A few more days had passed and Amethyst had introduced herself to more of the ponies, slowly rebuilding the friendships she had left behind. She understood the difficulty of this task, but was eager to help out in just about any situation.
So it was early one fine morning when Applejack and her big brother MacIntosh ventured to a hilltop in the middle of the apple orchard, taking in the view of the large number of trees bearing ripe fruit. MacIntosh had hurt himself and was bandaged up around his midsection, but his sister reassured him she'd be able to harvest all the apples by herself, though she questioned her resolve when the enormity of the orchard came into focus. It was at that point that the dark purple unicorn happened to approach the two earth ponies.
"Morning, AJ, Mac. How's it going?" she asked, flashing a smile, which faltered a little when she saw Mac's injury.
"Mornin', Ammy. Ya know it's applebuck season 'round here, got lots o' trees to buck," the orange mare stated.
"You need any help? That looks like at least a thousand trees out there," Amethyst stated as she surveyed the orchard.
"I don't need any help! I'm gonna buck every last tree or my name ain't Applejack!"
"I know you'd be willing to help your sister, Mac, if you weren't hurt. Have you tried talking to her about how long it'll take for her to do all that work by herself?"
"Ee-yup. But when I told her that one pony plus hundreds of trees don't add up, she just told me not to muddy things up with my fancy mathematics," the red stallion replied.
"As long as I'm here, though, I wouldn't mind helping -- the Princess told me I should try to help wherever I can," the purple mare smiled.
"Have ya tried the bakery? Pinkie could always use some extra help," Applejack suggested.
"Okay, AJ, I'll head over there. But let me know if you want some help in the orchard -- this looks like too much work for just one pony," Amethyst said, a slight look of concern on her face. She bade her good-byes to the farmers and trotted toward Sugarcube Corner to help Pinkie Pie.
"Ya know ya shouldn't refuse help when it's offered, sis," her brother offered.
"No can do! Ah'm gonna do it, and ah'm gonna do it by myself!" she insisted.
As Amethyst trotted back into town, she heard a loud rumbling from off in the distance. Rainbow Dash had leapt into the air to get a better view of the situation, shouting a single word to warn the residents.
"STAMPEDE!!" shouted the cyan pegasus as the townsponies scurried about, panicking over what could become a dangerous situation. The pink party pony allowed the vibration of the ground to cause her to bounce oddly as she expressed her amusement by stating that it allowed her voice to sound silly.
"Pinkie Pie, run!" shouted Twilight as everypony else galloped for cover, closing doors and windows, and in once case, pulling in the welcome mat. The Mayor was trying to calm everypony down, a sight which made a certain dark purple unicorn chuckle at the irony of the situation. She watched as the stampeding herd of cattle approached the town, then witnessed Applejack and her dog Winona steer the herd clear, bringing them to a stop safely outside the edge of town, which elicited cheers of support and adulation for the farmer's success.
The pink party pony held -- what else -- a party to celebrate the event and Applejack was to be presented at the town hall with the Prized Pony of Ponyville Trophy, though every time Twilight tried to introduce the farmer, she was rudely interrupted by her other friends. Ultimately, the librarian was forced to relinquish the podium to the Mayor, who formally introduced Applejack, though when the curtain she was supposed to be standing behind was empty, the gathered ponies wondered where she was.
"She's coming from another direction," Amethyst stated, pointing a hoof towards the approaching orange earth pony, who took the podium looking very tired, bags under her eyes. She groggily addressed the crowd, but found her reflection in the trophy to be far more interesting, Pinkie Pie joining her in making funny faces as the two earth ponies giggled at their distorted reflections before Applejack addressed the throng of ponies, yawning a few times before she dragged the trophy back to her farm using her teeth.
"Something's wrong with her," Twilight mused. "Did she look a little tired to you?"
"She's been in her orchard, bucking trees nonstop," her housemate stated flatly. "I offered to help, but she refused, claiming she could harvest all the apples. There's at least a thousand trees in that orchard -- she's never going to be able to get to all of them before the fruit goes bad."
"I'm going to pay her a visit on her farm, Amethyst. Take care of the library for me, would you please?"
"AJ's pretty stubborn sometimes, Twi. I wish you best of luck trying to persuade her to accept help on this one. I think she's going to need to learn this lesson the hard way," the purple mare mused.
"AJ's supposed to help me with my new moves so I can impress the Wonderbolts," Rainbow stated.
"She's supposed to help me with my new muffin recipe," Pinkie mused.
"She promised to help me with the rabbits," Fluttershy added softly.
"She can't do all that and harvest the apples in her orchard at the same time -- that's a recipe for disaster," Amethyst deduced. "Seeya later guys, I'm gonna head back to the library. Spike? You coming with?"
"Yeah, I'll head back with you, Ammy," he said flatly and hopped onto the purple mare's back as she trotted back home.
"Spike, I'm thinking about sending a letter to the Princess about this," the purple mare mused.
"Twilight's gonna take care of this, Ammy. I've been her assistant longer than you, and you don't know her as well as I do. Trust me, she's fully capable of handling this without your interference," the dragon responded, just a slight hint of anger in his voice.
"I suppose so, Spike, but I didn't like how AJ was acting -- yawning and spilling apples out of her baskets, then acting silly when she saw her reflection in the trophy. Pinkie Pie I can understand, AJ not so much."
"Don't let it get to you, Ammy. If you wanna send a letter to the Princess, I'm not gonna stop you," Spike stated as the two reached the library.
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Twilight watched Applejack as she bucked trees, yawning occasionally, then shaking her head to try to clear the cobwebs of fatigue. At one point, her attempt to buck a tree met with empty air, then the following buck knocked over a bushel of apples, frustrating the farmer. She slowly trotted around the spilled fruit, but dozed off as her fatigue had grown so great. The lavender mare called to her friend, but was far enough away that her attempt to wake the dozing farmer failed. She lit her horn and teleported directly in front of the earth pony and called her name loudly a couple of times, successfully waking the farmer, who shook the cobwebs loose again.
"What is all this?" the librarian asked, slightly confused by the sight of many trees and baskets overflowing with apples.
Applejack explained to her friend about the harvest and when asked why she was doing it alone, she explained that her brother had hurt himself. A further inquiry as to where the farmer's other relatives the librarian had encountered on her first visit was met with a response that they were only present for a family reunion and that the various relatives lived all over Equestria and were busy with their own harvests. The lavender mare teleported directly in front of the farmer, blocking her progress, further frustrating the farmer who insisted on returning to work and asking the librarian to step aside.
"Would you like some help?" Twilight asked, genuinely concerned for her friend's health.
Applejack shook the cobwebs loose again and persisted in her stubbornness, resoundingly refusing the librarian's assistance, causing her to bite her lower lip to prevent herself from saying something she might regret later. Dejectedly, she turned and left the farm for the friendlier confines of her library.
"And tell yer housemate Ammy Ah don't need her help, either!" the famer called after her.
"I can't believe you'd be this stubborn, AJ -- you really need help with the harvest, but if you don't want it..." the librarian mused silently to herself as she continued on her way back home. Her housemate was there to greet her when she returned.
"So how'd it go, Twi?" the purple mare asked.
"She's as stubborn as they come, Ammy. Perhaps you could surreptitiously help her when she's not looking?" the librarian grinned.
"Even with MY help, there's still so many trees we'd need everypony in town to help with the harvest. I suppose I could help her when she's not looking -- It's a shame to see her like this."
"I suggest you talk to her brother -- he can probably direct you to a section of the orchard she hasn't hit yet. Have you tried using your telekinesis on the apples? That might make the work go faster," Twilight mused.
"I'll give it a try, though if AJ spots me, she won't be very happy," the purple mare replied. She left the library and started trotting to the back acres of the farm, trying not to be seen by the orange earth pony. Pinkie Pie encountered her again.
"Hey, Ammy, what'cha doing?" the pink party pony asked, grinning broadly. "Ooh, you're sneaking around again! Who's it gonna be this time? Hey, Ammy, can I be a spy with you? Where ya going?"
"Applejack's got too many trees to buck by herself, so I'm trying to get to the back part of the orchard without her seeing me. She doesn't want any help, though she's too stubborn to understand she can't do all the work by herself," the purple mare explained.
"She's supposed to help me with my new muffin recipe today! Do you think she'll be okay with you helping her?"
"The idea is to help her without it being noticed. If she sees me out in the orchard bucking the trees, she'll get mad at me."
"Hey, maybe I can help too!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.
"What about the Cakes? Aren't you supposed to be helping in the Bakery?"
"Oh, yeah! That's right! Thanks for reminding me!" the pink mare exclaimed and bounded off to the bakery.
The purple mare trotted further along and made it to the farm. She caught sight of the orange mare slowly trudging her way toward town to help out Rainbow Dash with her flying moves. She looked extremely tired, occasionally stopping to take a micro-nap, then shaking the cobwebs loose again as she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. The cyan pegasus was perched on a fencepost, scanning the horizons for the orange mare who was trotting in her direction.
"Uh, what am I supposed ta do again?" the farm pony asked tiredly.
"You see that platform over there?" the aviatrix asked rhetorically. "You climb to the top and jump onto the spot marked with an X below it while I'm standing on the other end. That will launch me into the air much faster than I could on my own. Once in the air, I will perform some amazing flips and spins that are sure to impress the Wonderbolts!"
"Looks kinda dangerous," Applejack mused.
"Not for a pony who can fly!" the pegasus grinned.
Reluctantly, the farm pony climbed the platform and slowly approached the edge. Her state of fatigue was such that the large letter X appeared rather blurry. She jumped and missed the platform, landing hard on her belly. She tried jumping a few more times, each time missing the landing point and falling hard on the ground.
"What they hay is goin' on?" Rainbow asked in exasperation. "You were supposed to land on the pad!" she chided, making a rather disparaging comment about her friend, who thought that by pulling the pad down she could impress with a feat of strength. This only served to annoy the pegasus who glowered at the farm pony. Upon releasing her grip on her end of the see-saw, gravity pulled the pegasus back down to the ground, leaving her in a daze.
"Okay, one more try," Applejack said sheepishly, then climbed the platform again. "Here I go!" she shouted as she leaped off the platform, launching the still-dazed pegasus, who pleaded a bit late for the orange mare to wait, shouting her name as she was flung into the sky and unable to control her flight. Twilight happened to be reading a book on an upper balcony of the library when the hapless cyan pegasus made an impromptu landing.
"Uh, can I help you?" the librarian asked.
"I think somepony else needs your help," the pegasus groaned.
"Let me guess -- Applejack, right? I sent Amethyst over to help, but there are a lot of trees out there -- I guess I'd better have another chat with her," Twilight mused.
"Yep," Rainbow muttered, then slumped over the railing of the balcony.
The librarian made her way to the farm to have another talk with Applejack, noticing a dark purple unicorn off a ways, still bucking trees herself. If she didn't succeed in getting all the apples to fall with her attempt at bucking a tree, she used her telekinesis to pull the rest of the apples off. She was far enough away so as not to attract the attention of the farm pony, who was having considerably less success at bucking the trees. The orange mare unfortunately gave herself a concussion when she raised her head after picking up an apple by its stem with her teeth and hit the low branch of a tree. The ensuing ringing in her ears confused her hearing, making it quite difficult for her to clearly understand the words the librarian was saying when she finally met up with the farmer. After an odd exchange which included yet another attempt from Twilight to get Applejack to accept some help, the farmer announced she was off to help Pinkie Pie.
Mrs. Cake asked Pinkie Pie if she was up to the challenge of baking the muffins and running the store for the afternoon as she and her husband prepared to leave. The pink party pony assured them that she would as she had the Prized Pony of Ponyville to assist her, extolling her virtue as the best baker ever. The farm pony was repeatedly trying to shake the cobwebs loose again as her fatigue was really getting to her at this point. Mr. Cake was rather surprised by her action, wondering aloud if she was denying the pink pony's assertion. Upon realizing her error, she effusively reassured the stallion she was able to bake anything from fritters to pies in the blink of an eye. Somewhat satisfied the store was in capable hooves, the Cakes left the store at that point.
"Seeya later, girls!" Mrs. Cake said, perhaps a little nervous laughter creeping into her voice.
The farm pony tried to shake the cobwebs loose again, but the pink pony grabbed her head, holding it fast.
"Stop with the shaking, it's time to get baking!" Pinkie grinned. The two entered the kitchen, but the farm pony's fatigue was now so severe that she dozed off as Pinkie opened the cookbook and started reading the list of ingredients for the muffins. The farm pony misinterpreted the pink pony's requests, grabbing ingredients which had no business being used to make muffins. Pinkie Pie wasn't paying attention to her friend's attempt to help her and when the finished product was removed from the oven, free samples were given to an assemblage of ponies who eagerly awaited what should have been a tasty treat. Unfortunately, the result met with less than favorable results, the ponies who had sampled the muffins ending up in the hospital.
Word got back to Twilight about what had happened and she took Spike with her to see about the fate of the ponies at the hospital, Pinkie Pie declaring the muffins to be "baked bads" after having tasted one herself. Spike found one of the partially eaten muffins and took a bite, seemingly pleased by the taste. The lavender mare wasted no time in returning to the farm to have yet another discussion with the farm pony, who stridently refused the librarian's help. The farmer had become almost delusional, as she bucked a dead tree trying to get apples to fall from it.
"Applejack, you're beating a dead ... tree," the librarian stated with a small amount of surprise.
"Uh, yeah ... I knew that," the orange mare said nonchalantly as she trotted over to a tree with fruit still on it.
Amethyst was still bucking trees, but her legs were getting tired and her horn was starting to ache. She decided to return to the library and get some rest, but not before passing the two mares. She caught sight of Applejack suspended upside down in mid-air, held in place by the yoke of her applecart, something that made her giggle.
"Hey, Twilight, Applejack. Kicking those trees has taken quite a bit out of me, so I'm heading back to the library. Catch ya later," the purple mare chuckled.
"What? Ammy? You were helping me? Why?" the orange mare asked in exasperation.
"Because you need help, Applejack!" Twilight replied, matching the farmer's exasperation.
"It's harder than it looks," Amethyst stated flatly. She then trotted off in the direction of the library.
"That doesn't matter -- I done told you I didn't want any help!" Applejack exclaimed as she stormed off in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage.
"Ugh! That pony is stubborn as a mule!" the librarian stated in disgust before hearing a mule braying. "No offense," she offered the mule, smiling sheepishly.
"None taken," the mule responded.
Applejack met up with Fluttershy, who graciously thanked the farmer for assisting in the annual rabbit round-up, but the farmer was none too pleased to be doing so, and expressed her curiosity with impatience. The pegasus explained that lots of new baby bunnies had been born and that she was in charge of counting them. She reminded the orange mare that these were bunnies, not cows, and were to be treated gently. The farmer replied that she didn't need any advice on corralling critters, having brought her dog with her to assist with the detail as well. The dog barked, alerting the bunnies to her presence. The pegasus gently requested the bunnies to assemble for her, but the earth pony had a different idea, loudly commanding the bunnies to gather in the center. The bunnies responded by scattering as they had been frightened by the imposing figure the farmer cast as she towered over them.
Fluttershy pleaded with Applejack and Winona to stop chasing the bunnies because they were scaring them so badly. The farmer and her dog ignored the pleas of the pegasus, succeeding in corralling them into a pen, but as the two approached, the bunnies scattered again, this time stampeding en masse toward Ponyville.
Once again, Rainbow Dash took to the sky and shouted, "STAMPEDE!!" as the townsponies scurried about in fear, closing windows and doors, and retrieving a welcome mat as well. A pony fainted as she was overwhelmed by the shock of seeing so many bunnies running together as a group. They went around the mare and proceeded to destroy gardens, devour flowers and make a nuisance of themselves in the town. Fluttershy was frantically trying to get them to stop as Twilight surveyed the scene.
The lavender mare was fed up with the farmer's stubbornness and stopped by the library to bring Amethyst along with her. The two met up with the farm pony, still trying to buck one last tree. The librarian admonished the farmer, giving her a rundown of what damage her applebucking had done to the town and concluded her chiding by repeating her assessment that Applejack needed help, a charge the farmer insisted was unnecessary as she showed the two a very large section of the orchard where all the trees were bare of fruit.
"How'd ya like them apples?" she asked confidently.
"How about them apples?" her brother asked, pointing his hoof at another section of the orchard where there were still quite a few trees left to buck. The orange mare seemed to faint in shock at the sight of yet more apples to be harvested.
"Applejack? Good, you're okay," the lavender mare stated, making sure the farmer was still able to comprehend what she was saying.
"Hey, AJ -- I know you wanted to do all of this by yourself, and I completely understand your desire to prove yourself, but sometimes you have to know when a challenge is too great to face on your own. Please, allow us to help you," Amethyst stated softly.
"Okay, okay, ya made yer point. I won't stop ya, in fact, I could really use yer help. Thanks, Ammy, Twi."
"No problem, AJ -- I'm here to help, all you have to do is ask," the purple mare smiled. Twilight heaved a sigh of relief and called on the rest of her friends to assist in finishing the apple harvest. Later on, Twilight wrote a friendship report to Princess Celestia, informing her that Applejack is the best friend a pony could have, but sometimes her stubbornness and pride prevented her from accepting help when it was needed, and that friendship was not just about giving help, but knowing when to accept it as well.
As everypony was helping finish the harvest, Applejack provided them with apple juice and apologized humbly for her stubbornness, still trying to downplay the significance of her intransigence.
Rainbow commented that all that applebucking made her hungry and Spike appeared with a plate full of the muffins that had been made earlier. Everypony was shocked to see them and Pinkie asked the dragon where he had gotten them. He simply stated that he had pulled them out of the trash and offered them to the ponies.
"Come on, just one little bite?" he asked facetiously.
Everypony chuckled as they made their way back to town, having succeeded in helping the farmer with her harvest. Amethyst and Twilight made it back to the library, Spike riding on the librarian's back.
"Hey Spike, what is it with those muffins?" the purple mare asked.
"Those are the ones that made everypony sick earlier," Twilight replied. "Don't even think about tasting one, let alone eating it. By the way, thanks for assisting with the harvest as well -- made the work go quite a bit faster."
"I hit about 50 trees before my legs started aching. I'm gonna be sore in the morning," Amethyst offered.
"Okay, Amethyst, let's get back to studying," said Twilight.
"Is that all you do? I swear you must spend at least half of each day doing nothing but studying."
"Knowledge is power, Amethyst, you know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, whatever," she replied flatly.