Bravery of the Stars

by Phase Nexus

Chapter 5- An Apple Headache

“I’m telling you, in a straight point-to-point race, Fleetfoot is winning hooves down.”

“As if! Spitfire has it down! That’s why she’s the captain!”

Once again, it’s another new day in Ponyville. I’m spending the day hanging out with Rainbow Dash, and we’re currently having a conversation about the Wonderbolts, specifically, who’s the fastest. It's one of the bigger things we have in common since we both grew up around them. Though, in different ways I guess. Rainbow is next to me, lying on a cloud she brought down.

“Trust me Rainbow, Fleetfoot is faster than Spitfire,” I say. “She actually reminds me of you a bit.”

“How so?” the speedster tilts her head.

“Well like you, what she lacks in size she makes up for in speed,” I tease her.

“Wha-Hey! I’m not small!” she pouts, making me laugh.

“In all seriousness Rainbow, you’re gonna be an awesome Wonderbolt,” I smile at her.

“Well of course I am! They’d be crazy not to take me in!” She says confidently.

I roll my eyes with a smile. “Yeah, just don’t try and hijack any of their performances. Twilight told me about your Gala plan,” I deadpan at her, unimpressed. “They tend to take that kinda serious, and I’d hate to have to bail you out of the Canterlot dungeon.”

“Ugh, fine,” she sighs, kicking at a tuft of her cloud. “I gotta meet them somehow though.”

“Well the Best Young Fliers Competition is next spring, isn’t it? You could win that for sure!” I encourage her.

“Heck yeah, I could!” Rainbow gets a smug look. “I’m already planning out my routine. I’m going to cap it all off with my Sonic Rainboom! There’s no way any anypony could beat that!”

“Sonic Rainboom?” I ask in confusion, tilting my head.

“It’s when a pegasus flies so fast that they break both the sound and light barriers, making an explosion of color!” She says excitedly.

“Wow, that sounds awesome! I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Well, they’re super rare. I did when I was a filly,” she says smugly. “I just wish you and the rest of our friends could come too. I’m gonna have just Fluttershy as my cheering section.”

I get a mischievous look. “You wanna see something cool?”

“Uh, always!”

Moving quickly, I tackle her, knocking her off the cloud. She hits the ground with an oof, but she quickly recovers, giggling. “Hey- woah!” Her eyes go wide when she sees me sitting on the cloud.

“Oooh, I forgot how comfortable these things are,” I sigh, lying on the cloud.

“How are you doing that?” She asks, hovering next to me, poking my chest.

I respond by booping her snoot with a chuckle. “I’m half pegasus, you dork. It’s just genetics.”

“Oh, yeah. I knew that,” she chuckles with a blush.

“Sure you did,” I roll my eyes playfully..

“Well you could have just told me,” she says sitting next to me.

“Yeah, but this was funnier,” I counter, causing her to giggle. “But yeah, if you want, I could come to the competition to cheer you on. You’d just have to ferry me on a cloud.”

“Heck yeah!” She cheers. We sit in silence for a moment, watching the clouds pass overhead.

Our quiet moment abruptly ends as the ground starts to rumble, and we both shoot up.

“That can’t be good,” I say, running towards the noise as Rainbow flies above me.

“I’m gonna get a better look!” She yells, zooming up higher. I get to the edge of town, seeing a dust cloud building in the distance.

“Shit.”

“Stampede!” Rainbow yells, trying to warn ponies.

“We gotta get everpony off the street!” I yell up at her. She nods, zooming off. I run into town, doing my best to corral ponies indoors, as the town has started to panic. Some of our other friends are there as well.

Pinkie giggles as the ground makes her body vibrate. “H-e-e-e-e-e-y! T-h-i-s m-a-k-e-s m-y v-o-i-c-e s-o-u-n-d s-i-i-l-l-y-y-y-y!”

“Pinkie Pie, are you crazy? Run!” Twilight urges her.

“Calm down everypony! There’s no need to panic!” Mayor Mare yells, trying to calm everypony.

“But Mayor! Whatever shall we do?” Rarity asks dramatically.

“Look there!” Rainbow calls out, pointing at the stampede. We all turn and look, seeing Appljack! She’s trying to corral the herd and direct them away from town.

“Yeah! Go Applejack!” I cheer. She gets a lasso around the lead cow, pulling it while Winona runs at the front of the pack. At the last second, they get the herd to turn, avoiding the town. Everypony cheers for her, grateful that she saved the town.

“That was so awesome!” Rainbow says, landing next to me.

“I’ll say. She showed up just in time,” I respond with a grin.

Applejack and Winona come over the hill, and we all cheer for them again.

“YeeHAW!” The country girl yells, running back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Pinkie giggles. “YeeHaw! Ride ‘em cowpony!” She cheers, hopping in the street.

The mayor nods. “Applejack was just… just…”

“Appletastic!” The party pony finishes, falling to the ground.

“Exactly! We simply must do something to thank Applejack for singlehoofedly saving the town!”

Pinkie's eyes go wide as she smiles. “I know what we can do!”

I smirk. “Let me guess, a party?”

“Aw, Northy! I didn’t know you could read minds!” She giggles, patting my mane. “Now I need streamers and four dozen balloons!”

She bounces off, and our friends follow her. Getting a weird feeling, I start heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, wanting to check on Applejack. I make my way through the rows of apple trees, searching for the farm pony. My eyes land on a familiar sight, making me stop.

An old dilapidated clubhouse sits in a large apple tree. I walk up the small ramp, brushing some dust off the balcony with my tail. “The years haven’t been nice to you, have they?” I let out a soft chuckle, pressing my hoof against the old doorframe.

“North?” I turn around, seeing Applejack standing behind me. She tilts her head at me. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I was looking for you,” I say, climbing down from the clubhouse. “Old girl has seen better days, huh?”

“Yeah,” she nods sadly. “Ain’t got a whole lot of use out of her the past few years. Ah’m wantin’ to show Apple Bloom to see if she and her friends wanna fix it up. There just ain’t been time.”

“Yeah the past few weeks have been pretty hectic.” I look over, seeing she has a cart full of buckets. “What are you up to?”

“It’s Apple Buck Season,” she simply explains, and I nod in understanding.

“Guess that means fall is finally here huh?” I lightly joke. “Is Big Mac working the other side of the orchard?”

She shakes her head, setting up the buckets under a tree. “Big Mac hurt himself yesterday stopping a runaway cart from hittin’ some foals. He’s restin’ up so, Ah’m on my own.”

“By yourself?” I ask with a tilt of my head. “Applejack it would take you forever to do this all alone.”

“Now don’t you start using your fancy mathematics on me too!” She frowns at me. “I can do this on my own, just you watch.”

“Are you sure? I’m more than happy to help.”

She looks annoyed by my offer. “Ah appreciate it, North, but Ah can do this on my own.” Before I can argue further, she starts bucking apple trees.

I sigh internally, knowing first hoof exactly how stubborn Applejack can be. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” She only nods in response, and I head back towards town.

‘This can’t end well…’

---

It’s a few days later, and the town is prepping for the celebration to congratulate Applejack for saving the town from the stampede. The whole square is decorated with banners and balloons. Even the pony fountain statue has balloons tied all over its limbs.

“A party!” Pinkie randomly yells, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I look over and see Ruby helping Rarity tie a bow around a tree. I walk over as Twilight approaches with Spike on her back.

“We all ready?” She asks.

“Just one last thing,” Rarity reassures her. “North, if you’d be so kind?” I nod happily, picking up the large apple-themed banner in my magic and lifting it up, fastening it in place on the town hall. “Thank you, darling. Now we’re ready!”

Twilight nods. “Is Applejack all set?”

“Actually I haven’t seen her all week,” Rainbow chimes in, landing next to us.

“Same here. She’s been busy since the stampede,” I add.

“She’ll be here for sure. Applejack is never late,” Rainbow says confidently.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” I mutter as Ruby climbs on my back.

About an hour later, a crowd has gathered outside of the town hall. I stand on the open porch of the hall with Twilight. She steps up to the podium, pulling out a stack of flash cards.

“Welcome, everypony!” The purple unicorn starts, addressing the crowd. “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-” She’s suddenly cut off by Rainbow zooming in next to her.

“Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome!” Rainbow says excitedly, squishing her face with her hooves.

“Exactly!” Twilight shoves the speedster off the podium, but before she can continue her speech, Pinkie pops up in front of her.

“This week! I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!” The party pony announces. “And Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me! Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!”

The crowd cheers as Twilight takes her spot behind the podium again. “Okay, that’s great. Now if I can just make a point without getting inter-”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy pokes her side.

“-rupted,” Twilight grumbles, moving aside for the soft pegasus.

“Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census,” Fluttershy says happily, much to the apparent annoyance of Twilight. “Where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills.” She notices the unicorn’s annoyed look, silently slinking back from the podium.

“Anyone else? Anyone?” Twilight asks aloud. “No? Well then, as I was trying to say-” she looks over, seeing the wide smile of Mayor Mare. She growls in frustration, flinging her index cards in the air. “Never mind.” I let out a soft chuckle, patting Twilight on the back as we step off the stage.

The Mayor clears her throat. And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the Prized 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 cheers as the curtain on the porch opens, revealing… no one.

“Oh no,” I mutter as the crowd gasps.

“Cool! Way to go, Applejack, that was awesome! I mean—” Spike cheers, stopping when he sees all of us staring at him. “Heh. Awkward.”

“Yes, you’re pretty much the king of that,” Ruby rolls her eyes.

“Ah'm here! Ah'm here,” a southern voice calls from the back of the crowd. I look back, seeing Applejack making her way through the crowd. She has saddle baskets filled with apples on her back, and thick bags under her eyes. She stumbles through the crowd, eventually making it to the stage. “Sorry Ah'm late! Miss Mayor, thank you kindly for this here... award thingy,” she says tiredly with a yawn. “It's so bright and shiny and, heh, heh heh, I sure do look funny heh.” The country pony laughs at her distorted reflection in the award, making noises as she moves back and forth.

I rub my face with my hoof, kicking myself for being right. She looks like she hasn’t slept since I last saw her, and she’s acting like it too.

Twilight clears her throat. “Okay, well, thank you Applejack for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony.”

Applejack yawns again. Yeah. I like helping the ponyfolks and… and stuff.” She dozes off again with a snore, shaking herself awake. “Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, thanks!” She drags the trophy off the stage, and the crowd makes room for her, silent as she heads back to the orchard.

Twilight tilts her head. “Uh, was it just me or did Applejack seem a little…”

“Tired?” Rainbow offers.

“Dizzy?” Fluttershy asks.

“Messy?” Rarity says, making us all look at her. “Well. Did you see her mane?”

“She seemed fine to me!” Pinkie perks up. “Woo!”

I roll my eyes, heading in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, to try and talk som sense into Applejack.

“Hey North, wait up!” I turn my head, seeing Twilight following me. “You going to see what’s up with Applejack too?” She asks as she catches up with me.

“Yeah, but I get the feeling I already know what’s up,” I sigh. Twilight tilts her head at me in confusion. “It's the Apple family’s harvesting time,” I explain further. “Big Mac hurt himself a few days ago, so Applejack is on her own.”

“What about all those relatives I met when we first came to Ponyville?” She asks. “Can't they help?”

“They probably would if Applejack would just ask,” I grunt. “They’re harvesting their own orchards around Equestria, but I’m sure they could spare a few ponies.”

“So why won’t she ask?”

“Easier said than done,” I say as we walk into the orchard. “Applejack is one of the most stubborn ponies I know. If she has her mind set on doing this alone, we might not be able to convince her to let us help.”

We find Applejack by a tree. She bucks the trunk, sending the apples falling into the waiting baskets below. In her tiredness, she kicks over one of the baskets, spilling apples on the ground.

Twilight and I call out her name, but she doesn't hear us, having fallen asleep standing up. I consider letting her sleep, but Twilight teleports in front of the earth pony.

“Applejack!” The unicorn yells, waking her up.

The farm pony shakes her head, smiling tiredly when she sees us. “Oh, howdy Twilight, North.”

“Are you doing okay?” Twilight asks worriedly.

“Yeah, Ah’m just busy,” she claims, bucking another tree.

“North told me what happened. Are you really out here all by yourself?”

“Oh did he now?” Applejack asks, giving me a side eye. She shakes her head with another groan. “Well, don't you four worry none. Ah’m just fine and dandy.”

“Applejack you’re exhausted. You’re going to get yourself hurt,” I try to reason with her. “Please, just let us help you.”

“Help?” The farm pony scoffs at the idea. “No way! No how!”

“But there’s no way you can do this by yourself!” Twilight protests.

“Is that a challenge?”

“No one is challenging you!” I sigh. “Applejack we’re just worried about you.”

She scoffs, walking off. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry about! I'm gonna prove to you that I can do it! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got apples to buck.” She heads further into the orchard, away from us.

Twilight sighs. “Well that could have gone better.”

“She’s gonna get herself hurt. Or somepony else,” I groan, rubbing my face.

Twilight pats my back as we watch Applejack get back to work, knocking over another basket of apples.

---

Things only went downhill from there. While helping Rainbow Dash with an air stunt, Applejack had sent her careening through the air, and crashing on Twilight’s balcony. The day after, she poisoned two dozen ponies by botching Pinkie’s muffin recipe. Each time, Twilight and I have tried to confront an even more exhausted and sleep deprived Applejack, and each time she turned away our offers to help, her exhaustion no doubt making her stubbornness even worse.

“Boy do I sure hate being right…”

Making my way through town on my way to the library, wondering what new disaster awaits me today, I hear a voice call my name.

“Hey North!” I look up, seeing a panicked Rainbow Dash. “Get to the square! We got a problem!”

I groan, running through town as I follow the pegasus. The ground is rumbling one again, and the townsponies are panicking, trying to rush to safety. I look up seeing a stampede of… rabbits?

The rabbits flood the town square, eating the flowers and vegetables from the gardens. Poor Fluttershy is skittering around, trying to gather up the bunnies again. “Oh my. Oh... Please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness!”

“Okay! I’ve had enough of this shit!” I declare, making my way towards Sweet Apple Acres. I run into Twilight, also making her way to the orchard.

“Guessing you saw the bunny breakout too, huh?” She asks me, and I nod.

“Yep. It’s only a matter of when she seriously hurts someone at this point. Including herself.”

“I agree,” Twilight nods as we search the orchard for the farm pony. “No matter what happens, we are not taking no for an answer.”

We run into Big Mac, the large stallion still has a bandage wrapped around his torso.

“Big Mac!” My companion greets him. “Do you know where Applejack is?”

“Eeyup,” he nods.

“Can you take us to her?” I ask.

“Eeyup.” He leads us through the orchard, to a lone tree on a hill. An exhausted Applejack is barely able to stand, weakly kicking the tree.

“Must… keep, buckin'... just… a few, more. Must finish harvestin'...” Applejack mumbles out, a few apples falling into her baskets.

Twilight and I walk up to her, and I start confronting her. “Okay Applejack, your stubbornness isn’t just being a detriment to your health, you’re putting other ponies at risk now too!”

Twilight nods. “You’ve over-propelled a pegasus, practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say, you. Need. Help!”

The farmpony kicks the tree behind her, sending the last of the apples into her baskets. “Hah! No Ah don’t!” She yells smuggly. She gestures to the empty trees behind us. “Look, Ah did it! Ah harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help! How d'ya like them apples?”

Big Mac clears his throat, getting her attention. “How do you like them apples?” He gestures behind her, to where a whole quarter of the orchard is still unharvested.

The farm pony’s eyes go wide when she sees all the trees that are left. She sways side to side, mumbling incoherently. Then, mercifully, she collapses, falling asleep.

“Finally,” I sigh. I take the baskets off her back, putting the spilled apples back inside them.

“Is she going to be okay?” Twilight asks, looking down at the snoring pony.

“Probably. Let’s just let her sleep for now.” I take a seat by the tree, and Twilight joins me. We watch over the snoozing pony for a while, letting her rest after going Faust knows how long without sleep.

Applejack starts muttering, stirring awake. “Applejack?” Twilight gets up, looking her over. “Applejack!”

“Huh?” The farm pony looks up at the unicorn, causing her to sigh in relief.

“Oh good, you’re okay,” Twilight sighs in relief, before getting a stern expression. “Now Applejack, We 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.”

“You’re one of my best friends Applejack,” I tell her, a tone of worry in my voice. “I hate seeing you work yourself to death like this, and I refuse to let you hurt yourself anymore.”

Applejack sighs, a look of defeat on her face. “Okay…”

“We are not taking no for an answ– what?” The unicorn says in surprise.

Applejack looks up at us, pressing her hooves together in a pleading gesture. “Yes. Yes, please. Ah could really use your help.”

I sigh in relief, helping Applejack to her hooves. “It’ll be our pleasure,” I smile at her, helping her back to the barn.

---

We ended up recruiting the rest of our friends to help as well, working together to finish the harvest. Between the seven of us, we manage to finish emptying the orchard by the end of the day. The sun starts to set as Applejack wheels out a cart with seven bottles of juice on it.

“How about y'all take a little break? Ah got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!” She cals out to us. We all father around the cart as she sighs happily. “Ah can't thank y’all enough for this help. Ah was acting a bit stubborn.”

“Understatement of the year,” I chuckle, taking a sip of my juice.

Applejack giggles. “Okay, a might stubborn. And Ah’m awful sorry,” she apologizes, getting a smile on her face. “Ah know the town gave me the Prized Pony award, but the real award is having you six as my friends.”

We all smile at her, enjoying our juice and the company of our friends.

“North Star and Twilight Sparkle?” A new voice chimes in, causing us all to stop. I look over, seeing a dark red pegasus stallion with a brown mane and blue eyes. He’s wearing a black and purple cloak and saddlebags.

“Yeah, who’s asking?” I ask him. He walks up to me, pulling a scroll out of his cloak and giving it to me.

“Please open at your earliest convenience,” he says, the serious look never leaving his face. Before we can inquire further he spreads his wings, taking off into the air faster than any of us can react.

“Woah! He’s fast!” Rainbow exclaims, watching the stallion soar towards Canterlot.

Twilight and I look at the scroll. We exchange a look, unrolling it. As we read the letter our eyes go wide.

Rarity notices the look on our faces “Darlings, is everything okay?”

I look at her. “It’s… from Princess Luna.”

---

Our Dearest Subjects Twilight Sparkle and North Star

We hope this letter finds you well. We write to you once again to express our thanks for your intervention in freeing us, and we hope you are settling in well in the town of Ponyville.

Our sister has been spending time educating us on the new customs that have arisen since our banishment, and we must admit we find them most curious.

We wish to discuss with you the events that transpired during your battle with Nightmare Moon. We await your hurried response, and look forward to seeing you again.

Your Princess of the Night,
Luna

I reread the letter again, watching as Twilight is frantically zipping around the library. “Oh! Where’s my copy of the Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy?” She panics, searching through the shelves.

“Twilight, she just wants to see us about the Nightmare incident. There’s no need to panic,” I sigh, watching as she stuffs books into her saddlebag.

“No need?!” She turns on me. “This is the Princess of the Night we’re talking about! We have to make a good impression on her!”

“I think you did that after you saved her life,” Ruby mutters, gathering a few more supplies for Twilight, earning a glare from her.

I put a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight, you need to relax. I’m nervous too, but panicking like this is only going to make it worse.” The unicorn nods, taking a deep breath. I pat her back, smiling at her. “Come on, we got a train to catch, you can study all the stars you want on the ride to Canterlot.

We bid Spike and Ruby a farewell, making our way to the Ponyville train station, our nerves rising as we ride towards our royal summons.

Author's Note:

Where have you been Mister?!

I've been busy Pinkie! Fanfics don't pay the bills yet!

Sorry for being so late with this chapter, been busy with life stuff, and I've been rewatching the show.

Sorry this chapter is mainly filler, the next chapter is gonna be a lot chunkier!

As always, feedback is appreciated! And please remember to stay beautiful!

Comments

[f0st3r21]

I’m not sure fanfics will ever pay bills. It’s unfortunate, but it’s beyond amazing that they still exist!!

Applejack is lucky she didn’t get fined for the poisonings, crop and property destruction, and public safety concerns. Heroes get a pass.

[Totally Not A Pony]

11731462
Unless they’re superheroes, then they actually do get sued over the craziest stuff.

Anyway, looks like next chapter is going to be the first to take a serious break from canon (beyond the whole ‘here’s an extra OC and he needs shoehorning in’ thing, anyway). In the show Luna wasn’t even heard from again until a full season later, after all.