The Element of Love

Season One

Chapter Four

Applebuck Season

It was a hot day in Ponyville. You yawn. Last night you had been busy helping Dusk rearrange his books just the way he liked them, and as a result of that, you had gone to bed late.

Somehow, sleeping in had just made you feel more tired.

Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you force yourself to get up and start the day.

It's not like staying in bed any longer would have helped you anyways… Prince Solaris' sun shone right through your open curtains, filling the room with light and heat.

...Getting some light blocking curtains, or even finding a spell to block it didn't sound like a bad idea.

Shaking your head, you make your way to the bathroom and start getting yourself ready for the day.

Ponies always say that mares take hours in the bathroom. While you don't know about other mares, that saying is totally untrue for you because on a normal day, you take somewhere from ten to fifteen minutes.

Now that you're done getting yourself ready, you give yourself one last glance in the mirror and then head outside.

It was even sunnier, and you regretted not having worn a hat.

Trying to think of anything but the heat and the sunlight that irritates your eyes, you wonder what you would do today.

What was I going to do…? Your stomach rumbles. However, you don't feel like having breakfast at Sugarcube Corner today.

Dusk'smany lectures about how it was unhealthy to have sugary stuff everyday had started to have some effect on you…

Sighing, you look away from the tempting Café and decide to visit Applejack.

You hadn't seen him in a long time, and eating an apple would make the farmer happy. Not to mention that would also make the lavender unicorn proud.

"Hey Applejack!"

"Howdy, (Y/N)," he replies in the middle of bucking an apple tree. "What's up?"

You shrug. "I just wanted to see you since I haven't come here in a while. And have you got any apples to spare? I'm starving," you admit as your stomach rumbles again, but louder. Looking around, you notice that baskets are placed under every apple tree in sight. "Wait, it's Applebuck Season, right? Don't tell me you're doing it all on your own. "

"Mac got hurt, so Ah have'ta."

"I can help," you offer, remembering the last time that he had attempted to do it all by himself and succeeded, only to have his success rewarded by severely aching legs and insomnia.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I promised Mac ah'd do it all on my own. "

"And what did he say to that?"

" What else would he say? He just said that I wouldn't be able to do all of them by myself… " He snorts. "But what does he know? Ah'm more than capable of doing this by myself! "

"Applejack…"

"Didn't ya say y'all were hungry? Well, Ah'm sure Granny Smith will be more than happy to give you a meal."

You sigh and walk towards the farmhouse, deciding to eat instead of fruitlessly arguing with Applejack.

He was proud of what he could do, and his earth pony pride prevented him from accepting help. Plus, he was stubborn.

Too stubborn.

Knowing him, some sort of catastrophe would have to happen for him to let you help him.

Hopefully, nothing too bad would happen…

One Week Later

The days of the week pass by faster than ever, with you lending Bubble a helping hoof as the Cakes had gone on holiday.

Baking wasn't something you did on a regular basis- you never tried cooking before, but now you were more than sure that you could cook anything.

"And that," says Bubble proudly , "is the perfect way to ice a cake. It takes a lot of practice, but I'm confident that if anyone can get it right on the first try, it's you!"

You hear the bell ring, signifying that the door is opening, and soon, Applejack comes into the kitchen, looking as if he hadn't slept at all.

You look at Bubble, who shrugs. "I'm sure Applejack wouldn't mind helping us bake-"

"Haven't you seen how tired he looks?"

" Well… to be honest, he insisted on helping me. After the stampede, I was telling you about the Cakes vacation, remember? He overheard and said that he could help. I told him that he should have a rest and then help or he might do something wrong, but he said that since he's the most dependable pony in Ponyville, he can handle it. "

You sigh. Classic Applejack.

The pony in question stumbles forward, and you rush to his side to make sure he doesn't collapse. "I'm fine, (Y/N)," he mumbles.

"No, you're not. You need rest. And somepony to help you."

"Ever since we started dating, you've just become more and more caring," he says as you look for a place for him to rest.

You almost drop him in shock. "What-what did you just say?"

Bubble is also astonished.

"There's no need to be so shy… Everyone already knows, remember? We announced it two days ago."

"Applejack. Are you sure we're dating?"

"Are you saying you're gonna leave me after barely a week of us bein' out in public?" There's pain in his voice, and you decide to just go along with him.

"Of course not, dear. I-I guess I'm just not used to us being out in public, as you said. "

He smiles. "But," you continue, "if you truly loved me, you would let me help you, and you would have a rest. "

"No can do, sugar. Ah can't let you get injured. "

"Oh, and I can let you?"

"It's different."

You just turn your head away and walk out. Bubble rushes after you.

"What was that all about?"

"Applejack's sleep deprivation seems to have led him to believe that I'm dating him. And I think that it would be best to just pretend that I am. "

After watching Applejack create a mixture of inedible muffins, you were about to throw it away when he wasn't looking, but you had been stopped by the farmpony himself.

He even went ahead and sold them, which led to the hospital overflowing with sick ponies.

Dusk had gone there to see what happened, and right now you were standing in Sweet Apple Acres, busy tying the earth pony to a tree, with ropes.

"Sugarcube, what on earth are you doing? "

"Helping you."

"I don't need any help! Ah can handle this whole orchard myself. "

"Have some sleep, or I'll make you. "

"Y'all promised to never use your magic on me."

"Well, there are plenty of methods without magic."

He begins to struggle as you tie the last knot. "(Y/N), Ah need to harvest!"

"But your health comes first. And since you're too proud to let anyone help you… "

"Untie me this instant!"

"Only if you let me help you."

"Never! "

"Then let one of our friends help you."

"Not once in my lifetime! "

"Well, as you're currently so stubborn, I'll leave you to rest. I need to help Rainbow Blitz with something. "

You walk away, ignoring his cries of outrage, which are soon replaced with snores.

But then you pause. Even in his current sleep deprived state, he might be able to untie the ropes. After all, you weren't the best when it came to tying stuff.

And the tree you tied him to still had apples hanging from it.

Sighing, you release him from his binds, only to pull him along to your next destination.

And as he's asleep, you have to support his weight. Thankfully you were an alicorn...

You've reached the Town Centre, and Blitz is there, waiting for you. He waves to you. "Hey (Y/N)! It's about time you showed up. What's AJ doing here?"

"I apologise for the delay, but I had to stop him from overworking. I was going to leave Applejack tied to a tree so he could have some sort of rest, but I'm sure that since my knots aren't that good, he'd be able to untie himself…"

" I've never met a pony more stubborn than Applejack, " admits Blitz. "But right now we need to try out this trick I thought of! You just need to jump onto that part, and launch me up with the force!"

" Are you sure that's safe? "

"If we don't take risks now, are we supposed to do it when we become all old and wrinkly? And besides, " the athlete winks "I'm confident that even if I'm unable to open my wings in time, you'll save me from another concussion. "

With that reassurance, you start to walk up the stairs, leaving the apple farmer on the ground, only for him to let out a low groan.

He opens his eyes and stands up. After recovering from the disorientation due to the change in his surroundings, he looks up and sees you at the top of the ladder.

Just as you're about to jump, he holds out a hoof. "Wait!" Then he goes up the stairs as quickly as possible. "Ah ain't about to let mah marefriend possibly get hurt! "

"Get hurt?" you ask.

Blitz mutters, " Marefriend?! "

"Why, if y'all ain't careful enough, ya could fall off and get hurt!"

" I'm aiming to jump onto the seesaw, " you tell him.

"And if you miss your target, you'll get hurt! Look, Ah'm gonna do this for ya."

"Guys! I don't give a flying feather about who does it! One of you just jump already!"

Applejack steps forward and looks at the target. He then jumps, only to become dizzy and miscalculate it, leading to him falling splat on the ground.

It's kind of ironic, you think. He was telling me that I might miss my target and get hurt, but it looks like he's the one who got hurt.

You take a step forward, only for him to peel himself from the ground. "Ah ain't lettin' ya go just 'cause I missed."

He repeats his former actions, with the same result.

You wince as you look down at his beaten form.
…
…
…

Three more tries later, it's clear as day that the farmer won't be able to do it, but he still begs you to give him a second chance.

"Technically, this would be your… sixth chance. If you fall one more time, I won't speak to you, because watching you get hurt is not what I wanted to do."

He places a shaking hoof on your shoulder. "I swear Ah'll get it right this time!"

With that he steps forward, and this time you watch, unlike the others in which you had turned your face away, and perceived a moment too late that on his end of the seesaw, Blitz was lying, winded.

You're about to warn Applejack not to jump at the same time the pegasus shakes his head frantically, but both of your efforts were in vain.

The Bearer of the Element of Honesty had jumped, and the rainbow pegasus was now sent flying across the sky.

You descended the ladder and prayed that nothing else like that would happen.

Perhaps you should have prayed for no more mistakes to be committed by Applejack, but you cannot be blamed as you knew not of what would occur next.

It was a stampede of bunnies that happened next. In your whole life, you had never even dreamed of that, and your view on bunnies was now changed.

Before to you they had been cute, fluffy things, but after witnessing the destruction currently being caused by them?

You didn't even want to think about it.

Sighing, you join Dusk in placing all the bunnies back in their right place, and then you gather everyone in the Element Bearer group other than the one who had caused all this.

"I've had enough," you say. " Applejack was born a stubborn pony, and will always be stubborn, and even though I know that, I never knew he was this stubborn. Not to mention that he's too prideful to let us help him. That stallion needs to understand that he needs help! "

"I agree," whispers Butterscotch. "He didn't even listen to me when I told him that bunnies can't be handled the same way as cows, and he frightened them so much…"

"And those muffins he baked were a total disaster! So many ponies are sick from that...slop he mixed up! "

Rainbow also gives his complaint, and Elusive admits that the farmpony had stopped by his store earlier...and he didn't even want to think about the catastrophe that occurred there.

"I'm just thankful that he didn't do anything to my library. However, my reading session was interrupted when Spike informed me of the food poisoning incident. " He pauses and then says, "We need to act quickly before he causes anything else."

"So let's corner him and get him to put his pride away!" exclaims Bubble, determined.

You nod.

The six of you arrive at Sweet Apple Acres to find Applejack asleep on his hooves.

You tap him and he opens his eyes immediately. "Where'd y'all come from?! But Ah must admit, bein' woken up by you is the best thing."

"Applejack. There's something we've all got to tell you, " says Dusk, motioning for you to step aside.

"Is it that y'all have finally given up on trying to take (Y/N) from me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it is, we're not here for that," the lavender unicorn states.

"As of late," says Elusive, "you've been rather...what shall I say?"

"Disaster causing?" offers Butterscotch shyly.

"What are y'all trying to say?" he asks , narrowing his eyes slightly.

"What we're trying to say is that whenever you tried to help any of us, nothing but disasters happened!" says Bubble.

Rainbow steps forward. "I asked (Y/N) to help me, but then you came, said something about her being your marefriend, and then you launched me when I wasn't ready! You literally threw me into Dusk's treehouse! ...It still hurts, you know. "

"Applejack. I don't know how long you've gone without proper sleep, but you need it right now. Have a good rest, and we'll all help with harvesting the rest of the apples. "

Applejack smirks. "Well, Ah don't need any help. Ah said Ah would harvest the whole orchard by myself, and Ah have done it!"

Big Mac appears. "Told ya Ah could do it," says Applejack smugly. "Well, how do ya like them apples?"

The red stallion hesitates, before scratching the back of his neck and pointing in another direction. "Well, how do ya like them apples?"

You see the direction he's pointing in, and see more full apple trees.

Applejack looks in that direction, turns pale, and faints.

"Don't worry, we'll all be here to help you," you say reassuringly even though he's unconscious .

Soon he regains consciousness and says, "You know what? Y'all are more than welcome to help me."

Seriously, he should've let everyone help him in the first place, and you tell him that .

He just turns away in shame.

The sun is setting, Dusk is writing his usual friendship report to the Prince, and all of you are gathered around a table, holding drinks, relaxing after a long day of work.

With six ponies doing the job, it only took a day to clear the rest of the orchard.

"See Applejack, if you had just let us help you, you could've been done in at least two days."

"Stop teasin' me…" groans the farmpony, placing his head on the table with his hooves on both sides.

"Hey, AJ," you say suddenly. He looks up at you upon hearing his name. "Was I a good marefriend?"

While everyone else bursts out in laughter, the now embarrassed Element of Honesty covers his face with his hat and resumes his former position. "Ah told y'all to stop teasin' me…"

Author's Note

If the quality of this isn't that good, it's because I'm exhausted.

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