My Little Pony, Friendship is Out of This World

by Robobrony

The Stubborn Apple Farmer

The Stubborn Apple Farmer

Nova arose first and greeted his little brother. “*YAWN* Good morning Starburst, sleep well?”

“*Yawn* Yep, not a bad night’s sleep.”

“That’s good, you ready to start a new day of our new lives here?”

Starburst got out from under his covers and started jumping on his bed. “You bet Nova, come on, let’s go.”

“Morning meal first, remember? Gotta get something to eat.” The two left the room and went over to the table for breakfast. “Gropple stalks.” The panel lit up and long stalks of grey looking leafy objects appeared.

“Gropple stalks, awe.” Starburst complained. “Why can’t we have snorbler fruit again?”

“Come on Starburst, you need your nutrients. Snorbler fruit is nice, but it doesn’t have the important nutrients your body needs.”

“Ok.” Starburst then unhappily ate up. “It doesn’t taste very good though.”

“I know, but it’s good for you.” They finished up their breakfast, dawned their pony disguises, and headed out for the day.

“So where are we going today Nova?” Starburst asked happily, eager to look around more.

“I figure we’d stop by Rarity’s place, I want to discuss this arrangement I made with her more.”

“But that’s boring, can’t we do anything fun, like maybe explore the place more, or see what there is to do around here, I saw a place that looks like it had some colorful edible things. I know, what about we go to Sugarcube Corner, we never really got to check it out before, and some of the things there looked good.”

Nova smiled at Starburst. “Starburst, you just ate, you can’t be hungry again.”

“I’m not, I just want something to get rid of the taste of those grapple stalks. PLEASE Nova?”

“Fine, we’ll….” Nova was interrupted when the ground began to shake. “What the galaxies?”

“Nova, what’s going on, why is everything shaking?” Starburst asked, getting scared.

“STAMPEDE!” Rainbow’s voice cried out.

“Stampede, what’s that?” Starburst asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s anything good, come on, let’s find one of our friends.” The two headed in the direction of where Rainbow’s voice came from.

“HeEeEyYyY, ThIiSssSs MmMaKkKeEeSsS MmYy VvoOIiiIcCeE SoUnNdDd SiLlLyYyY.” Pinkie said as she was bounced by the shaking.

Twilight saw this. “Pinkie, are you crazy, RUN!”

Mayor Mare was trying to get everypony to calm down. “Every pony, please remain calm!”

Rarity then came up to the mayor and spoke rather dramatically. “But Mayor Mare, whatever shall we do.”

Nova and Starburst ran up to Twilight. “Twilight, what’s going on, why is everything shaking?”

“Nova, Starburst, we have to take cover, there’s a herd of cows heading right for town!” Twilight informed.

“LOOK THERE!” Rainbow cried again. The ponies, Mayor Mare, and the two aliens looked out from the edge of town and saw the herd of cattle with Applejack and a little dog running up next to them.

Applejack was attempting to get the cows to turn away from the town. “Come on you little doggies, TURN! Put em up Winona!” Winona, on the other side of the herd, gave a bark back as she jumped up on one of the cows back. Applejack did the same. She started twirling a lasso overhead and tossed it. She managed to get it around the neck of the lead cow, jumped back down, and started pulling on it, this got the lead cow to turn and the others followed.

The cows slowed down to a stop and Applejack got in front of them. “Now what in tarnation was THAT all about?”

“MOO, oh, ahem hm, beggin your pardin Applejack, but MOOriella here, saw one of those nasty snakes.” The lead cow said, which got the other cows chattering, but quickly stopped. "And well it just gave us all the willies dontcha know."

“I completely understand, but next time, try ta steer clear of Ponyville.”

“You betcha Applejack, so long winona.” Winona barked back as the cows walked away.

Applejack ran up to a hill and reared up. “YEEHAW!” She then galloped off back to her farm.

“Yeehaw, ride em’ cow pony.” Pinkie cheered.

Mayor Mare spoke up. “Applejack saved our town. She was just….just.”

Pinkie interrupted. “Appletastic.”

“That was galactic. She just jumped on that cow and tossed that rope right around another’s neck.” Starburst cheered. “Come you cow, move it.” He mocked as he hopped up on Nova’s back. “YAAAAHEY! Did I say that right?”

Nova chuckled. “Easy there Starburst.”

“But Applejack was amazing, I wanna learn to do that.”

“I’ll say she was.” Pinkie agreed as she picked up Starburst in her forelegs. She then tossed him up playfully and caught him.

“Heh heh, whee!” Starburst cheered.

She then set Starburst down.

The mayor started again. “We simply must do something to thank her for single hoofedly saving the town.”

“I know what we can do.” Pinkie cheered.

“What?” Starburst asked.

“THROW A PARTY!”

Starburst smiled big. “OH BOY, I liked that party you threw for me and Nova to welcome us.”

“I’m glad you liked it, now you get to enjoy another one, this is going to be for Applejack and to thank her for her help.”

Nova came up to Pinkie with a smile. “We’ll be sure to be there too.” He then turned to locate Rarity. “Rarity, I wanted to talk to you about something if you don’t mind.”

Later that evening:

Nova and Starburst came back to the ship after the sun had set. Before entering, Nova stopped in his tracks after he took a look at the sky. Starburst didn’t notice and already went in. “Whoa, Starburst, come her, take a look.”

Starburst came back out. “What is it Nova?”

“Come here, take a look at the sky.”

Nova was sitting on his haunches, Starburst came up next to his brother and they both gazed up at the night sky. “Wow, look at that.” Starburst commented. It was a mostly clear night with a few clouds lazily drifting along. The moon was out and full.

“It’s a lot different looking at them from this point of view then being among them huh?” Nova asked his brother.

“It sure is, It actually looks pretty, and that big white thing is a moon right?”

“Yes Starburst, that’s a moon.” Nova’s voice dropped a little. “It sure is pretty isn’t it?”

“And you said that one of the rulers of this place can manipulate them?”

“Yes, but I find that hard to believe, stars are just massive balls of burning gasses light years away. It still looks nice though. Almost reminds me of home.” He said with a smile as a single tear ran down his face.

Starburst saw this and looked up to Nova with a frown. “Nova, are you ok?”

“Huh?” Nova looked down at his brother and wiped his face with a foreleg. “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little home sick I guess.”

“Brother, why won’t you tell me what happened to our home, don’t I deserve to know too, I know I was too young to remember, but I do sometimes get these flashes in my dreams of others like us screaming and running around, what happened?”

Nova picked Starburst up in a hug. “I’m sorry Starburst, I promise I’ll tell you one day, it’s just too painful right now, and I’m sorry you’ve been having nightmares, I wish there was something I could do.”

“Don’t worry Nova, it’s not too bad, I don’t have those dreams very often.”

Nova looked down at his little brother. “As long as we have each other though, that’s all that matters, right?” He asked with a smile.

“That’s right, we just need each other……of course, having friends doesn’t hurt either, right?”

Nova’s smile grew a little. “Hm hm, right Starburst.” The two hugged again. “Now come on, let’s get inside and have night meal, then off to bed.”

“Ok, can we look at the stars some more like this again sometime?”

“Of course Starburst.” The two then headed inside for the night.

A week later:

Every pony had the party just about ready to go. Nova and starburst had been helping out as well. They were near town hall with Rarity as she set a red ribbon on a tree. Twilight came up to them. “Is everything ready?”

Rarity answered. “Just about, Nova, do be a dear and hang up that banner, would you?”

“Sure thing Rarity.” Nova focused his magic and levitated a large yellow banner with an apple on it. He hung it right on town hall. “There we go, how’s that?”

“Perfect, now we’re ready.”

“Is Applejack ready?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow answered as she flew up. “Actually, I haven’t seen her all week.”

Pinkie then trotted up. “Not since the stampede.”

Nova answered as well. “I haven’t seen her either, I wonder where she is.”

“She’ll be here for sure, Applejack is never late.” Rainbow said as she waved a hoof.

A large crowed of ponies had gathered in front of town hall, Nova and Starburst were at the front of the crowd with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Twilight walked onto the stage up to a podium, levitated a stack of cards and tapped them against the podium to straighten them out. She then began her speech. “Welcome every pony, today, we are here to honor a pony who is always willing to help with matters great and small.” She moved the top card to the bottom, levitated the next card up and continued. “A ponies contributions to…”

Rainbow Dash suddenly flew up to the stage, knocked Twilight’s cards out of her grasp and started speaking. “Did you see Applejack’s slick moves out there? What an athlete, this week she’s gonna be helping me perfect a new trick I’ve been working on, and I know that it’s going to be SO AWSOME!” She said as she squished her cheeks together and squealed.

“EXACTLY…” Twilight said as she pushed Rainbow away. “And..”

This time, Pinkie suddenly popped up in front of Twilight. “This week, I get to run Sugarcube corner for the first time.”

Twilight looked at Pinkie over her shoulder. “What does that have to do with Applejack?”

Pinkie paused for a moment. “Oh, Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. And everything Applejack makes is great, so free samples for everypony!” Pinkie cheered, the crowed followed in her enthusiasm.

Starburst liked the sound of this. “Oh boy, free samples, can we get some too……wait, samples of what?” He asked confused. Nova just chuckled.

Twilight then just pushed Pinkie off the podium. “Ok that’s great, now if I could just get through my speech without being inter….”

“Uhm, Twilight?” Fluttershy came shyly up to her.

“Rupted.”

“Twilight, I’m sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is helping me this week with the annual bunny census where we count up all the new baby bunnys that have been born this season, she’s going to help me gather them with her amazing herding skills.” Fluttershy then looked to Twilight who was very unhappy.

“Anyone else….anyone?” Fluttershy slunk away. No pony said anything after that. “Well then, as I was trying to say……..” Twilight then noticed the mayor standing next to her with a big smile. “UUUGGHHH, never mind!” Twilight just tossed her cards up in the air and walked off.

“Poor Twilight, that wasn’t very nice of them to keep interrupting her like that.” Nova said.

The mayor then took the podium. “And now, without further ado, it is my great honor to present the prized pony of Ponyville award to our guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity, Ponyville’s own….APPLEJACK!”

The ponies all looked to where Applejack was supposed to be standing but she wasn’t there. An awkward silence filled the air. “Awkward.” Spike commented.

“I’m here, I’m here!” Applejack cried as she made her way through the crowd with baskets of apples on her back. “Sorry I’m late…WHOA…did I get your tail.” She made her way up to the stage and was looking very tired. She came up to the podium. “Miss Mayor, thank ya kindly fer this here award thingy. *Yawn* It’s so bright and shiny.” She commented as she looked at the big gold trophy.

“Is she all right, she doesn’t look so good.” Starburst observed.

Nova agreed. “I know, it looks like she hasn’t gotten any sleep in a long time.”

Applejack was looking at her reflection in the trophy. “He he, I sure do look funny. Woo Woo.” She started moving her head back and forth. “Woo Woo.”

Pinkie then joined in. “Woo Woo.”

Twilight came up to the two. “Ok, well thank you Applejack for saving us all from that scary stampede and being a good friend to every pony.”

“*YAWN* I do like helpin the pony folk and all. *YAWN*” She then fell asleep standing up for a few seconds, she quickly woke back up and shook her head. “Uh yeah, thanks.” She then grabbed hold of the trophy with her teeth and started dragging it away.

Twilight made an observation. “Is it just me or did Applejack seem..”

Rainbow cut in. “Tired.”

Fluttershy. “Dizzy.”

Rarity. “Messy.” The others just looked at her. “Well, did you see her mane?”

Pinkie then hopped on the stage next to Twilight. “She seemed fine to me. WOO WOO!”

Nova spoke up. “Not to me, there was something definitely wrong with her.”

Twilight agreed. “I have to agree, I’m going to go talk to her and see what’s going on.”

“I’ll come with you, I want to know too. Come on Starburst.”

“You got it brother.”

“Thanks Nova, Starburst.” Twilight said with a smile, the three then headed off to Applejack’s farm.

They arrived at the farm and found Applejack bucking trees, she was looking very exhausted. She tried to buck a tree but missed. She tried again and ended up knocking over a bucket of apples. “Whoops.”

Twilight called out. “Hey Applejack!” She didn’t seem to hear.

Nova called out. “Applejack!” She still didn’t hear, she started walking away but then fell asleep again standing up.

Starburst then tried. “APPLEJACK, OVERHERE!” Still no response.

Twilight then focused her magic and teleported in front of her. “APPLEJACK!” Twilight called out louder. Nova and Starburst trotted over.

Applejack woke up, shook her head and saw Twilight in front of her. She greeted with a smile. “Howdy Twilight. Howdy Nova, Starburst.”

Nova started. “Applejack what is going on? Why are there more buckets around her than the last time we were here?”

“It’s apple bucking season.”

“Apple what now?” Starburst asked.

Applejack bucked another tree. “It’s what the apple family calls harvestin time. It’s when we gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell em.”

Twilight teleported in front of Applejack again. “But why are you doing it all alone?”

“Cause Big Macintosh hurt himself.” She explained as she started walking around again. Nova and Starburst just walked and followed.

“Is he going to be all right?” Nova asked.

“He’ll be fine, he just needs time ta heal.”

“So you’re doing all this by yourself?” Starburst asked.

“Yep.”

Twilight teleported again. “But what about all those relatives I met when I first came to Ponyville, can’t they help?”

“They were just here for the apple family reunion, they actually live all over Equestria, and are busy harvestin their own orchards. So I’m on my own.” Applejack just kept walking as she explained while Twilight kept teleporting to keep up.

Nova heard enough, he galloped and got in front of Applejack. “Hold on there, let me get this straight, you really expect to take care of this job all on your own?”

“Well, Yeah.”

“Applejack, this is too much for one pony to handle.”

Applejack glared at Nova. “Is that a challenge?”

“What NO, I’m simply stating a fact.”

“Yeah, well I’m gonna prove to ya that I CAN do this. I’m gonna get every last one of these apples out of the trees by the end of apple bucking season all by myself.”

Starburst came trotting up to Applejack. “But Applejack ,there’s a lot of trees, how are you going to do it all?”

“I just will, that’s all.”

“Do you……..want some help?” Twilight asked.

“Help, no way no how, I can do this just fine on my own, now if you’ll excuse me, I got apples to buck.”

Nova raised an eyebrow. “All right, but if you change your mind, I’m more than happy to help. Come on Starburst, let’s go.” Twilight followed as well.

Starburst looked at Applejack worriedly before leaving with Nova.

The next day:

Nova and Starburst were in their ship, it was around ten in the morning, the two brothers didn’t have their disguises on. Nova was busy working with some gems Rarity gave him to work with for a client. “Nova, can we go do something today, I’m bored.” Starburst complained.

“I’m sorry Starburst, but I have work to do, Rarity got me a client and I have to focus on making the gem she asked for just right. This is my first real job and I can’t mess it up. Why don’t you play in the holo deck?”

“It’s on the fritz again. It won’t load the games I want.”

Nova looked from his work station. He had another table set up on the other side of the room. “Again, by the galaxies, this ship has seen better cycles. It’s getting more difficult just to keep it running. I’ll have to take a look at it later.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

Nova thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose I could use a break, come on, let’s go into town and get a snack.”

Starburst gave a big smile. “YAY!”

The two dawned their pony cover and headed out. “Now where shall we go?” Nova wondered. As they drew closer to the bridge into town, they saw a rainbow streak heading right for the library and for the balcony. They heard a cry.

“WHOOOOOOOOAAAAA!” *CRASH*. The two quickly rushed over to see if anyone was hurt.

“Twilight, are you ok?” Nova asked.

Twilight’s head popped out from over the balcony. “I’m fine, but Rainbow Dash here just crashed into my balcony after Applejack launched her.”

“Why would Applejack do that?” Starburst asked.

Rainbow had managed to straighten herself out and flew down to ground level. “She was supposed to be helping me with a trick but it didn’t go so well.”

“I see.” Nova mused. “Are you ok Rainbow Dash?”

“I’ll be fine, but I think some pony else needs help.”

Twilight teleported down to ground level. “Nova, would you mind coming with me, I think between the two of us, we can talk some sense into her.” Twilight asked.

“If you think I could be of any help, sure. You ok with this Starburst?”

“As long as it’s something to do, sure.”

The three made their way to Applejack’s again and found her still bucking apples. She had leaned down to pick one up, but bumped her head on a low branch. Twilight, Nova and Starburst walked up to her, Twilight started. “Applejack, can we talk?”

Applejack shook her ear with a hoof. “Can bees squawk, I don’t think so!”

Twilight tried again. “No, can we talk?”

“Twenty stalks, bean or celery?!”

Nova put a hoof to his face, closed his eyes and shook his head. “For the love of the cosmos.” He said quietly. “NO, WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!” He shouted.

“Ya need ta walk to the zoo, well who’s stopping ya?!”

“Why is she shouting?” Starburst asked.

Nova tried again. “WE….NEED…TO…..TALK….TO…YOU!”

“Oh, well why didn’t ya say so, whatcha want ta talk about?!”

Twilight began. “Rainbow Dash dropped in to see me today!”

“Well that was quite neighborly of her!”

“Yes, except she crashed into my balcony after YOU launched her into the air!”

Applejack then talked normally. “Oh, yeah, I wasn’t feelin quite myself this morning.”

Nova spoke with sympathy. “Because you’re working yourself too hard Applejack, you need help.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at him. “Kelp, I don’t need kelp, I don’t even like seaweed.”

Even Starburst was getting frustrated. “HE SAID YOU NEED HELP!”

“Nothin doin fellas, I’m gonna prove ta you, ta every pony, that I can do this on my own.” She then started walking away but bumped her head on another branch. “OW, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go help Pinkie Pie.” She then stumbled away.

Twilight commented. “That pony’s as stubborn as a mule.” A mule then sounded off next to her. “No offense.”

The mule just smiled. “None taken.” Nova and Starburst were confused at this but said nothing about it.

“Ok then, well I don’t know what to do about this, I’m sorry Twilight. Me and Starburst are just gonna head into town and find a place to grab an early lunch.” Nova informed.

Twilight just looked at them with a sad face. “Ok, thanks for trying to help anyway.” The two then left for town.

After their lunch, Nova and Starburst were now heading back to their ship/home. Their route took them past Sugarcube Corner where there was a large group of ponies gathered around. The two grew curious about this so they stopped and Nova asked a pony from the crowd. “Excuse me, what’s going on?”

A pony with yellow crossed eyes answered. “SugarCube corner is giving away free muffin samples.”

Starburst lit up at this. “OOH OOH, can we get one big brother, PLEASE?”

Nova looked down at Starburst. “We just had lunch, you can’t be hungry again.”

“I’m not, but I would like to try this muffin thing. Please Nova.”

“*SIGH* fine, we’ll get you a muffin. I swear, you got an appetite bigger than a raging snarg beast.”

“YAY, thanks Nova.” So the two waited in line to get a muffin.

Once they got to the front of the line, they saw it was Pinkie and Applejack handing them out. Nova seemed to grow concerned about this. “Applejack, did you make these?”

“Sure did, go ahead, help yerself.”

Nova was hesitant. “I don’t know, did you follow the directions to make these?”

“Well course I did.” She answered with annoyance. “I’m one of Ponyville’s best bakers after all.”

Pinkie chimed in. “Don’t worry, their delicious, go ahead and have one.”

“Think I’ll pass, I’m only here cause Starburst wanted to try one.” Nova then levitated a muffin off the counter and lowered it to Starburst. “Here ya go Starburst, hope you like it.”

“Aren’t you gonna try one?” Starburst asked.

“Maybe some other time.”

Starburst took hold of it with his own magic and began to eat as they left.

Later that afternoon, Nova was busy again making the personalized gem Rarity asked for for a customer. Starburst came up to him with a groan. “Ooohhh, Nova, I don’t feel so good.”

Nova stopped his work and looked to his brother. “What’s wrong Starburst?”

“My stomach hurts, I don’t know why.”

“Starburst?” Starburst then lost his balance and fell on his belly. “STARBURST!” Nova said in a panic, he rushed over to Starburst and held him. “Starburst, are you okay, where does it hurt?”

“OOoooohhh, I….I can’t move.”

“Hold on Starburst, I’ll get you to bed.” Nova carefully rushed Starburst to bed and gently placed him down. “Just hang in there little brother, I’ll make you better.”

“Oooohhh, please hurry, I don’t like this, my stomach.” Starburst whined.

Nova put a hoof to Starburst’s forehead. “Sweet supernovas, your burning up, just hold on, I’ll get a cooling band.” Nova quickly rushed over to the main room of the ship, he went to the side of his work table to the wall, he placed his hoof on a panel and the wall opened sideways. “Come on, where is it, AHA, there you are.” Nova picked up a silver metal band from off a shelf that was a half circle. He rushed back into the room and placed it on Starburst’s head. He used his magic on the device and a blue light was seen coming from the sides of the device on Starburst’s head. “Any better Starburst?”

“A little, but my stomach still hurts.”

“Ok, just hang on. I’ll be back.” Nova went back out to the closet in the main room. “Let’s see, scanner, scanner, there it is.” He picked up a square flat metal device with a screen and buttons on it. He went back to the room, used his magic to manipulate it, turned it on and began using it to scan Starburst. Nova levitated the device in front of him, the screen depicted Starburst’s body as a graph, two intersecting lines went across the graph of Starburst and came to a stop where his stomach was.

The screen displayed ‘Hazardous materials detected’ in red letters. “Sweet black holes this is bad.” Nova said a little louder than he meant to.

“Nova, what is it, am I gonna die?”

“Of course not Starburst, the scan shows you just ingested something that wasn’t food or something. You should be fine soon, just stay here and rest, you’ll be fine.”

“I think it was that muffin I ate.”

“I think so too, does your magic still work?”

“No, I’m in too much pain to focus.”

“I’m so sorry Starburst, you just take it easy and rest, I’ll be right here if you need anything, ok?”

“Ok.”

Nova walked out of the room to let his brother rest. He furrowed his brow. “Applejack, this is her fault, making my brother sick, I can’t believe how irresponsible a pony could be. I’m going to have a few choice words for her when I see her.”

The next day:

The next day came and Nova was almost done with the order he was given. Starburst came out. “Nova?”

Nova dropped his work and looked to his brother. “Hey Starburst, you feeling any better?”

Starburst gave a light nod. “A little bit, at least well enough to walk around.”

Nova smiled. “That’s good, why don’t we head out, I’m sure some fresh air will help, can you put up your disguise?”

“No, I still don’t feel well enough to use my magic.”

“All right, I can put it on for you.” Starburst walked up to Nova, Nova used his magic and put up his brother’s pony disguise. Then he did the same for himself. “There we go, now come on, let’s head out for a while, there’s a certain pony I want to talk to.” Nova picked up Starburst gently with his magic and placed him on his back. The two then headed out.

After a bit of a walk through Ponyville, they got close to the other side of town when the ground started shaking. “Nova?” Starburst asked weakly from Nova’s back.

“What now?”

“STAMPEDE!” Came Rainbow’s cry.

“Again, really?” Nova asked, annoyed. He looked out and saw a whole mess of bunnies heading into town. Nova quickly hid in an alley way to get out of the way of the bunnies and watched them run past. Once clear, Nova stepped out and saw them just eating all the plants in sight.

He saw Fluttershy going about trying to control them and not getting anywhere. “Oh, please stop now, ooh, that’s not, oh my, please….stop, come now..oh….let’s go home.”

Nova saw Twilight walking away with a scowl on her face. Nova quickly caught up with her. “Twilight!”

“Hello Nova.” She greeted as nicely as she could with the mood she was in.

“Let me guess, Applejack?”

“Applejack.”

“I got something I need to talk to her about too, so I hope you don’t mind us tagging along.”

“Of course not, but why do you need to talk to her?” Twilight then noticed Starburst on Nova’s back. “Is something wrong With Starburst?”

“He’s not feeling 100% today, he ate a muffin that didn’t agree with him, I figured some fresh air might do him some good.”

“Please don’t mention muffins around me, it makes me sick all over again.” Starburst whined.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked at Starburst with sympathy. “Oh my, you poor thing.” She came up to Nova’s side and stroked Starburst’s mane. “Are you going to be all right?”

“Just don’t mention muffins around me please.”

Twilight gave Starburst a smile. “Ok, you just take it easy.”

Starburst gave a weak smile back. “Ok, thanks Twilight.”

Nova smiled too. “Thanks Twilight.”

Twilight gave Nova a confused look. “For what?”

“For caring.”

She smiled again. “You’re welcome.” They continued on their way to Sweet Apple Acres. “Starburst wasn’t the only one who got sick off those mu……those things Applejack made.” Twilight stopped herself from saying muffins out of consideration for Starburst. “Every single pony that had one got sick.”

“They going to be okay?” Nova asked.

“Like Starburst, they’ll be fine after a while.”

They arrived at the apple orchard to find applejack tiredly kicking an apple tree. Twilight walked up to her to begin scolding. “All right Applejack, your harvesting has not only caused you problems, but they’ve over propelled pegasai , practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushel of brand new bouncing baby bunnies.”

Nova then came in. “Not to mention made my little brother sick, I can’t believe how irresponsible you’ve been acting. Do you have any idea how much I got worried for my brother when he came to me complaining about his stomach hurting, you’re lucky that’s all he got, and those other ponies who ate those muffins you made.”

“Oooh, please don’t mention muffins.” Starburst whined.

Nova looked at his little brother on his back. “Oh, sorry Starburst.”

“Irresponsible. Now look here….” Applejack started, but Nova cut her off.

“No, YOU look here, you’ve been causing nothing but trouble all because you are being too STUBORN to accept help when you need it, can’t you see that there is just too much work here for you, you need help. After how you’ve been acting, how is any pony supposed to trust you.”

Applejack started looking regretful. “Well I….” Nova cut her off again.

“You were awarded the prized pony of Ponyville award because ponies here considered you dependable and trustworthy, with how you’ve been acting, I find it VERY hard to believe that’s you.”

Applejack hung her head. “You…..your right, I have been acting a might foolish, I’m real sorry, can you ever forgive me?”

“Only if you let us help you finish harvesting so you can rest and not be killing yourself for the sake of pride.”

“All right Nova, you win, I’m real sorry for everythin, is Starburst gonna be ok?”

“Just don’t mention…..” Nova leaned in to Applejack and whispered in her ear. “Muffins around him.”

“ooohhhh.” Starburst groaned.

Twilight smiled. “So, does this mean your finally ready to accept help?”

Applejack smiled back. “Yep, and I will really appreciate it too.”

Twilight gathered Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rainbow Dash to help with the rest of the harvest. Starburst was resting on a hay bale while Nova and the girls worked. Applejack came out pushing a cart with bottles of apple juice on it. She stopped in front of Starburst. “Hey there sugar cube, how you hodin up?”

“I’m feeling much better now, thanks for asking.”

“Listen here darlin, I’m real sorry about what happened with the mu……I mean, them things I helped Pinkie make.”

“It’s ok, everything turned out all right in the end right?”

Applejack smiled. “You betcha.” She then called out to the others. “Why don’t ya’ll take a break, I got some nice refreshments fer ya.” The girls, Spike, and Nova gathered around a table Applejack set the drinks on. Starburst got off and came up to his brother.

“Hey there Starburst, I’m glad to see you feeling better.” Nova said to him.

“I’m glad to be feeling better.”

Applejack then started a bit of a speech. “I know Ponyville gave me the prized pony award, but the real prize, is havin you six as friends. And I’m sorry it took a caring older brother to make me realize that I was actin a bit stubborn.” She said as she looked over to Nova.

“A BITSTUBBORN!” The group called out.

“Ok, a might stubborn. And I’m sorry for it. Now what do ya’ll say we get a snack.”

“I’ve got the perfect treat.” Spike announced, he held up a tray of muffins with bites in them and a worm sticking out of them.

Pinkie raised a hoof in disgust. “Ewe Spike, I threw those away. Where did you get them?”

“From the trash.” He happily answered.

“AAAHHHH, MUFFINS!” Starburst cried when he saw them, then ran off. “AAAAAHHHH KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ME!”

“SPIKE!” Nova cried scoldingly. “STARBURST, WAIT, ITS ALL RIGHT!” Nova cried as he chased after his brother.

“Was it something I said?” Spike asked confused.
Later that evening, Twilight wrote a letter to Celestia about a lesson she learned in friendship.

Dear princess celestia,

Applejack is the best friend a pony could ask for, and she’s always there to help anypony. The problem is, when she needs help, she has trouble accepting it. It took my new friend Nova to help Applejack realize that being stubborn is no way to go. While friendship is about giving ourselves to others, it’s also about accepting what our friends have to offer. Nova was a big part in helping Applejack realize her mistake in being stubborn and I am grateful to him. Your fatithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Author's Note:

I'll be throwing in extra stuff other than the episodes as well later on as the story developes, I hope you all enjoy.

Comments

[Kita Aldrin]

I'll keep it short (so I can get on to the next chapter) and just say I'm enjoying this.