//------------------------------//
// S1 E4: Applebuck Season (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 11 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Applejack was standing on a hilltop that overlooked the entire orchard grounds of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple trees full of apples stretched on and on all the way to the horizon, or so it seemed. It was obvious to all that the summer that had just passed had yielded a bountiful bumper crop.

And Applejack knew what that meant now that summer had given way to autumn. "Whoo-wee, that sure is a lot of apple trees!" She declared as she looked across to her brother, Big Macintosh. The stallion with a bright red coat currently had a cast around his midsection as a result of an earlier injury, an injury that was unfortunately sidelining him.

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh commented in his usual way of speaking. "Way too big for you to handle on your own, sis," And he sighed. "If only I didn't have to keep wearin' this silly cast. I'd be out there buckin' alongside you."

Applejack wasn't worried. "Don't you fret about that, Big Mac. You just rest and let that wound heal just like the doctor ordered," She declared as she unintentionally poked a hoof right at the injured spot, causing her brother to let out a yelp of pain and glare at her. She was quick with an apology. "Sorry."

Big Mac was still not convinced his sister had everything under control. "If ya ask me, it wouldn't be a bad idea to call for back up just this once. You ain't invincible ya know. If I could injure myself workin' the plow, you could definitely hurt yourself workin' the fields." He remarked with worry as he shook his head.

But Applejack only smiled. "That could've happened to anypony, Big Mac. And that's why it's all the more important I get this harvest in on time. Besides, in a couple of months when the gala rolls around, I'll make enough to get that old plow replaced," Then she added. "Tell Granny Smith not to worry, I'll take a bite out of this here job by day's end!"

Big Mac frowned. "Bitin' off more than you can chew is just what I'm afraid of."

The fare mare frowned right back at her brother with a quirked. "Are you sayin' my mouth is makin' promises my legs can't keep?"

All Big Mac had to say in reply was. "Eeyup."

That prompted a reaction. Applejack grit her teeth, groaned, and blew steam out of her nostrils as she stomped a hoof into the dirt. "Why of all the-" She began before she was able to get herself under control. "Come on, Big Mac! Have a little faith in me! This is your sister Applejack you're talkin' about, remember? An honest friend and the most dependable of all ponies?"

"But that's still only one pony," Big Mac sheepishly replied. "And one pony plus hundreds and hundreds of apple trees just doesn't add up to-"

Applejack shut down the argument immediately. "-Don't you use your fancy mathematics to muddy the issue, I know how to count! I wouldn't take on this job if I didn't think I could pull it off," And she vowed right then and there. "Celestia as my witness, I'm gonna harvest all the apples in the orchard if it takes everythin' I've got!"

Sensing that his sister was not going to be reasoned with, Big Mac reluctantly shrank from the argument. He figured it better to admit defeat rather than prolong a futile argument. "Very well. You're on your own, Applejack. Just don't say I didn't warn ya." And with that he trotted away.

The farm mare was still convinced she could complete the harvesting job all on her own. But taking another look at the orchard grounds made her realize just how daunting the task seemed. However, she also knew it would just make her look silly if she already went back on her earlier statement. So all she could do was gulp and think to herself. "What have I gotten myself into?!" She had no way of knowing that it was indeed going to take everything she had to harvest the entire orchard on her own. And in the process she was going to cause a lot of trouble for her friends.



There was no sense of prolonging the inevitable. Applejack knew she had to get started right away. And that's exactly what she did after adjusting her trusty stetson that rested atop her head. She never liked to be without it, even though she had several similar ones that she often swapped out.

The earth pony with long, blonde locks strolled through the orchard grounds, surveying all the trees. "Alright," She said to herself as she took a deep breath. "Well, time to go to work. It ain't like these apples are gonna buck themselves."

Yet at that very moment one of the apples from one of the trees happened to fall off. It hit Applejack on the head before landing on the group. "Huh, maybe I spoke too soon." Applejack thought aloud. The apple was a bit bruised but otherwise it was unharmed, still in perfect condition.

Several other apples started falling soon afterward. Now Applejack knew something was up. The apples weren't falling of their own free will, something was creating enough force for them to be shaken loose. But it wasn't until she looked off into the distance that she knew what that force was as she became aware of the ground shaking. "Uh-oh!" She realized, her eyes quickly growing big! And she immediately took off as fast as her legs would let her!

Miles and miles away, all of Ponyville slowly became aware of the ground shaking as well. Ponies stopped in their tracks as the vibrations grew more intense and a low rumbling sound could be heard in the distance. Yet it wasn't until Rainbow Dash flew up to get a good look at the disturbance that anypony knew what was going on. A trail of dust growing closer by the minute indicated only one thing! 

"Stampede!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs! Countless ponies started running for whatever cover they could find, none wanting to be out in the open! By now they could see the source of the stampede, a bunch of cows running out of control, and they were all frightened as a result!

Well, almost all were frightened. While other ponies were running to and fro, Pinkie Pie was letting the vibrations shake her about as she declared. "Hey, this makes my voice sound silly!"

But the pink party pony was soon pulled back by Twilight. "Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run for your life!" She told her friend.

Amidst the chaos, however, Mayor Mare stepped forward. She didn't appear to be frightened in the slightest by what was going on. "Everypony, please remain calm. There is no reason to panic," She assured them. "Applejack will take care of everything. She and Winona should be on their way now."

And Mayor Mare was right, Applejack and Winona (Applejack's loyal farm dog) were running side by side to catch up to the stampeding hoard of cows. At one point, Applejack even jumped on top of the cows and leaped from one cow to the next while brandishing a lasso. "Come on, Winona! Basic maneuvers!" She called out to her dog. "You know the drill!"

Working together, pony and dog were able to get out ahead of the stampeding herd before they could enter Ponyville. A small crowd gathered to watch the event unfold.

"Wow! This is the best rodeo I've ever seen!" Pinkie Pie declared while munching on a bag of popcorn that she seemed to have obtained from out of nowhere.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was cheering her fellow athlete on. "Ride 'em, cowpony!" She enthusiastically bellowed at the top of her lungs! "You show those cows who's boss!"

Applejack, meanwhile, used her lasso to grab hold of a brown spotted cow at the front of the stampede. She jumped down and used all of the strength she had to make the cow turn to the right, thus diverting the entire herd away from Ponyville at the last minute. Once that had been accomplished, the farm mare tugged on her lasso and brought the brown spotted cow safely to a halt as the other cows did the same.

Ponyville was safe! "Attagirl, Winona!" Applejack praised her dog and gave her a pat on the forehead. Then,	with Winona eagerly barking, Applejack trotted over to the cows and spoke to them. "Now just what in the hay was that all about, girls?"

The brown spotted cow that had been leading the group gave out a moo, before clearing her throat and speaking. "Oh, terribly sorry, Applejack. But Moorella here said she saw one of those nasty snakes crawling about, and it just scared the willies out of us don'tcha know."

The farm mare smiled. "I understand, I don't like snakes much either. Just next time try to steer clear of Ponyville."

"Will do, Applejack," The brown spotted cow sincerely nodded. "Sorry if we caused ya any trouble."

"Nah. Besides, Winona needed the exercise," Applejack declared. "Now come on, back to your pen with ya. I think we've all had enough excitement for one day." She then led the cows away, though not before she and Winona briefly paused to let the town know all was well.

The citizens of Ponyville cheered loudly, and Mayor Mare flashed a smile as she adjusted her glasses. "See, everypony? I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Pinkie Pie then chimed in. "We should totally throw a big celebration to thank Applejack. She deserves it!"

Mayor Mare nodded. "What a splendid idea, Pinkie Pie. We can host it at Town Hall. After all, this is hardly the first time Applejack has come through for Ponyville in a time of need. It's about time she got the recognition she deserves."





Exactly one week after the stampede, the celebration thanking Applejack was set up and ready. A banner displaying Applejack's cutie mark hung above the front of Town Hall as a podium had been erected for various ponies to speak.

Twilight was overseeing the last of the preparations as she strolled around the make-shift stage. "We all ready?" She asked as she checked on Rarity.

"Almost, just one last thing," The fashionista replied as she used her magic to adjust a ribbon until she felt it was where it belonged. "There. Now we're ready."

Twilight smiled. "Great! Is Applejack ready for her big moment?"

But Rainbow Dash answered. "Actually, I haven't seen her all week and neither has anypony else."

"Not since the stampede," Pinkie Pie added. "It's like she just disappeared."

Spotting the nervous look Twilight began to adopt, Rainbow quickly declared. "But she'll be here for sure. Applejack is never late."

Twilight didn't say anything out loud, though in her mind she was thinking. "I sure hope so. I don't know what we'd do if something happened to Applejack without anypony knowing about it." She then trotted up to the podium. She had made a speech on a series of note cards and brought them close to her with her magic as she declared. "Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to-"

Twilight's speech was soon interrupted quite rudely by Rainbow Dash as the brash speedster swooped down and took over the podium! "Hey, you all saw Applejack's sick moves during the stampede, didn't you? What an athlete. I've never met anypony who can compete with me the way she can, and you know that's high praise coming from a pony like me. This week Applejack said she's gonna help me with a new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome." She put her hooves to her face not unlike she was about to blow somepony a kiss.

Rainbow was quickly pushed aside by Twilight's magic as the unicorn grunted. "Exactly. And that's why..."

But the speech was interrupted again, this time by Pinkie Pie who popped up right in front of Twilight! "Hey everypony, guess what? This week, I finally get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time." She announced with a massive smile on her face.

"And what does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight immediately questioned her pink coated friend.

The party pony only giggled as she pointed out. "Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Isn't that nice? Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony! Hope you all like rain muffins!" Several ponies in the crowd began to cheer as a result, probably more so for the free samples than anything else.

Trying her best to keep her annoyance from showing outwardly, Twilight gently used her magic to push Pinkie aside as she resumed speaking. "Oh-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter-"

As if on cue, Fluttershy cut in (albeit reluctantly). "Twilight?"

Twilight forced herself to sigh as she stepped aside yet again. "-rupted. Go ahead, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy did her best to sincerely apologize. "Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season," She explained. "She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills. The same ones she showed off during the stampede. Applejack really is a great friend," She then looked back to her unicorn friend. "Um, you can have the podium back now, Twilight."

And Twilight did so without hesitation. But before she resumed her speech she looked out at the crowd as she asked in a rather annoyed tone. "Well, anyone else? Anyone? No? Okay," And she floated over her stack of cards as she prepared to start up her speech again. "Well then, as I was trying to say-" However, she took one look off to her left and upon seeing Mayor Mare smiling at her she realized that there wasn't a point to going on. She stormed off the stage in frustration, her notes scattering on the ground in the process. "Urgh! Never mind. All that work wasted!"

Mayor Mare simply cleared her throat. "Sorry, Twilight. But this was my idea. We can't be here all day you know," And then she gave her own speech as she stood beside a huge, shiny golden trophy. "Ah-ahem. And so, with no further ado, it is my great privilege to give the prize: Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Applejack!"

The crowd began to cheer quite audibly with even Spike chiming in! "Cool! Way to go Applejack, that was awesome!" But he stopped cheering when he realized (along with the rest of the crowd) that Applejack was nowhere in sight. "Well, this is awkward." He commented with a blush.

Mayor Mare, meanwhile, was trying her best not to look embarrassed. "N-not to worry, everypony," She tried to reassure them. "I'm... sure Applejack will be here any minute, she's probably just a bit tied up with work or something. Happens all the time." She gave off a nervous laugh as she hoped the crowd would buy into that suggestion.





Sure enough, Applejack showed up. But it was clear to all who saw her that the farm mare wasn't in the best of shape. Her mane and tail had a few loose ends sticking out, she had faintly visible bags underneath her eyes and she appeared to have two little sacks holding apples on either side of her. "I'm here! I'm here!" She declared before yawning, spilling several apples from her sacks in the process. "Sorry I'm late--whoa--I was just... whoa... Did I get your tail?" In a rather clumsy fashion, she stumbled her way up to the podium.

Mayor Mare and several other ponies observing this display were too shocked to know what to say.

Applejack somewhat forcibly pushed the mayor aside as she spoke. "Miss Mayor. Thank you kindly for this here... award thingy," She made her way over to it and stared at the trophy at length, yawning again as she did so. "It's so bright and shiny and," The farm mare giggled upon seeing the way her face was reflected in the trophy's surface. "I sure do look funny." She started making funny noises as Pinkie Pie joined in.

"Uh, is everything okay, Applejack?" Twilight questioned her farm friend. "You seem a bit... different today."

Applejack yawned yet again. "It ain't anythin' you need to worry yourself about, sugarcube. Just a bit tired from workin' hard, that's all. You know me. I like helpin' all the ponyfolks and stuff," She yawned again and then began to snore before quickly shaking herself awake. "Huh, what?!" She quickly seemed to regain her composure as the earth pony smiled, taking her trophy with her. "Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, Thanks. See ya around." And her exit was accompanied by the sounds of the trophy being dragged across the ground.

The farm mare was hardly out of sight when Twilight sought to express her concerns over her friend's state of appearance. "Girls, tell me something. Was it just me, or does anypony else think Applejack seemed a little bit... well..."

"Tired?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy added, having taken notice of the way Applejack had been clumsily stumbling about.

"Messy?" Rarity chimed in, causing the others to stare at her. The fashionista was quick to defend herself. "Well you saw the state her mane was in. Applejack wouldn't just let it get out of shape like that. Trust me, I speak from experience."

At that Rainbow realized. "Oh, right, you two were friends when you were fillies."

Pinkie Pie, however, just declared with a smile. "Applejack sure seemed fine to me. She's made of tough stuff, I'm sure she'll bounce back in no time. Besides, she was clearly having fun," And she imitated the funny sounds Applejack had been making earlier. "Woo! Woo!"

But Twilight wasn't convinced. She suspected that something was up and she was going to find out what it was.





Sometime later, Twilight decided to stop by Sweet Apple Acres, thinking that it was the best way to see if her suspicions were correct. And if they were correct, the unicorn also secretly hoped she might be able to find out what could be done to fix the problem. Although still new to the concept of friendship she knew it was never good to just ignore a friend when they weren't acting like themselves.

Applejack was right in the middle of the apple orchard grounds, and although it was the middle of the day she had her eyes closed and was snoring quite audibly. She hadn't even bothered to lay down, she was sleeping right where she stood.

With her concerns seemingly validated, Twilight trotted up to her friend to try to start a conversation. "Hey Applejack!" She greeted, only for Applejack to continue snoring. She tried to speak louder to catch her friend's attention. "Applejack," But there was still no reply, and Twilight just pressed harder and louder. "Applejack. APPLEJACK! WAKE UP!"

That did the trick, Applejack all but leaped up in shock as her eyes rapidly fluttered open. "Huh? Oh, howdy, Twilight," She sincerely greeted. "Sorry, must've dozed off again. Don't know why I ain't gettin' a good night's sleep lately."

"Never mind that," Twilight shook her head. "What's all this?" She gestured a hoof to the surrounding orchard grounds and the many apple buckets that lay scattered about.

Applejack just bluntly answered. "It's Applebuck Season, Twilight."

Twilight blinked. "Applewhat now?"

The farm mare tried not to groan. "Right, you're still new to town. You don't know yet," And with a sigh she explained. "Applebuck Season is what the Apple family calls harvestin' time. We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell 'em."

"But why are you doing it all by yourself?" Twilight questioned with concern.

"'Cause Big Mac got injured, Granny Smith's old body is too delicate for buckin' and Apple Bloom ain't old enough to know how yet," Applejack explained. "And my folks ain't available either, they passed away long ago."

"Yeah, I know that. It was one of the first things I learned about you," Twilight nodded her head before asking. "But what about all those relatives Spike and I met when we first came to Ponyville? Why aren't they helping?"

Applejack pointed out with a sigh. "They were just stoppin' by for the annual Apple Family Reunion. They actually live all over Equestria and are busy harvestin' their own orchards. So, uh, I'm completely on my own," When Twilight refused to step aside, the farm mare added. "Which means, I should really get back to work if you know what I'm sayin'," Yet Twilight still wouldn't move. "Ahem," Applejack cleared her throat. "Uh, hint hint? 'Get back to work'?"

Reluctantly, Twilight sighed. "Oh, very well."

"Great," The farm mare smiled before adding. "Er, could you step aside please, Twilight?"

Twilight blinked in surprise and confusion as she declared. "What do you mean? I already did," And sure enough, if one looked they would see that she had already moved and was no longer blocking Applejack's path. It was now obvious to the unicorn that her friend was working herself to the point of exhaustion, and something needed to be done before her farm friend would be too worn out to do anything at all. "You want some help, Applejack? I've got some time and Spike can take care of himself for a few hours."

The offer of help was quickly rejected as Applejack protested. "Help? No way, no how. Everythin''s under control."

"But there's no way you can possibly do all of that harvesting on your own." Twilight spoke up with sincere concern.

In response, Applejack glared at Twilight as she asked. "Is that a challenge, sugarcube? I don't take such talk lightly, ya know."

"It was just a suggestion," Twilight nervously insisted as she reluctantly backed down. "But you really should consider it."

"Is that so?" Applejack retorted with a snort. "Well, I'm gonna prove to you that I can do it!" But because she wasn't watching where she was going, she ended up hitting her head on a tree branch and thus caused herself to dizzily stumble off while saying. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more apples to buck."

Reluctantly, Twilight decided not to press any further and instead left Sweet Apple Acres. In her mind though, she was thinking to herself. "I hope I'm not making a terrible mistake. Applejack's in way over her head."





About a day or two later, Rainbow Dash was waiting impatiently for Applejack on the outskirts of town. She was even perched atop a fence not unlike a bird until Applejack showed up. "There you are. You sure took your sweet time." She rudely remarked, not appearing to notice how exhausted and sleep deprived her friend seemed to be.

Applejack's mane and tail were now much more disheveled and the bags under her green eyes had now become much more pronounced. After letting out a yawn she apologized. "I'm a mite sorry, Rainbow. I was busy applebuckin' and I guess ah, I just closed my eyes for a second and, when I woke up, I was late. I got here as soon as I could after that, though," Then she asked her fellow athlete. "Now remind me again, what's this new trick a' yours you said you needed my help with?"

Rainbow led Applejack over to a catapult that had been set up underneath what looked like a high dive platform you might see at a swimming pool. "See this contraption?" Rainbow inquired.

"Uh... Yeah. I'm guessin' it's part of the trick?" Applejack inquired right back.

Rainbow nodded in confirmation and explained her plan, all the while in her mind picturing the incredible maneuvers she was going to pull off. "Well, I'm gonna stand on one end, then you're gonna jump down from that platform up there, launching me into the air faster than I can take off on my own. Then once I'm in the air, I'm gonna do some amazing flips and spins that are sure to impress the Wonderbolts. No way will they miss it!"

The earth pony mare was understandably concerned by what had just been explained to her. "I don't know. Isn't all of that a mite dangerous, sugarcube?"

"Not for a pony who can fly, like me!" Rainbow declared as she unfolded her wings. "Or did you forget that?"

Applejack shook her head. "No. Guess I got nothin' to worry about then."

"Exactly," Rainbow smiled as she got onto the end of the catapult close to the ground. "Now get on up there and wait for my signal!" She couldn't see from the ground that her friend's vision was becoming blurry from lack of sleep, making it impossible to accurately judge where to land. "Ready? One... two... THREE!"

Applejack jumped and missed the other end, landing on the ground with a thud. Luckily, she wasn't hurt. But Rainbow Dash was more than a little annoyed by her friend's mistake. "Umm... maybe I wasn't clear. You're supposed to land on the other end. Now get back up there and try it again!" The brash speedster commanded.

"Right," Applejack nodded. "Sorry about that, I'll get it right this time. Promise." But she ended up missing the other end again, and again and again.

It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to lose what little patience she hadn't already lost from waiting for her friend earlier. "Applejack, what the hay is going on? I mean, I thought I was working with Ponyville's best athlete! Or should I just take back that title now?"

"No no, that won't be necessary," The farm mare insisted. "I'm still Ponyville's best athlete. Really," And then she got an idea. "Watch this," She pulled down the other end completely, which only prompted her pegasus friend to glare at her. "Oh... Maybe not. Okay, one more try. I'm sure to get it this time," She insisted, not realizing that by relieving pressure on the other end she was forcing the end Rainbow stood on back down and thus causing the pegasus to be slammed to the ground. Her blurred vision prevented her from seeing this, however, as she instead declared. "Heh heh... Here I go!"

A horrified Rainbow screamed! "Wait..." But her warning came too late to stop what was coming. Before she had a chance to react she was launched into the air from her grounded position, not in the take off ready form she'd had earlier. "Applejaaaaack!" She cried at the top of her lungs before disappearing in a twinkle.

Applejack just looked up and smiled, not realizing she'd messed up. "You're welcome!" She called and trotted away to get back to applebucking.

As for Rainbow, the brash speedster didn't have far to travel before she found herself crash landing directly into the balcony of the Golden Oak Library.

Twilight looked up from the book she'd been reading, completely un-phased by the sight that greeted her eyes. "Ah, Rainbow Dash. Nice of you to drop by unannounced," She remarked in a dry tone of voice. "Can I help you?"

Rainbow just replied in an even drier tone of voice. "I think somepony else needs your help more, and I think we both know who I'm talking about."

"Let me guess, Applejack?" Twilight questioned and received a confirming nod. The unicorn with a light purple coat groaned as she stood up. "Like I don't have anything better to do than to straighten her out." And she trotted away to head for Sweet Apple Acres.

The brash speedster just remarked with a groan. "Yeah, don't mind me, Twilight. I'll just hang around. I have nothing better to do too." But her complaint went unheard to all except her.





It wasn't a very long walk to get to Sweet Apple Acres from the library, but unfortunately for Twilight by the time she arrived in the orchard Applejack was not only further sleep deprived but had also hit her head on another branch. As a result, the farm mare was having a hard time hearing what her friend was trying to say.

"Applejack, can we talk?" Twilight questioned her friend.

Applejack completely misunderstood as she shouted back. "Can bees squawk? I don't think so! Why do you ask?"

"No," Twilight replied, slightly confused by the misunderstanding. "I said 'Can we talk?'"

But Applejack shouted back. "Twenty stalks? Bean or celery? Take your pick."

"No, you're not listening to me!" Twilight replied again, starting to groan a bit as she cleared her throat. "I need to talk to you."

"You need to walk to the zoo?" Applejack asked as she was still unable to understand what Twilight was saying. "Well, what's stoppin' ya? Somepony givin' ya trouble?"

Groaning, Twilight all but shouted. "No, I said 'I need to talk to you'."

This time Applejack managed to hear correctly. "Oh, well why didn't ya just say so?" But her voice was still at shouting level, probably because in her sleep deprived state she didn't realize how loud she sounded. "What is you wanna talk about? Make it quick, I gotta get back to work."

The unicorn cleared her throat as she explained. "Well, Rainbow Dash dropped in to see me today. Quite literally in fact."

"Oh, that's quite neighborly of her." Applejack smiled.

"It would be, except for the fact that she crashed onto my balcony," Twilight pointed out. "It wasn't hard to put two and two together and find out that was because of you. You sent her hurling through the air."

The farm mare blushed upon realizing this. "Oh, I did? Gosh, I am so sorry, Twilight. Really. I'm just not feelin' like myself today, that's all."

Twilight shook her head. "That's because you're working too hard and you need help, Applejack."

"Kelp?! What's this about kelp?!" Applejack questioned as she blinked in confusion. "I don't even like seaweed, Twilight. You're not makin' a lick of sense."

"HELP!" Twilight bellowed at the top of her lungs as she lost her patience. "You need HELP! Please, before anypony else gets hurt because of you."

"Come now, Twilight, Rainbow's gonna be just fine. It was an honest mistake," Applejack stubbornly insisted. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't need help! Not from you and not from anypony!" She trotted away, only to bang her head on yet another tree branch. "Thanks for stoppin' by, but if you don't mind I'd like to get a few more trees bucked before I have to go and help Fluttershy. Maybe I'll even have time for a quick nap."

Twilight could only groan in frustration as she saw her exhausted friend clumsily stumble away. It seemed like there was nothing she could say or do to convince Applejack to take a break. " Ugh. I swear, that pony is as stubborn as a mule," When she heard a braying sound she turned around and said to a nearby mule. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken." The mule replied with a sincere smile, causing Twilight to breath a small sigh of relief.





Later that same day, Applejack had joined Fluttershy to help with the bunny census as promised. The bags under her eyes had now gotten so noticeable that they seemed like they could drag down her entire face. But she still insisted it was nothing, and Fluttershy wasn't anywhere near as willing to press on the subject like Twilight was. 

"Oh Applejack! Thank you so much for offering your herding skills for the annual rabbit roundup," The shy pegasus smiled at her friend. "I really couldn't think of anypony else to help on such short notice."

An exhausted Applejack just yawned and groaned while trotting along. "Yeah yeah yeah. But uh, remind me again why it is we're doin' this?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you," Fluttershy sincerely apologized as she believed this had to be due to an omission on her part. "Lots of new baby bunnies have been born over the past few months, so it's my job to get a count of all the new families. The only problem I have is getting them all in one place for the census. That's where you and your impressive herding skills come into play."

Applejack nodded and then groaned. "Alright, sounds easy enough. Can we get on it with, please? I'm still nowhere close to bein' done with all my applebuckin'. It's weird, I've never had a problem buckin' trees on my own before. Don't why I'm havin' so much trouble this time."

"You're sure you don't need any help?" Fluttershy offered.

"Don't you go gettin' on my case too, Fluttershy!" Applejack snorted while glaring at her friend. "I don't tell you how to do your job, so don't be tellin' me how to do mine!" Then she realized her mistake as she apologized. "Sorry, Fluttershy. Didn't mean to yell at ya just then. Don't know what came over me."

The pegasus with a beautiful yellow coat just nodded, happy to defuse an argument before it could escalate. "It's alright, you're probably just cranky because you had to wake up from your nap to help me. Don't worry, this won't take very long," But she was quick to warn. "Just remember, Applejack, these are bunnies we're dealing with, not cows. They're a timid bunch and need to be treated gently. You can't chase them like you do with cows when they break away from their pen."

But the farm mare only snapped back. "I do NOT need any direction on corrallin' critters. Right, Winona?" She got an answer from her loyal dog in the form of a bark.

Although concerned by the response, Fluttershy didn't say anything to Applejack as she instead turned her attention to the bunnies. "Okay, little bunnies! I need you to all gather here in the middle." She instructed.

Applejack stomped a hoof down and glared directly at the bunnies as she ordered. "That's right! Let's go, bunnies. In the center, now! Hop to it," But the bunnies naturally resented being ordered about so roughly when they were used to Fluttershy's gentle coaxing. This only served to make the farm mare even more impatient and annoyed. "Swell, just swell," She sarcastically commented. "I've seen pigs during bathin' time put up less of a fight," And she whistled. "Put 'em up, Winona!"

Winona obeyed without question, chasing after the bunnies and forcing them to huddle close together in the designated area Fluttershy had set up to count them all in.

Fluttershy quickly became alarmed by what she was seeing, and she tried to raise her voice! "Applejack! Winona! Stop! You're scaring them. This is NOT what I wanted you to do!"

Applejack refused to listen, her lack of sleep made it impossible for her to think clearly. "We know what we're doin'. Now get along, little bunnies." Unfortunately, doing this caused the bunnies to panic. Eventually, they broke free from their huddle and started running away! Applejack and Winona chased after them, which only served to frighten the bunnies even more! And poor Fluttershy couldn't keep up with the two as the bunnies were driven right into town.

Rainbow Dash spotted the frightened bunnies from afar and gave the warning! "Stampede!" She shouted again, and just like the week before ponies started running to and fro, searching for any kind of shelter! One mare failed to find shelter, and collapsed and fell to the ground as the bunnies ran to either side of her.





It was all over in a matter of minutes, but although the bunnies were nowhere near as destructive as the cows from the week prior would've been they still inflicted a lot of damage.

Twilight was the first to stumble across the "devastation" as she came trotting through the center of town, her moderate violet eyes taking in the sights of ponies laying in the streets as if some great tragedy had overtaken them. "What the?!" She exclaimed with a gasp. "What happened here?!"

One of the three earth pony mares known collectively as the Flower Trio was the first to speak up. She had a very pale yellow coat, pale, light grayish green eyes and a mane and tail moderate raspberry in color with lighter raspberry streaks throughout. Her cutie mark was a rose. "The horror, the horror." She weakly cried.

The next in the trio to speak up was an earth pony mare who had a pale, light grayish raspberry coat. She sported pale, light grayish gold eyes, a light amber mane and tail with pale amber highlights and a cutie mark depicting three lilies (she even had a lily in her mane). "It was awful, just awful." She cried in an equally weak tone of voice.

In a tone of voice just as weak as the others, the third and final earth pony spoke up. She had a pale magenta coat, moderate spring green eyes, a pale, light grayish lime green mane and tail and a cutie mark depicting two daises. "A disaster. A horrible, horrible disaster. That's what it was."

"I don't get it." Twilight blinked as she looked all around. There weren't many signs of outward destruction.

The pale, light grayish raspberry coated earth pony was the first to try and explain. "Look around you! Our gardens, destroyed."

"Every last flower, devoured." The pale yellow coated earth pony answered.

And the pale magenta coated earth pony then exclaimed in horror! "By... by... THEM!" And she pointed a hoof to where several bunnies were eating up all the flowers in a pony's flower garden.

Fluttershy was trying to get the bunnies to stop but they were too busy with their snack to listen to a word she said.

Twilight sighed as she trotted off towards Sweet Apple Acres. The unicorn had a pretty good idea as to what had caused the bunnies to run loose and devour every flower in Ponyville.





Sure enough, an exhausted Applejack was at work in the fields once again. She was constantly drifting in and out of sleep, to the point where she ended up tipping a cart full of apples over, and falling asleep right on the spot with her body suspended upside down.

"Applejack, we need to talk. This has gone far enough." Twilight sternly declared.

Applejack's eyes fluttered open as she found herself still upside down. "Wha, huh? Oh, it's just you, Twilight," Then she yawned again. "I know what you're gonna say, but the answer is still no."

"Not to upset your applecart, but you need help," Twilight remarked with a frown. "You just unleashed a stampede of hungry bunnies on Ponyville. It'll take weeks for new flowers to grow to replace the ones those bunnies just gobbled up."

Applejack just groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you, Twilight? I don't need your help! Watch, I'll get this here cart back to how it should be all by myself," With a series of grunts she managed to eventually right herself, even as Twilight could only put a hoof to her face at how beyond stubborn her friend was being. "There!" The farm mare said at last as she finally had her hooves on solid ground. "See? All by myself, just like always. And I ain't in the mood for a lecture. I'm sorry about the bunnies, but it's their own fault for not cooperatin'."

"Do you even hear yourself?!" Twilight complained with narrowed eyes. "I can't let you go on like this, Applejack! You're destroying yourself and your reputation."

The stetson wearing earth pony just snorted and turned her back to Twilight, she wasn't willing to listen to this conversation any longer. "I'll prove that this here Apple can handle these apples. I ain't a liar and I ain't a quitter," She proceeded to trot over to a nearby tree and started kicking it, quickly losing her patience when the apples didn't drop from the tree like they should. "Come on, apples! Fall off already! What are you waitin' for?!" She complained as she started kicking the tree over and over again.

"Uh, Applejack," Twilight pointed out. "I think you might be beating a dead... well... tree."

Sure enough, Applejack looked up and her sap green eyes saw that the tree was completely empty. She quickly tried to save face. "Oh, I knew that. I did."

"Applejack, please, you're not acting like yourself anymore!" Twilight pleaded. "I mean it when I say somepony's gonna get hurt badly or worse if you keep this up. If you'd just let me help you just this once-"

But Applejack defensively and stubbornly bellowed. "No, no, NO, Twilight! If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times already! I don't need help and I don't want help! Now please leave me alone! All this talk is makin' me late to help Pinkie Pie with bakin'. Don't try to stop me!" She promptly shoved her friend aside, storming off with steam still billowing out of her nostrils.

Twilight gulped hard. "This isn't going to end well, I just know it." But she wasn't sure what she could or should do in this situation. She didn't wanna make it seem like she didn't trust Applejack.





Applejack had fortunately managed to cool down a little by the time she made it to Sugarcube Corner. The Cakes were getting ready to step out and leave Pinkie Pie in charge for the first time.

"Now Pinkie Pie, are you absolutely sure you're up for baking the muffins and running the store this afternoon all by yourself?" Mrs. Cake asked her pink coated charge. Mrs. Cake was a plump earth pony mare with a lovely very light blue coat, brilliant rose eyes and a pinkish mane and tail styled up to look like frosting on a cupcake. Fittingly, her cutie mark depicted three cupcakes.

Pinkie Pie just gave a salute as she sincerely replied. "Yes siree bob, Mrs. Cake. Plus, I have Ponyville's prized pony to help me out. Why, she's the best baker ever. Right, Applejack?"

But Applejack was too tired to think clearly and ended up shaking her head.

"Wait, no? You mean you're not the best baker ever?" Mr. Cake asked. He was a lanky earth pony stallion with a light brilliant amber coat, moderate green eyes and a light brilliant orange mane and tail. His cutie mark was three cut carrot cakes.

Applejack realized her mistake as she quickly corrected herself. "What? Oh no! I mean, don't you fret, Mr. Cake. I can bake anythin' from fritters to pies in the blink of an eye. Pinkie Pie and I have it all covered."

"You two enjoy yourselves," Pinkie said to the Cakes. "Everything will be a-okay here. I remember everything you've taught me."

After looking across to her husband, Mrs. Cake nervously answered. "All right then, I guess. Just try not to make too much of a mess. Well, see you later, girls!"

"Better get started on the muffins right away," Mr. Cake added as he and his wife headed out the door. "Customers are already starting to line up for those free samples."

Once the Cakes had left Applejack began to shake violently from side to side. Pinkie quickly put a stop to it by putting her hooves to either side of Applejack's face. "Hey! Stop with the shakin', it's time to get bakin'. I'll get started on the recipe, and you bring me the ingredients when I ask for them. Deal?"

The farm mare agreed. "Yeah, that should be simple enough." But she was already finding it hard to stay awake, and even harder to hear just what was being said to her. She didn't want to say anything though because she knew Pinkie would probably say the same thing Twilight and Fluttershy had said to her earlier.





Sometime later, Twilight happened to trotting through town when the Cakes came rushing up to her! "Twilight, have you heard?!" Mrs. Cake frantically exclaimed as her eyes appeared to have widened and her husband looked about ready to faint!

"Heard what?! Did something happen at Sugarcube Corner?!" Twilight asked as she was suddenly stricken with a sense of dread!

"It's Pinkie Pie!" Mr. Cake explained in a rapid paced tone of voice! "She's sick, really sick! The kind of sick that sends you to the hospital!"

At that Twilight immediately leaped to her hooves! "When did this happen?!"

"We just found out for ourselves a minute ago, Applejack rushed her over to Ponyville General Hospital and then took off to get back to applebucking!" Mrs. Cake answered. "My husband and I were just on our way to the hospital ourselves, we haven't told anypony else yet."

Twilight quickly accompanied the frightened earth ponies to Ponyville General Hospital, and they were soon greeted by an earth pony nurse with a pristine (almost powder) white coat. She had sapphire blue eyes that looked innocent and gentle, and a light pinkish-gray mane and tail. Her cutie mark matched the symbol on her nurse's cap perfectly: A pink cross outline with a red heart in the center as well as in each corner.

"Nurse, do you know where Pinkie Pie is?!" Mr. Cake questioned the nurse pony. "My wife and I are the ones who provide her room and board in return for her working with us."

The nurse pony smiled. "My name is Nurse Redheart. And don't worry, Pinkie Pie is already in recovery. Applejack got her over here in a hurry, and we don't believe Pinkie ate anything truly harmful. She should be okay once she gets it all out of her system. I'll lead you to her."

The Cakes and Twilight were soon brought to a hospital room where a green in the face Pinkie Pie greeted them, a wooden bucket placed nearby for what seemed like obvious reasons. "Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake," Pinkie weakly called to the both of them. "There was... a mishap."

"With the baked goods?" Mrs. Cake questioned Pinkie.

Pinkie retorted with a shake of her head. "No, not baked goods. Baked bads." Then she turned her head as she groaned, feeling sick to her stomach.

"What was the last thing she ate?" Twilight questioned Nurse Redheart.

"According to Pinkie Pie, it was one of the rain muffins she was going to offer as a free sample to everypony," Nurse Redheart explained. "We're running tests on what might have been in the muffin she ate as we speak."

Mr. Cake, meanwhile, asked his pink coated apprentice. "Pinkie, do you remember anything about the muffins? Did you feed them to anypony else?"

Pinkie turned her head back around as her stomach had temporarily settled down. "I was going to," She weakly answered to Mr. Cake. "But something about them didn't smell right. Applejack was bringing the ingredients so I didn't get to see what she put in. She must've messed up somehow while I wasn't looking, because I swear I saw a worm poke out from my muffin after I ate it. The next thing I knew I was on the floor," She sighed and hung her head. "I'm so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I let you down."

But Mrs. Cake spoke kindly to Pinkie instead. "It wasn't your fault, Pinkie Pie. You had the right idea taste testing the muffins when something didn't seem right. But next time, don't eat something if you're not sure it was prepared properly. Don't worry, you'll get another chance to run Sugarcube Corner on your own once you're feeling better."

Twilight, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes as she declared to herself. "All right, that's it! Enough is enough. This madness ends now!"





Twilight once again found Applejack hard at work in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, and it was truly a miracle that the farm mare hadn't collapsed completely from exhaustion already. It looked like it was a struggle for her just to stay awake.

But after what Twilight had just witnessed she knew that she couldn't let Applejack continue to refuse help. It was obvious to the unicorn that Applejack had unintentionally been responsible for giving Pinkie Pie a bad case of food poisoning. Who knew what would happen if Applejack was allowed to "help" anypony else in her current state? So the unicorn trotted up to Applejack as she cleared her throat. "Alright, Applejack. I know you don't wanna hear a lecture from me but too bad, you're getting a lecture whether you like it or not! This is something you need to hear!"

"Twilight, please! I'm almost done and then I can finally rest!" Applejack defensively retorted.

Twilight wasn't persuaded for even a second. "Sorry, Applejack, but you're not the only one who's been having problems because of your applebucking. In just the past few days you've over-propelled a pegasus, terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies and now you've nearly poisoned plenty of ponies. My only mistake was letting you go without help for this long. I don't care what you say anymore. You. Need. Help!"

However, with one final kick Applejack saw and felt apples fall into her baskets. And she smiled as she realized what these apples meant. "Ha! No, I don't," Then she boasted. "Look around you, Twilight. I harvested every single apple from every single tree here on Sweet Apple Acres, and I did it without anypony's help at all. So how d'ya like them apples?"

But just then a familiar red colored hoof tapped Applejack on the shoulder as a still injured Big Macintosh pointed out. "Um, how do you like them apples?" He gestured a hoof to several apple trees that still had yet to be harvested.

Applejack stared out at the unbucked trees in disbelief! How could she have overlooked them for so long?! "What?! But... how did... where did... s-so many... I mean..." And just like that the last of her strength left her as the farm mare collapsed to the ground.

The farm mare awoke sometime later to find Twilight standing directly over her. "Oh, good, you're okay. You had me worried there for a moment," The unicorn sighed in relief before continuing her lecture. "Now Applejack, listen, I completely respect you and the Apple family ways. It's great that you're always there to help anypony in need, so maybe you could put a little bit of that stubborn pride of yours aside and finally allow your friends to help you."

Surprisingly, Applejack agreed without hesitation. She'd lost any will to put up a fight. "Okay, Twilight. You win. I can't do this on my own."

"I am not taking 'no' for an answer," Twilight went on, briefly unaware of her friend's response. "Wait? You mean, you agree?"

Applejack nodded. "I do, Twilight. My whole body feels ready to give out on me. I couldn't buck another tree even if I wanted to," And she put her hooves together in a pleading motion. "So can you please help me?"

"I sure can," Twilight smiled in satisfaction. "In fact, I think all our friends can, even Pinkie Pie. Once she gets out of the hospital anyway."





A day later when Pinkie was back to full health and Applejack had had a chance to give her aching body a rest, all six mares who had recently become friends were hard at work finishing up the rest of the harvesting at Sweet Apple Acres. With everypony pitching in the work went much faster.

As work was drawing to a close, Twilight was dictating a letter to Spike to send to Princess Celestia. And it read went like this:

Dear Princess Celestia,

My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help anypony at the drop of a hat. She believes in honest work and keeping your commitments. 

The only trouble is, whenever she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it. She seems to think that if she already said she can do something on her own, saying she can't makes her a liar. When there's really nothing more honest you can do than admit you need help. 

So while friendship is all about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer. And it's important to understand that nopony is meant to do everything on their own. We shouldn't be afraid to admit when we're in over our heads, preferably before things really get out of hoof.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

"Did you get all of that, Spike?" Twilight asked her baby dragon companion and number one assistant.

Spike nodded as he rolled up the scroll. "Yup. This'll make a fine letter to the princess. And yours truly just struck up a friendship with Big Macintosh. It's nice to have guys to talk to about guy things for a change."

Twilight giggled as she playfully ribbed the baby dragon. "Oh Spike, never change."

Spike just replied by breathing fire on the scroll, sending it to Princess Celestia through the use of his dragon magic.

Shortly thereafter, Applejack came out into the fields, pushing a cart full of refreshing beverages for all of her friends as she called out. "How about y'all take a little break? I got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya! You too, Spike," As the six ponies and one dragon all gathered around the beverage holding cart, Applejack then declared. "Now, I wanna thank you all again for your help. And I wanna apologize for how much of a mess I made of things tryin' to help you all out the way I did. I was actin' a bit stubborn."

"Really? Just a bit?" Twilight couldn't help but rib her farm friend.

Applejack didn't even sigh as she corrected. "Okay. A mite stubborn, and I'm awful sorry."

"It's alright, Applejack," Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Everypony makes mistakes. We know you didn't mean to do the things you did."

"But maybe next time you should be careful not to take on too many commitments during applebuck season," Rarity pointed out. "Especially if you're shorthoofed for the occasion."

Applejack nodded. "Believe me, girls. If I ever find myself facin' down another big harvest like this, you'll be the first ones to know if I need some extra hooves," Then she smiled. "I'm proud to consider you all as honorary Apples, and that includes you, Spike." Then all seven friends raised their glasses of apple juice at the same time, cementing their new bond.