Paolina stretched with a long yawn as the morning rays hit her, she picked herself up from the guest bed in one of the side rooms and quickly went to work making the bed. Once satisfied she ran a hand through her wild hair that always seemed to stay in the same style no matter what she did. She began to hum a little to herself as she stretched, making her way out of the room with a small smile and a yawn. "Oh, today is a wonderful day..." She groaned out as she felt some of the tensing in her muscles ease away.

Spike chuckled from his seat in the reading area. "Yeah, I bet it's going to be awesome today!" He cheered as he closed the comic he was reading. "Twilight even went out to see Rarity so I bet she's going to come back with a huge load of gems!"

Paolina let out a small chuckle. "I hope she gets back soon, I've got to help Big Mac out in the corn fields."

"I thought Applejack didn't want any help on the farm?"

"She's only tending the apple orchard, not the rest of their crops. I'm helping Big Mac because he asked for the help." Paolina explained. "Maybe you'd like to come with me? it would give you a chance to work out a bit more instead of sit around reading books all day. I'll even be able to head out sooner than I thought."

"Well... could we have breakfast first? I was hoping to get some pancakes..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Apple Bloom would be happy to help with breakfast, if you're not able to harvest, you might be able to keep her occupied so that she doesn't happen to trip us up trying to do more than she can."

Spike nodded. "Just let me make a note for Twilight then." He picks up a small scroll and a quill so that he could let Twilight know that he's going to be at Sweet Apple Acres. After signing off with a small flourish he rolled up the scroll and put it right on Twilight's current stack of books she was studying. "Alright, let's go."

Paolina put a hand on his head as she put two fingers to her forehead, making the two vanish from the library to reappear at Sweet Apple Acres. "Let's go see what they need help wi- Whoa!" Paolina pulled Spike out of the way as Applejack sped past her, running a tad erratically as she made her way into town. "...what's she in a hurry about?" Paolina asked with rising curiosity.

"Sis jus' thinks she's gonna be late ta help Pinkie Pie with bakin' today. She's one of the best bakers in town!" Apple Bloom explained as she leapt up on to the nearby fence.

"Did she sleep at all last night?"

"Nope, she's been up the past couple o' nights just buckin' apples." Apple Bloom replied.

Paolina let a small frown show before smiling again and looking over to Apple Bloom. "Hey, Spike wanted to help with breakfast today, got room in the kitchen for a dragon?"

"Of course! Granny'd be happy to have him helpin'!" Apple Bloom cheered. "Come on Spike!" She leapt down from the fence as the little dragon gave his Saiyan friend a look.

"Don't worry about me Spike, I'll be helping Big Mac in the corn fields, just help them whip up an awesome breakfast and I'm sure we'll be fine." Paolina smiled as she gave him a pat on the head, helping to lead him toward the house.

Paolina was moving at a very quick pace down a row of corn by the time Big Mac arrived at the field. He pursed his lips a little as he started to pick corn as well. Both of them were silent as they worked, Paolina picked up her pace as she started to simply think again.

"You didn't have to start on the corn before breakfast if ya didn't want..." Big Mac stated simply as she started to pass him again.

"...I know..." She replied just as simply as she slowed down a little. "I just wanted to have a bit of work before breakfast, and this was a great way to get the sleep out of my system."

Big Mac nodded a little as he continued picking corn. "AJ's workin' herself too hard..." He says after a few minutes.

"I thought so, you gonna do anything about it?"

He shakes his head. "When she's in a mood like this it's better to let her tire herself out otherwise ya might be on the receivin' end of a strong hoof to the muzzle."

"Yeah, one of my mentors was the same way, angry at the universe and if you tried to tell him to calm down he'd fly into a rage and try to break every bone in your body." Paolina chuckled as she made her pace even with the stallion's. "But he was a good guy, wouldn't take any trash talking about his family from anyone... he even managed to deck lord Beerus a good one because the god had smacked his wife."

"Beerus?" Big Mac questioned with a raised brow.

"One of my other mentors, he's a god of destruction. Not evil, just, it's in his nature to destroy things... part of the job description he would say. He's a real sweetheart when you get to know him, and give him a good scratching behind his left ear." the Saiyan chuckled.

"What did he teach you?"

"He taught me a couple techniques, only one of which I still use... but I know he wasn't going anywhere near all-out when I was fighting him. I was able to fight pretty evenly with what was possibly half of his actual strength."

"Interestin..." Big Mac commented as they continued along the corn field.

Paolina smiled as she worked, happy to have someone to talk to if she needed it. For the rest of the day the both of them continued working in silence, sharing a passing glance every now and then to check how much progress was left on the field. Big Mac couldn't have been happier, he finally had a worker who appreciated the work just as much as his family did and not once did she want payment... admittedly that last part was one that made him feel kinda bad for taking advantage of her generosity. Every time he pushed the issue though, she seemed just as stubborn as Applejack when it came to not accepting the payment.

"Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think..." She said with a smile as she dusted off her gi, "It helped me a lot, so... I'm gonna take Spike back to Twilight, good luck getting Applejack to share the apple orchard." the Saiyan chuckled as she walked back to the house with the large red stallion.

Big Mac nods a little. "Happy ta help, somepony who's mood is down isn't able to help themselves, so they just need a little push in the right direction."

Paolina walked into the house, followed by Big Mac, only to come to a full stop as she noticed the state that the kitchen was in while an elderly green mare was snoring in a rocking chair nearby. "...S-Spike?" Paolina called hesitantly as she and Big Mac stepped warily into the hazard zone now known as the kitchen.

A pile of dough wiggled a bit before Spike's head popped out. "Uh... Hey... We... we ran into a small snag with lunch... hehe..." He chuckled sheepishly.

Paolina rolled her eyes as she took a bit of the dough between her index and thumb finger before popping it in her mouth. "I'll say... you didn't add enough salt, and had more mix than flour." She critiqued as she helped pull the little dragon out of the dough before setting him off to the side, putting some flour on her hands and hefted the dough onto the counter. "Plus side is the heat of the oven will still kill off any bacteria... but adding a few other things wouldn't hurt." She quickly went to work kneading the dough. "Where's Apple Bloom?"

"Applejack came back to the farm a little bit ago so she took a glass of lemonade out to her..." Spike replied.

"That's good, that mare could really use a break..." Paolina said as she kept kneading the dough. "What exactly were you looking to use all this dough for?"

"Pizza! Of course!" Spike replied with a bit of feigned indignance. "Only one of the greatest culinary perfections in the land and the Apple family has one of the largest ovens to be able to create such a perfect specimen."

Paolina gave him a confused look. "Pi-... OH! That, sorry, it took me a minute to remember what you were talking about. I guess some food types make their way across dimensions." She chuckled as she rolled the dough into a large ball. "Do you have the sheet for the pizza then?"

He nodded and pointed to a metal tray that was hanging precariously over the edge of one of the counters.

"Well, get it over here so I can spread the dough out." the Saiyan ordered as she picked up the ball of dough. "You have the sauce and various toppings, right?"

Spike nodded as he went around the kitchen grabbing several bags. "they're not gems... but Apple Bloom said they'd be good on the pizza."

Paolina took one and gave it a curious look. "...Marinated apples?" She turned to the stallion in the doorway, who simply shrugged amiably at her look. "well... I gotta give it to you apples... you certainly know a ton of ways to use an apple."

"...Eeyup."

Paolina chuckled before she began to spread the dough out on the metal pan. "you know... I've been here for nearly two months now and I haven't done any serious training since I got here..." She mused as she lined the dough up with the edges of the pan. "...Spike, I hope that Twilight agrees to let you train with me, because I could use a sparring partner."

"You... wait, sparring partner?" Spike asked with confusion.

"Yeah, you make more progress initially when you're training with someone stronger than you, and then both fighters can make better progress training together competitively than they can solo." Paolina chuckled.

Spike looked at the bag of marinated apples in his claws before he flexed each one individually. "...How much stronger...?" he asked quietly.

"I believe the exact wording Trunks used when he asked how much I could lift was..." She took a moment to make her voice sound a bit more like Rainbow Dash's. "...'Can't you bench-press a planet yet?'..." She started to laugh a bit once she was done with the imitation. "A bit of an exaggeration, but not a far cry from what I can do. I could easily lift Canterlot off the mountain it's embedded in if I wanted to."

Spike's eyes widened. "no.. way..."

"Yeah, it's a really great feeling when you know you can lift a mountain if you wanted to. And you'll get to train with me once Cello becomes the Kami of this planet." Paolina smiled as she finished prepping the dough and took the bag of marinated apples from Spike so that she could spread the topping on the pizza. With a quick motion she got the pizza in the oven and had Big Mac set an egg timer for twenty minutes. She was in the middle of washing her hands as Spike clambered up onto the counter.

"So... you mean it? you... really do want to make me stronger?" He asked as he nervously played with his claws.

"Of course I do Spike, I want to make everyone stronger... It's no fun when you're the strongest." She smiled as she rinsed her hands.

"What do you mean?"

Paolina gave him a smirk. "When you always know you're going to win, you get bored of fighting pretty easily because there's no chance you'll lose." She explained as she dried her hand on a nearby towel. "Let's get this mess cleaned up..."

The little dragon nodded, quickly getting a broom and dustpan to help clean. They both cleaned in silence, the only sound being heard was snoring from the other room, before Spike spoke up a few minutes later. "...Will I be able to fly?"

"Of course, but that would come a bit later." Paolina replied as she finished cleaning a section of the kitchen. "First we would have to start with teaching you how to manipulate your Ki though."

"What is Ki?"

Paolina bit her lip a little as she tried to come up with an explanation for him. "The most basic definition of it... would be your life force... It gets a tad more complex than that, but that's pretty close." Paolina replied as the two nearly had the whole kitchen clean. "You have to be able to bring the energy that is inside your body into a technique... Sadly enough this tends to lead to a really, REALLY big appetite when you start using a lot of techniques at once, but it's only because you're burning off a lot of energy by using them."

He nods a bit as he keeps looking at her inquisitively. "How much energy does it take? Is it like a dragon's inner fire?"

"...Yes actually, it's a lot like that. While you might not be able to destroy a planet with your fist, you can focus your energy into a powerful-enough burst to rend a planet apart... I did that one time... it got Lord Beerus to smile a little." She finished with a slight blush.

Their attention was diverted as the egg timer went off. "Welp, pizza time!" Spike cheered as he went over to the oven to pull out the pan, surprising Paolina with just how heat-proof he could be. He quickly set it on a stone countertop so that it could cool. "Wow, even without crushed gemstones it smells amazing!"

Paolina took a deep whif of the smell as well, "Yeah, I'm sure Applejack would be happy to dig in with us!" She says with a broad smile before the side door to the kitchen swings open to reveal Apple Bloom drenched in lemonade.

"...She kicked the tray..." Was all the filly said before hoisting the tray into the sink and making a quick exit.

Paolina bit her lip. "...I'm sure it was an accident... but... it would probably be a good idea to find out what's up... I'll be right back Spike."

Spike nodded. "See ya in a bit."

Paolina took to the air once more as she looked for the mare of the farm, spotting her lazily trying to buck the apples off of a small dead tree. She landed nearby with a slight frown on her face, "Applejack... What's going on?" She asked, hoping that the mare would realize on her own just how much trouble was being caused by her stubbornness.

Applejack took a moment to realize she was kicking a dead tree, "Nothin's goin' on aside from harvestin' apples for Apple Buckin' season." She replies curtly as she makes her way to another tree.

"AJ, Apple Bloom came back to the house soaked in lemonade... I really don't think that was part of apple harvesting."

"It was an accident, I missed my kick an' accidentally hit the tray instead... nothin more..."

Both the Saiyan and Pony turned as Twilight game galloping up the path to them, heaving and panting a little from her sprint. "Apple-... Applejack..." She panted, stopping a few paces away. "I... I just came... from the hospital..." She takes a moment to compose herself. "Applejack, I just got back from the hospital and there are a bunch of ponies with food poisoning because of whatever you made with Pinkie!"

Paolina quickly narrows her eyes at the farm mare. "...you... had the audacity... to make food... that makes ponies sick!?" she shouted loud enough to make both ponies wince. "That's it! You're coming with me!" She quickly wrapped her arms around the orange mare's body and hefted her over one shoulder, much to the mare's displeasure.

"Put me down! I still have one tree left!" Applejack shouted as she struggled against the Saiyan's grip with no success.

Paolina gave an irritated sigh. "AJ... You still have three fields along with that one tree, you're only about half-way done." She explained, causing the mare in her arms to stop struggling as she looked back over to the fields she thought were empty. "One downside to having such a large yield is that it certainly does take more than one pony to get everything picked." Paolina looked over to Twilight. "Get the girls, AJ needs some help and I would appreciate it if you five could get started while I have a talk with little miss stubborn here."

The violet mare gave a quick nod before dashing off to get the rest of her friends, leaving the Saiyan to walk back in silence as she noticed the suspicious lack of movement from her friend. With a curious look she shifted Applejack's position to find out that the mare had finally exhausted herself too much and had fallen asleep on the Saiyan, Paolina chuckled a little and hefted the mare back over her shoulder before she got to the house.

Applejack woke up and nearly leapt out of her bed when she finally regained enough energy to become conscious, as she sat though she started noticing that she was actually in her room... and not in the field... as well as the fact that Paolina was sitting in a nearby chair as she got up once the farm mare had. Without a word the Saiyan took a few strides to get to the bed and sat down next to her friend.

"...Applejack... we need to talk..." She started quietly as she pulled the mare into a close hug. "It doesn't matter how strong you are... everyone could use help every now and then, not even I am exempt from that... I've had my fair share of help to learn and grow. Doing something like this... it hurts your family and friends just as much as it hurts you."

The orange mare grimaced a little as she hung her head with her ears drooping.

Paolina lifted the mare's chin up to look her in the eye. "You've got friends who are more than happy to help... All you have to do is ask." She pulls her into a hug. "You're not alone, so you don't have to act like that's the only way to live."

Applejack sniffed a few times before accepting the hug. "...Where... Where's the girls?" She asked weakly.

Paolina smiled a bit as she pet AJ's blonde mane. "They're almost done with the last orchard, They might want some lemonade."

The farm mare smiled a little as she wiped the moisture from her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'll get it ready." She quickly got up from the bed and made her way carefully downstairs, leaving Paolina to her thoughts.

She chuckled a little. "...Only sixteen and already I feel like my mom..." She mused as she looked out the window to the orchard where Twilight was wrapping up the picking while the others helped sort and carry the apples. "...This world may bend to the will of the ponies... but it can only bend so much before you can't bend it anymore..." Paolina sighed as she gazed past the orchard to the everfree. She thought of how wild and untamed it was while all that surrounded it was controlled with practically an iron hoof, it was fighting against the will of the ponies with the will of nature itself. In a way... she admired its tenacity and could understand a little bit about how it felt.

She gave a small, hollow chuckle. "Should I stop training for a while? everyone here is either out of my league... or too weak... Why can't there be something in the middle? Something that's a challenge..." Paolina closed the blinds before making her way downstairs with a distant look as her thoughts began to swirl around and have her mind try to focus on each passing one.

"...Maybe one day..." she said quietly. "Maybe one day I'll stop training... I just don't know when that day is..." With a small smile she made her way out to the field to help pass the lemonade around.

Author's Note

Wow, I love my Applebuck season chapters... so... much...

They make me feel like I actually managed to accomplish something because of how long they are. I can only hope to keep making chapters so inspired.

Comments? Questions? I love to hear 'em! I'd even like to know a few things that you guys would like to see. And for those of you asking about Demon God Dumplin.... well... that will be answered later.

For those of you who are wondering about the sudden shift in maturity rating... well, since I typically am writing this story one or two chapters ahead of what I have submitted, it's due to future content being risque... in a sense. So I'm bumping this up to mature but I hopefully don't plan on adding in the gore tag, and if I do add the sex tag it will only be due to T-rated intimacy scenes... because I suck at Pr0n.