock at the door. Upon opening the door, Fluttershy quickly rushed past Applejack to her brother. Using her healing ribbons to scan over Big Mac's injured hoof. "Oh, my!" said Fluttershy, "I can't completely heal this, the bone is slightly fixable, but he has a popped muscle." "So I need to go to the hospital?" asked Big Mac. "Yes," said Applejack. [10:00 A.M...] After taking Big Macintosh to and from the Ponyville Hospital. Applejack and Big Mac were standing outside the orchard. Talking about Apple Buck Season, or the time when its perfect to harvest the apples. "Applejack, there is a hundred trees and only one you..." said Big Mac. "Don't you use your fancy mathematics, I can farm these apples by myself without help," Applejack countered. "Okayyyyy?" Big Mac said as he walked away on his crutches. "Now to get to work," Applejack said as she bucked the first tree. [Noon, Sugar Cube Corner...] Applejack walked into Sugar Cube Corner with bags under her eyes. Her appearance didn't go unnoticed by everypony there. "Hey, Applejack," called Twilight, "Over here." Noticing Twilight's voice, Applejack clumsily walked towards the table where Twilight was seated along with the rest of the team. "Oh my, you don't look to well," said Fluttershy. "Applejack, darling," Rarity said, "You need some rest." "I know, but I just can't," replied Applejack. Suddenly the ground started to shake. Before anypony could do anything else aside from hold on to something, Rainbow Dash flew outside. "STAMPEDE!" Rainbow yelled. The citizens of Ponyville finished or quickly postponed what they were doing, and rushed towards the bunker under the fountain in the center of Ponyville. The members of Team Harmony rushed outside, and equipped their armor. "Here's the plan," Applejack said. Upon turning back towards the group, Applejack saw that;Twilight, Rarity, Cobalt, and Dawn were forming a shield dome over Ponyville. Spike and Rainbow Dash were helping the injured, elderly, and the disabled, and Fluttershy was saving the animals from getting trampled. "That works too," Applejack said as she pulled out a dog whistle and blew into it. Applejack saw her dog, Winona running towards her with her sister, Apple Bloom following behind. "Apple Bloom, head to the bunker," said Applejack heading to the opening in the shield. "Why can't I help?" asked Apple Bloom. "You can help, Spike and Rainbow Dash," Applejack responded, "Then go somewhere safe." Reluctantly Apple Bloom did what her older sister said. [Outside...] "Other side, girl!" Applejack said to Winona. Winona responded with a BARK! as she ran over to the other side of the stampede of cows. "Now turn, right!" Applejack said. The duo turned to the right with the cows in between them, which caused the stampeding cows to follow. The cows stopped when they reached a clearing. "Betty, what happened?" asked Applejack. "Oh, sorry, Applejack, but Wendy thought she saw a snake," said Betty. "It's alright, just stay clear of Ponyville," responded Applejack as she, Winona, and the cows went their separate ways. [Ponyville...] Upon returning back to Ponyville, Applejack saw the other eight members of Team Harmony, and her sister, Apple Bloom standing at Town Hall, along with the mayor and news reporters, Twilight was speaking with the mayor of Ponyville; Mayor Mare. "Where's Applejack?" asked Mayor Mars. "She should...," said Twilight before spotting Applejack, "Over here Applejack!" "We thank, Team Harmony and their honorary heroine; Apple Bloom for saving us from the cow stampede," Mayor Mare said while being broadcasted live across Equestria. Mayor Mare presented the group of ponies with a metal for each of them. After the presentation, the news reporters asked Team Harmony some questions. "One line, and one question per reporter per pony/dragon," said Twilight, "Unless allowed to." After the reporters were organized they were allowed to ask questions. "Hi, I'm Long Shot," said Long Shot. "Hello," said Pinkie. "Who is the strategist for Team Harmony?" asked Long Shot. "I don't know if we have one," said Pinkie, "Wait here." "The strategist for Team Harmony is the element of magic," said Pinkie as she returned to Long Shot. "Thanks," replied Long Shot. [Over at Cobalt and Dawn's station...] "Hey, my name is Quick Lens," said Quick Lens. Quick Lens was a unicorn stallion, with a sky blue coat, short black mane, and a black tail. His cutie mark is a camera with a lens attachment, a he was levitating a camera, notebook, and pen within a sky blue magic aura. "Well ask away," said Dawn. "Are any member or members of Team Harmony from Canterlot?" asked Quick Lens. "Actually my brother, the element of magic, and me are from Canterlot," said Dawn. "Alright," said Quick Lens wrote down what he heard, "Do any of y'all know who the Legendary Knight was?" "The Legendary Knight was the previous element bearer of Courage," Cobalt answered. "Thanks," said Quick Lens as he left. [Over at Spike and Rarity...] "Hello, I'm Jessie Flash," said Jessie Flash. Jessie Flash was a pegasus mare who has a purple coat, a dark purple hair and tail. Her cutie mark is a camera upon a tripod with the flash on. She also was wearing glasses and had a portable hovering laptop beside her. "Ask away," said Rarity. "Ok, do you have a special base for Team Harmony?" asked Jessie Flash. "No, we don't," said Rarity, "We're planing on one." "Ok, and now for you," Jessie responded turning to Spike before stopping in shock. "Hello?" said Spike. "..." "I'm the element of companionship," said Spike. "Oh, sorry," apologized Jessie. "Its ok," responded Spike. "How did you find your element?" asked Jessie. "I found it, when we were fighting Nightmare Moon," answered Spike. "Thank you," said Jessie as she walked away along with her laptop. [Later...] After the interviews, Applejack went to finish her work over at the farm. "Apple tree number 102," Applejack said as she kicked the tree with her hind legs as hard as she could. "Hey!" Rainbow said as she flew in for a landing. "Hi," Applejack responded. "Do you need any help?" asked Rainbow. "I don't need any help!" Applejack snapped. Rainbow Dash wings suddenly flared open as she leapt backwards from Applejack's sudden outburst. "Sorry," Applejack apologized, "I'm just on edge." "Its ok," Rainbow said as she flew off, "See ya later!" When Rainbow Dash could neither see nor hear Applejack, she called the rest of Team Harmony. After filling them in, Twilight suggested that every three hours one of them would go to Applejack and ask if she needed or wanted help. [The next day; Cobalt's House...] Everypony and Spike was sitting at Cobalt's house (aside from Applejack) and were eating breakfast or playing on Cobalt's Hoofendo 65 while discussing Applejack's current predicament. "We tried everything!" said Rainbow. "We asked, waited, ate lunch with her, and a lot of other things," said Cobalt. Before anypony could speak, there was a knock at the door, followed by a loud grunt of pain. Everypony and Spike instantly knew who that was on the other side of the door. Cobalt teleported to the door and quickly opened it. "Applejack!?" Everypony and Spike cried out as soon as Applejack crashed onto the floor. [Ponyville Hospital, Room 40...] Applejack opened her eyes she saw her younger sister, Apple Bloom, and Cobalt who looked up from his Celestial Harmony Watch. "Oh, you're up," Cobalt said, "Don't move!" "Nurse Redheart said you should rest for 5 hours," Apple Bloom said. Just then Nurse Redheart walked in, pushing a cart with Sweet Apple Acres apple juice, toast, and a bowl of blended hay soup on top of a tray. She rolled the cart up to Applejack and set the tray on a holding machine so that Applejack would be able to eat. "Here is your brunch," Nurse Redheart said as she walked out the room. Applejack looked at her watch and saw that it was 9:00 AM. "Calm down," Cobalt said, "Spike, and the girls are at the farm." "I should've asked for help, but my pride got in the way didn't it?" Applejack asked ashamed of herself. "Don't worry big sis, Team Harmony got it covered," Apple Bloom reassured. "Well, I'm not going to hold y'all here for long, see y'all tomorrow," Applejack said as they left. "Bye," they called back. [Canterlot Castle...] "So this is where that 'sister' of mine lives," said Nightmare Moon as she cackled evilly. "It seems that we're not the only ones who wants revenge," said an unknown voice. Nightmare Moon turned around and was instantly sucked into a small, metal sphere. "Time to return home," said a dragon stepping out of the shadows while opening up a portal.