My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

4. I don't need help

Author's Note:

Chapter four it is!
Based off from Applebuck Season of course.

Don't forget to leave some kind of feedback
It doesn't matter if it's good or bad just tell me what you like and what don't like it is all appreciated and may help me to improve.

The next chapter will probably a bit shorter, cause I don't see much potential to "Edit" the story but who knows XP.

Anyway, have fun with this chapter
And if you don't like, then I at least hope that my story will leave your head as soon as possible ^^.

It was closing time for the Iron Hammer and both Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer were preparing to end their work for today. The last thing, that had to be done was storing some materials and tolls inside of the workshop. Star Twinkle was pulling a cart full of tools, iron, wood, and other heavy stuff which were clearly too heavy for him judging from how hard he was breathing and how his whole body was shaking in the process.

His boss, Steel Hammer, watched that and couldn't help but ask if he was able to do it himself. “You sure you can handle this alone?” Steel Hammer asked in concern.

“Yeah, no problem,” Star Twinkle assured as he pulled the cart behind him, accompanied by some heavy breaths.

Steel Hammer realized that Star Twinkle was just acting tough and walked up to him to help. "I mean it's no problem for me to stop my work for a second to help you,” Steel Hammer offered.

But Star Twinkle was too stubborn to accept and continued without him. "No! I'm all good. No need for that!” Star Twinkle insisted before he let out some heavy breaths again.

Steel Hammer was not believing him but he also didn't want to argue so he left it at that. "If you say so...” he said before he walked away to get back to his own work again.

Despite struggling a lot, Star Twinkle eventually managed to pull the cart inside the workshop on his own, causing him to let out a huge breath of relief. His exhaustion seemed to be gone and turned into happiness and confidence after this painful experience. "See? Told you I can do it!” He said proudly as he raised his head in arrogance.

But looking at a shaking and exhausted Star Twinkle didn't seem to impress Steel Hammer that much. It was like looking at a house of cards, that was about to fall over. "Great! Then let's get the second cart in too,” Steel Hammer said as he pointed at another cart next to the workshop.

The content of the cart was the same as the last ones but for Star Twinkle, it looked like even heavier making his happiness completely disappear as he could only let out a huge sigh of frustration. "You've gotta be kidding me..." he thought in dislike.

Later...

It was a quiet day in Ponyville. Star Twinkle was not sure how to spend the day so he walked around in Ponyville in order to find something to do. He quickly figured that he should meet up with one of his newfound friends so that he could ask them if they had time to spare. Conveniently, he soon met Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who had a conversation, even though Pinkie was doing most of the talking. As usual, Star Twinkle was just "there", he mostly listened to his friend's conversations since most of the time, he doesn't know what to say or what to talk about. At least not something that he wants to share with them. Aside from the Elements of Harmony and the battle against Nightmare Moon, he didn't even know much about them anyway.

It was probably the same for them too. There was no way that they should know much about him either since he barely leaves his house, talks with anypony or interacts with somepony on his own. However, they didn't seem to mind that he wasn't talking that much and didn't ask him to go away or something so he figured that it was okay to stay with them. Either that or they didn't bring themselves to make him go away...which is something that he hoped was not the case.

Soon, while the two mares still continued their conversation, Star Twinkle noticed how the ground was shaking. Wondering what it caused he looked around to find it out. Rainbow Dash who was close by, noticed the shaking too and took a quick look in the distance. She noticed how something got closer to Ponyville and the next thing she said was:

“STAMPEDE!”

As soon as this word was said, panic started to spread really quick. Everypony hid in their houses or ran away to save themselves from whatever was coming towards them. Star Twinkle asked Rainbow Dash, what exactly was going on and what caused that shaking. “There's a whole bunch of cows running in this direction!” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Cows!?" He asked in shock. "Well then let's get out of here too!” Star Twinkle said to Twilight and Pinkie Pie but mostly because so he can save himself.

But all he saw, was Pinkie Pie who had way to much fun with the shaking ground. “Hey! This makes my voice sound silly!” talking in a vibrating tone caused by the shaking. She definitely didn't see how serious the situation was right now.

“Pinkie Pie, are you crazy? Run!” Twilight said while she also started to run away now.

Star Twinkle grabbed Pinkie Pie and tried to drag her to safety but then Rainbow Dash prompted everypony to take a look in the distance. Somepony was already trying to do something about the stampede. It was Applejack. Everypony watched in relief how Applejack took care of the situation all on her own, with a little help of her dog. She managed to draw the cows away from Ponyville in mere seconds, calming them down again. There seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding, nopony really knew because Applejack took care of them while they were still far away. Whatever the reason was, Applejack managed to save the town from potential damage and that is all that mattered.

After the cows were “tamed” again, Applejack ran off in the distance, like it was just some normal routine for her. The whole town was heavily impressed and thankful for what Applejack did just now. So was Star Twinkle who was also relieved how everything went well, thanks to Applejack. The mare was surely the theme of the day after this. Star Twinkle had to admit that he didn't know much about her but what he did know was that Applejack was not far away if you needed her help. She is a really hardworking pony, unlike Star Twinkle, so naturally, he couldn't understand why helping others was so normal for her but he didn't need to know if he ended up benefitting from it in some kind of way. Not that he wanted that...

One week later...

To thank Applejack for saving Ponyville, everypony decided to throw a party in her honor. It was the least what they could do to show some kind of appreciation for everything that she kept doing to help someone in need. Everypony helped to decorate Ponyville for the party, ranging from colorful ribbons to balloons, confetti and much more. Everything was set and the only thing missing was the pony this party was dedicated to. Even though Star Twinkle was not a fan of parties, he didn't seem to bother much to help with the decoration since it was for Applejack, for who he was thankful as well. He didn't like parties but this one was for Applejack. She would be in the spotlight and he could just dive down into the masses or go home once he found out it was too much for him.

Still, he wished that preparing the party was a little bit less work...

Star Twinkle approached Twilight and Rarity who lifted a banner with an apple on it to the front of the town hall. “Are we ready now?” He asked, praying that he doesn't have to work anymore.

“I don't know, are we?” Twilight asked Rarity.

“Yes everything is ready,” she proudly replied which was music to Star Twinkle's ears.

“Then we just have to wait for Applejack,” Twilight said.

Everypony was now waiting in front of the town hall. Being organized, as usual, Twilight prepared a little speech in Applejack's honor and of course, she wanted to share it with everypony but she was constantly interrupted by some of her friends who wanted to share their thoughts on Applejack as well. They also kept telling how Applejack was about to help them with something later and how they were happy that Applejack was always helping them whenever they needed help with something.

After hearing that, Star Twinkle couldn't help but wonder how Applejack had the motivation or energy for all that. It sounded like a nightmare for him to always have to do something or having to help somepony. His mindset was a little too self-centered to understand it. Being really lazy was probably also a reason.

Twilight attempted to give her speech another shot but as soon as she saw the Mayor next to her, who wanted to have the last word, Twilight gave up and threw the notes away that she had prepared for this situation. Annoyed, the mare joined her friends who stood in the crowd listening to what the Mayor was about to say.

“I was preparing for this speech the whole day...” Twilight annoyingly mumbled to herself, causing her friends to laugh a little at her frustration.

Twilight knew that everypony was appreciating Applejack just like she did so she understood and tried to not get bothered about it. Especially after the praising kept coming in.

Star Twinkle tried to get into that too. “Applejack sure is somepony you can rely on, huh?” He said, trying to actually sound a little impressed.

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie said. “She always helps out her friends when they need help. That's why everypony likes her,” she added proudly.

“Yes...I guess she is,” He said, with a little smile on his face that was actually a mix of some admiration and confusion. Pinkie noticed his smile and smiled right back at him, making him respond with an awkward expression on his face. "What?" He asked confused after being stared at by Pinkie Pie like that.

“You should do that more often,” She replied as she pointed at his face. Confused by that sentence, Star Twinkle asked what she meant by that. “Smiling, of course,” she said, presenting him a smile as if she wanted to show how it is done.

“She's right,” Rarity added. ”You have a lovely smile and should show it more often. Don't get me wrong but most of the time you look a little gloomy,” she said, trying to make it sound a little more subtle.

The stallion was a little embarrassed to hear those words but he kinda knew what she meant. He doesn't smile nearly as often as his friends, he was fully aware of that. He was wondering why. It's not because he was sad, most of the time, or because he lacked some sense of humor. He wasn't making sure if he was smiling enough or too much. There are times where he would laugh too but it just was something that wasn't in his daily life. Before he realized, he found himself again in his own world of thoughts, ignoring his surroundings completely but he snapped out after realizing that his friends gave him some concerned looks.

“I think the mayor is finished now!” He said trying to change the subject as he looked up to listen to the mayor.

“And so, with no further ado, it is my 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,”

Everypony cheered to welcome Applejack, expecting her to be behind the curtain that the mayor opened, only to find out that she was nowhere to be found, leaving confusion in the crowd. Not having the pony around at the party that everypony threw for her was not good. Eventually, after a short awkward pause, Applejack did show up, working her way through the crowd of ponies and approaching the mayor to accept her award, which was a huge gold trophy. It was quite obvious that Applejack was acting a little different than usual. She had problems keeping her eyes open and she seemed to be a little disorientated.

Twilight tried to give her proper thanks in the name of Ponyville but Applejack stood just there barely listening to her and even fell asleep on the spot for a few seconds. It was a pretty awkward situation and Applejack just left dragging the trophy right behind her, causing everypony to look at her awkwardly. And just like that, she was gone again.

With the main guest leaving, nopony really thought about staying any more and left again with a lot of confusion in their minds. This only left, Star Twinkle and his friends who were also pretty confused about Applejack's short visit.

Star Twinkle was probably the only one who thought that decorating all of this was a huge waste of time and he didn't hold back to openly say it in a subtle tone. “Did anypony else think we overdid it with the decoration?” Star Twinkle said hinting at Applejack's rather short visit.

Of course, after Applejack left, everypony removed the decoration again. While Star Twinkle was busy removing some ribbons strapped to a tree, Twilight approached him asking him if he noticed Applejack's strange behavior. It was quite obvious to him like it was for everypony else.

“Yes, you think she is alright?” Twilight asked with concern in her face.

“I don't know,” he said calmly while in his head he was more likely thinking: it's not my problem but he couldn't just say that out loud in front of Twilight.

Applejack is a strong and independent pony, so she will probably be okay, is what he thought. Twilight was not stupid and noticed Star Twinkle's reaction and was a little disappointed. She wanted to hear things like: “Yes, I am worried too” or “Yea, we should help her”. But Star Twinkle continued to remove the decoration almost like Twilight wasn't even there. Twilight's determination to ask Applejack, however, didn't seem to have changed so she decided to help her.

“We better go to Applejack and ask her what's wrong,” she then said, causing Star Twinkle to think that he misheard something.

“We?” The stallion replied confused.

“Yes, let's go,” she said, either being completely oblivious or intentionally ignoring Star Twinkle's reaction.

“But I am not done here yet!” He replied pointing at some of the decorations.

“I am pretty sure you can still do that later,” she said while she used her magic to drag Star Twinkle on his tail behind her, much to his disapproval until he decided to follow her on his own.

A little later, at Sweet Apple Acres...

They both made their way to the farm of Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack usually did her apple bucking. Star Twinkle, as usual, felt kinda out of place. He never liked being dragged into other ponies problems. It wasn't his fault if Applejack was too exhausted or something after all. If he meddled around in her business, then he would only end up being part of the problem. But with Twilight dragging him all the way around, he quickly found himself already involved...

They quickly spotted Applejack bucking an Appletree. Even though, it didn't look as professional as Star Twinkle thought. She barely hit the tree and on her next attempt, she even kicked over one of her barrels.

“What on earth is that pony doing?” Twilight said with a confused look on her face. Twilight tried to get her attention but Applejack quickly fell asleep on the spot again. Twilight, however, was persistent to wake her up and asked her why she behaves like this. Applejack explained that it is Applebuck season which is basically harvesting time on Sweet Apple Acres, where they collect all apples from the trees to sell them. Big Macintosh, Applejack's big brother, was injured so it was up to Applejack to gather all the apples on her own. Twilight asked her if she wanted some help but Applejack refused to say that she can handle it on her own and doesn't need anypony to help her. This was reason enough for Star Twinkle to leave but Twilight insisted that it was too much for Applejack and that she should accept some help, but hearing that only made Applejack more persistent to continue her work alone.

After an effortless talk, Applejack returned to her apple bucking while Twilight and Star Twinkle left the farm. Applejack refused to listen to them and wanted her work done soon so she had no time to talk with the two.

This especially bothered Twilight. “I can't believe that she is so stubborn. Why can't she just accept our help? It would be much easier for her,” she explained.

Star Twinkle was listening to Twilight's words but he couldn't understand why she had the urge to help her that badly. The only thing he could think about was what Twilight would gain from helping that mare but he didn't want to say that because he felt like as if Twilight didn't want to hear that now.

But that didn't prevent him from saying something that made Twilight angry anyway. "We asked her...she doesn't want any help sooo problem solved..." Star Twinkle said as he casually continued his walk.

Twilight gave Star Twinkle a mean look after that sentence. She couldn't understand why Star Twinkle thought that things are okay as they were right now. "What do you mean problem solved? If she continues to work alone, then she may hurt herself or even worse!” Twilight exclaimed angrily, not understanding how Star Twinkle didn't bother at all.

“But we can't just force her to accept our help,” he replied as he turned around to face Twilight again.

“We are Applejack's friends. And friends should support each other,” she insisted.

“Maybe, as a friend, she doesn't want to bother us..." he replied, speaking from his point of view.

Twilight continued to give him a mean look, eventually getting a little angry at his words. “What is wrong with you, Star Twinkle?”

“What!?” He asked in surprise, not getting why Twilight got so angry all of the sudden.

“Back then, when we faced Nightmare Moon, you didn't hesitate to help us but now it's like you don't even care!” She exclaimed as she jumped in front of him and facing him with an eye to an eye.

He didn't give an answer to that, although there were numerous things that Star Twinkle could say at this point. For example, he did hesitate and he wasn't even sure why he helped them in the first place and it was true that he didn't care about Applejack's problem because he thinks that things are gonna be okay. However, Twilight makes him look like he is the one who is in the wrong all this time. But from Star Twinkles point of view, she is the one who should tone it down a little.

“You said that we are Applejack's friends and Applejack thinks of us as friends too so if she doesn't want to bother us by asking for help then we should not help her...” Star Twinkle explained.

That sentence confused Twilight because she just realized that Star Twinkle didn't even understand the problem. “It's not because she doesn't want to bother us. She is just too stubborn to ask for help! She will overwork herself!" Twilight exclaimed angrily.

“Whatever,” Star Twinkle said in an uncaring way, that only made Twilight even angrier.

“Ugh! There is no point talking to you! I am going home now,” Twilight replied.

Twilight's patience was at its limit so she decided to leave, seeing that she could not convince Star Twinkle to see the problem. She gave him a disappointing look as she walked away from him but he didn't seem to notice because he already walked away.

A little later...

Star Twinkle returned to his work near the town hall to help remove the rest of the decoration for Applejack's “Party”.
It didn't take too long since there was not much left and after he was done, he decided to go home. Being home again, he laid on his bed lost in thoughts as always. He didn't want to be bothered by the whole thing with Applejack but Twilight's words were just stuck in his head, making it hard to relax at all.

“If Applejack thinks of us as friends, then she would ask us for help but she doesn't so she doesn't want to bother us with that...right?” He asked himself. “She didn't hesitate to help us with the stampede, so she won't hesitate to ask us if she needs help...right?” He repeated to himself in various ways, believing that it was true.

He closed his eyes while thinking about the situation over and over again until he eventually fell asleep. He always feels tired after discussions like this. After he fell asleep, he had a strange dream. There were no images, there was only a voice that he couldn't identify. But for some reason, it also felt familiar.

“I don't need help...

I can do this on my own...

I don't want...

Yes, that's exactly why...

Because...”

Suddenly, a familiar shaking woke him up from his dream. He panicked for a second due to the surprise until he heard something from outside.

“STAMPEDE!”

It was Rainbow Dash who alerted everypony once again from an upcoming stampede. Star Twinkle was surprised to hear this word again and looked out of his window to see how bad the situation was outside. “Cows again? Or something worse? Like...like...” But he instantly got his answer by looking down at the ground. “Bunnies?” Surprised by the sight of a bunch of bunnies running through the town Star Twinkles fear quickly vanished.

After the “Stampede”, Star Twinkle was walking around in town to ask how exactly it came to this. He asked Fluttershy, who was trying to calm down the bunnies. She said that Applejack tried to help her with the bunnies but things seemed to have escalated a little. He also talked to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash who asked her for help earlier this day. They all seem to have encountered some problems as well.

“Applejack, huh?” Star Twinkle wondered.

For some reason, Star Twinkle went to Sweet Apple Acres to look for Applejack, expecting to see her doing some apple bucking again. But to his surprise, he found her unconscious next to Twilight and a red stallion with an orange mane. The stallion was Applejack's big brother Big Macintosh. Star Twinkle did meet him on one or two occasions when he was doing some work on the farm. He didn't talk much and Star Twinkle wasn't bothered by that but it made it hard to judge his character. He thought Big Macintosh was okay, though.

But the pony he didn't want to see right now because of their last conversation was Twilight, who still had a mean look on her face whenever she looked at Star Twinkle.

“What are you doing here?” She said while almost sounding bored to talk with Star Twinkle.

“And now I regret coming here,” He mumbled to himself, so nopony could hear it.

Twilight looked at Applejack in concern who was still unconscious.

“See? If we had helped her none of this would have happened,” she explained.

“Oh, so you knew that there would be a mass poisoning and bunny stampede as a result?” He jokingly said but Twilight wasn't really in the mood for jokes at the moment.

“Look at that,” she said while pointing to a huge field of apple trees. “She passed out after seeing how much work is left,” she explained.

Star Twinkle was more than surprised to see that many apple trees left after Applejack's hard work.

“Do you still think she should do it on her own?” Twilight asked.

“...No,” he said accepting that Twilight was right. “But I still think that she should ask us if she needs help or at least not refuse our help. I don't know why she doesn't want to accept our help but if she is our friend then she should at least let us help her. I don't feel comfortable helping somepony who doesn't want my help,” he explained, almost as if he was speaking from experience.

Twilight kinda understood what he was getting at, even though she didn't approve of it. But she didn't want to argue with him anymore so she gave him an understanding look.

In the meantime, Applejack woke up so Twilight rushed to her side to confirm that she was okay. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked with concern.

“Oh, hi Twitwinkle and Starsparkle,” Applejack greeted with her eyes still spinning.

“Wow, she is really messed up,” he said, resulting in Twilight to give him a mean look once again. “Sorry,” he said noticing that it was maybe a little inappropriate.

Twilight decided to no longer watch this and wanted Applejack to understand which situation not only she but also her friends were. “Now Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. You're always there to help anypony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you,” she asked, in hope that she would come to her senses.

“Yes but we can't help anypony who doesn't want our help, so let us please help if not for your sake then at least for ours,” Star Twinkle said.

Applejack looked at how many apple trees there were left and realized by now that it was too much for her to handle, so she swallowed her pride and finally accepted their help. Twilight and Star Twinkle let out a sigh of relief after hearing that and both lent a hoof to Applejack, helping her up again.

Now the only thing left was to get the rest of their friends to help Applejack out on the farm. They were probably all willing to help out as well, especially, after Applejack helped them out just recently.

Later...

Star Twinkle, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all ended up helping Applejack with the apple trees and the whole work was almost done at the end of the day. Not only was Applejack still standing after that, but the work was also done quicker then she expected.

As a thank, Applejack prepared some drinks for her friends after they all did their fair share of work. They all gladly accepted some refreshments and stopped their work and gathered around her.

“How about y'all take a little break? I got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!” She said as she presented some drinks in front of them.

“Uh! Apple juice!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

Applejack realized that she was acting a bit stubborn and thanked her friends for their help. She also admitted that she was wrong and promised to ask for help, the next time something like that happens. Hearing that, made Twilight, who was worried about her for the whole day, clearly feel a little better.

Star Twinkle, however, couldn't care less. At least that's what he was telling himself. He couldn't help but to reflect Applejack's behavior from before a little on himself and wondered if it was good.

While they all drank a little apple juice spike offered them some rather unhealthy looking muffins. They all were disgusted even by the look of them. Star Twinkle came to the conclusion that those may be the muffins Applejack helped to make, so he didn't even think one second to taste one of them even if Spike generously offered one of them.

Eventually, the work was done at the end of the day and they all went home again. Star Twinkle was exhausted but he also felt good for helping Applejack, for some reason. He didn't know if it was because he liked to help out his friend or if it was because he felt like repaying Applejack for saving the town from the stampede. Not knowing that actually made him feel a little weird and he wished that he could just ignore it.

...

At that night, he once again had that strange dream. Once again there were no pictures, there was only a voice that he didn't recognize.

“I don't need help...

I can do this on my own...

I don't want you to get involved with this...

Yes, that's exactly why...

Because we're friends...”

On the next day...

It was later this day and he almost finished his work at the Iron Hammer. Once again he had to pull a cart full of tools, iron, and wood inside of the workshop. He was struggling because it was heavy as usual and Steel Hammer noticed that...as usual but he didn't say anything, knowing that Star Twinkle would give him the usual answer. But then he heard something that completely surprised him.

“You know...that cart sure is heavy,” Star Twinkle indirectly implied.

“Yes, so?” Steel Hammer said not knowing what Star Twinkle was getting at.

“I mean...it would go along much easier if somepony would help me...you know?” He said still trying to be a little subtle about it.

Steel Hammer was slowly getting what Star Twinkle tried to say, even though he was surprised to hear it from HIM. But he didn't say anything and helped him without hesitation even smiling at him like he wanted to say: I am proud of you. Star Twinkle didn't know how to react to this and just continued to on the cart, which was now much easier to pull.

Star Twinkle continued his work while thinking about the events from yesterday. He felt that the dream he had last night was somehow connected to the situation. But why?

“If somepony is offering you his help, then it's not because they think you can't do it on your own?” He thought to himself. “Or do they want to help you because they want to make it easier for you?”

He didn't fully understand it and he also didn't want to worry about it too much since thinking about all those things would just ruin his days in Ponyville

At least that's what he thought...