Episode 8: Applebuck Season

My Little Pony: The Mane 12 Adventures

Season 1, Episode 8: "Applebuck Season"

Five days after Twilight and Sunny had given their friends tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, Big Mac had an injury. An injury that couldn't let him help during harvesting season. He and Applejack were on a hill, watching the sunrise.

"Oh, howdy! Look at all those apple trees! We got more than last year! This the biggest orchard ah've ever seen." Applejack said.

"Eeyup, too big for ya to handle on yer own." Big Mac said.

Applejack laughed. "Oh, ain't that a hoot. Course' ah can do it on mah own. Apple Bloom n' Granny Smith can't do it, so it's up ta me. Ya just focus on gettin' better, big brother."

"But ya can't buck all these trees alone! Ya need help, plain n' simple." Big Mac said. "Why don't ya ask yer friends ta help?"

"Twilight n' Sunny are good n' all, but this is mah responsibility, not theirs." Applejack retorted. "Ah'll show you, ah'll get all these apples off these trees by the day's end."

"But one pony and hundreds of trees ain't possible!"

Applejack scoffed. "N' evil alicorns from the moon are?"

Big Macintosh shut his mouth. "That's what ah thought." Applejack said.

Big Macintosh walked away while Applejack looked back at the hundreds - nearly thousands - of apple trees. "What have ah gotten myself into..."

Applejack bucked a tree, apples falling to the baskets she put under it. "One down, nearly... a thousand ta go."

Suddenly, she felt the ground rumbling. She looked around to find a herd of cows, stampeding towards Maretime Bay. "Oh, no!"

At the beach town, Sunny noticed something coming towards them. "What is... that?"

"Stampede!" Rainbow shouted, and panic spread through out the city quickly.

Pinkie giggled as she let the tremors bounce her along the road. "Weeee! Heeeey, thiiiis maaaakes mmyyy voiiice sssound sssilly!" She said, her voice vibrating.

Hitch grabbed Pinkie and carried her to safety. "Safety before fun, Pinkie!" Hitch reminded.

Once he made sure Pinkie was safe, he started evacuating the town. "Do not panic! Go to the safety areas listed on the maps around Maretime Bay! I repeat, do not panic and go to the safety areas on the maps around Maretime Bay!" He ordered.

"Hey, look at that!" Pipp said, pointing at the cowgirl and her dog herding up the cattle. "It's Applejack!"

A crowd gathered as the entirety of Maretime Bay watched the orange mare and her dog. "Go, Applejack!" Pinkie cheered.

"Do you really think she'll be able to do this?" Misty asked.

"Well, she's our only choice now." Hitch said. "Though, knowing Applejack, she'll be sure to succeed!"

And sure enough, Applejack did. She was able to get them to steer clear of Maretime Bay and calm them down. "Woo! She did it!" Pinkie said, munching on popcorn.

"Where did you get popcorn?!" Twilight asked.

Pinkie shrugged, "Of course..." Twilight muttered.

"Applejack was just... just...!" Mayor Mare said, still in shock.

"Amazing! Simply divine!" Rarity said. "I needed new ideas for a new fashion line, and Applejack just gave it to me!"

"We must do something to thank Applejack for single-handedly saving the town!" Mayor Mare said. "Though, I do wonder why we didn't send anypony to deal with it..."

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! Why don't we surprise her with a par-tay!" Pinkie said, bringing out balloons from her mane. "The theme would be apples! It's going to be apple-tastic!"

"Um, Pinkie? Apple-tastic isn't a word." Misty pointed out.

"Anything can be a word, dear Misty!" Izzy said.

It took a week before everything was ready for Applejack. At the Town Square, decorations were being hung up, balloons were inflated, apple-themed foods were cooked, you get it. Though, one thing was missing... the pony who had earned the party.

"It's coming good so far!" Twilight said. "Rarity certainly has a knack for designing."

"Why, thank you, darling." Rarity blushed. "It wasn't much, I just threw a bit of everything everywhere. Though, we're just missing something... aha!" Rarity levitated a banner with Applejack's face around the front arches of Town Hall.

"Why do we have banners of Applejack in Maretime Bay?" Twilight asked. "That doesn't seem like a normal thing to sell, or make!"

"Oh, that?" Pipp said, flying up to the two. "Pinkie has banners of everypony in Maretime Bay, it's like, her thing."

"Whaat? You never know when you need to host a surprise party last minute!" Pinkie defended.

"No one casually has banners of ponies in their house, Pinkie!" Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, really? Then what do you call those banners of the Wonderbolts in your house, huh?" Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes.

"Those are posters, Pinkie! They're different things!" Rainbow said. "Wait, where's Applejack? We definitely told her to come to the Town Square today! Pinkie, didn't you send Applejack a letter?"

"Yup!" Pinkie replied. "She should be coming right about... now!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I'm sure she'll be here soon, Pinkie. In the meantime, why don't we get started with the ceremony?"

Twilight walked up onto Town Hall, clearing her throat while preparing her stack of notes. She stood infront of a lectern with a mic, so that the ponies could hear her. Behind her was a closed curtain. "Welcome, everypony! 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- oof!"

Rainbow pushed Twilight aside before she started talking. "Did you all see those moves out there?! Applejack's such an athlete! This week, she’s gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it’s gonna be so awesome!"

"And I'm going to record her!" Pipp said, flying next to Rainbow. "So for any of my fans out there, stay tuned! Pipp, Pipp?"

"Hooray!" The crowd said, which brought a smile on Pipp's face. "See you all soon!" Pipp said, flying off the stage along with Rainbow.

Twilight stood up and fixed her cards again. "Right. Now, if we'll just get back to the point- ack!"

Pinkie shoved Twilight away, bouncing on the spot. "Oops! Sorry, Twilight! But this is super duper important! Because this week, the Cakes are going on vacation! And that leaves me in charge of Sugarcube Corner for the first time! Eee!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before realizing, "What does that have to do with Applejack?" She asked.

"Well, you see, Twilight..." Sunny walked on stage, "I'm going to help Pinkie as well! And Applejack, one of the best bakers, is going to help! And we'll be doing free samples! Oh, also, if you buy anything from the menu, you get one free small fruit smoothie!"

"That sounded more like an advertisement..." Twilight muttered. "Well, if that's all then I should continue!" She used her magic to shove Pinkie Pie and Sunny off the stage. "There we go! So, if I could just-" She noticed Fluttershy on the stage. "-talk. Alright, what is it, Fluttershy?"

"Twilight, I’m so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season." Fluttershy said. "She’s gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills."

Fluttershy walked off the stage as Twilight rolled her eyes. "If anypony wants to talk, do it now! Now before I get interrupted again!"

She looked around, and saw that nopony else was speaking up. "Good. So, as I was trying to say-" She saw Mayor Mare's expectant grin. "Ugh. Never mind!"

Twilight stormed off the stage, as Mayor Mare awkwardly coughed before she cleared her throat. "Well, and so, without furthur ado, it is my privilege..." Two ponies brought up a golden trophy, decorated with a sapphire blue ribbon. "...to give the “Prize Pony of Maretime Bay” Award to our beloved guest of honor a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity… Maretime Bay’s most capable and dependable friend, Applejack!"

The curtain unfolded, and the orange cowgirl that was supposed to be there... was not there, which elicited gasps from the crowd of ponies.

"Yay! Way to go, Applejack!" Sparky cheered, not noticing the looks on the other ponies faces. When he did, he coughed. "Uh, I mean- where's Applejack?!"

"Ah'm here!" Applejack said, a bit woozy. She was carrying two buckets of apples as she made her way to the trophy. "Sorry ah'm late, ah was just... woah, did ah hit yer tail?"

"Applejack? There's no one there." Sunny said. Applejack shook her head before realizing she was stepping on a piece of paper.

"Oh, right, ah knew that." Applejack made her way onto the stage, and almost hit Mayor Mare. "Um, sorry bout' that." She faced the crowd, and everypony could see the eyebags under her eyes.

She cleared her throat, "Mayor Mare, thank you kindly for this here, uh, award thingie." She walked up to the trophy, she saw her reflection in it as she yawned. "It's so bright... n' shiny, and..."

Her reflection was distorted on the trophy, which amused Applejack. "Ah sure do look funny..." She pulled forward then pulled it back, then forward again while she made "whoo-woo" noises. Pinkie and Izzy soon joined in as well, also making the noises.

"Uh... well! Thank you for your help, Applejack. For saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony." Twilight said.

"Huh?" Applejack shook her head. "Oh, right. Yeah, ah like helpin' the uh, ponies n' stuff..." She dozed off, releasing a few snores.

"Applejack? Hey, Applejack?" Twilight said. "Applejack!"

Applejack's eyes opened, though, she was still a bit doozy. "Oh, yeah, uh... ah should get goin'" Applejack gripped one of the trophy's handles with her teeth, dragging it off the stage.

"Do you need help?" Twilight asked.

"Nope." Applejack bluntly said, she pulled the trophy back to the apple farm, and the crowd left, only leaving the Mane 12 there, along with Spike and Sparky.

Twilight looked confused, "Did Applejack seem a little-"

"Tired?" Rainbow said.

"Off?" Zipp added.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy said.

"Messy?" Rarity said.

"Weird?" Misty said.

"Out of character?" Hitch said.

"I didn't see it." Pinkie shrugged.

"She looked super fine to me!" Izzy said.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Something's wrong, and I'm going to find out..." Twilight turned to her friends. "I'm gonna do some investigating."

Zipp sighed. "Wish I could come too, but I have to go back to Zephyr Heights."

"Well, see you all later." Twilight started walking to Sweet Apple Acres when she heard a voice calling out for her.

"Twilight! Wait!" The voice called out.

Twilight turned around to see Hitch, running towards her. "Hitch?!"

Hitch caught up to Twilight and was gasping for air. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I... wanna... come... with you!" Hitch said, breathing between words. "Applejack's my friend, I wanna help her!"

"That's it? Well, okay, I guess." Twilight said. "Come on,"

"Let me take a breather first." Hitch said.

Twilight and Hitch arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, where they saw Applejack bucking the trees with her hind legs. Buckets were placed next to the tree, so when Applejack bucked it, the apples fell into the buckets perfectly. She does the same to two other trees; the landscape indicating that she has already tended to several others in the same way. If anything, she is even more tired than she was at the award ceremony!

Applejack's head droops for a bit before she shook it off. Applejack, who was too far from the tree, hit nothing but air when she bucked it. She tried again, except this time, she hit the empty apple bucket instead of the tree.

"What is she doing?" Hitch asked.

"I think she's supposed to be applebucking, but that tree doesn't have apples." Twilight pointed at the tree Applejack was trying to hit, which didn't have apples. "And she probably would've hit it."

Twilight teleported her and Hitch to Applejack, who didn't notice the two as she was bucking a tree. "Hey, Applejack?"

No response.

"Applejack?" Twilight called out, but the apple farmer seemed to be dozing off.

"Let me try," Hitch cleared his throat before shouting, "APPLEJACK!"

Applejack returned to reality, she shook her head. "Huh- what? Oh, howdy Twilight, Hitch."

"So... what is all of... this?" Hitch asked.

"It's the Applebuck season." Applejack said, walking past Twilight and Hitch.

"Apple-what season?" Twilight asked.

"It's what the Apple family calls harvestin' time." Applejack explained. "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell them."

"Alright, but why are you doing it alone?" Twilight asked.

"Cause' Big Macintosh hurt himself, has ta heal." Applejack said.

"What about all those relatives I met when I first came to Maretime Bay? Can’t they help?" Twilight asked.

"Don't you have over a hundred relatives?" Hitch asked.

"They were just here fer the Apple family reunion. They actually live all over Equestria n' are busy harvestin’ their own orchards. So, uh, ah'm on my own." Twilight walked in front of Applejack, and so did Hitch. "Which means ah should get back ta work?"

Twilight raises her eyebrow. "Hint, hint? Get back ta work?" Applejack said.

Hitch stepped aside and so did Twilight. "Just make sure not to overwork yourself." Hitch reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, can ya move outta' the way now?" Applejack asked.

"We did?" Twilight said.

Applejack shook her head, "Oh, right."

"Applejack, you don't look so good... maybe take a quick break?" Twilight asked.

"What she said." Hitch said. "You need rest, even just a little."

"Don’t none of ya five worry none, ah'm just fine and dandy." Applejack said.

"Do you want some help? We'd more than be happy to help while you take a quick break!" Hitch asked.

"Help? No way, no how!" Applejack said.

"Applejack, there is no way you can do it all on your own! At least take a break!" Twilight said.

Applejack, however, only heard the first part. "Is that a challenge?"

"Applejack, please, take one break!" Hitch said.

"Well, ah'm gonna prove to ya'll that ah can do it!" Applejack said, shaking her head. "Now if ya'll will excuse me, ah've got apples ta buck." Applejack turned and walked away, starting her work again.

"Oh, dear..." Twilight worriedly said.

Hitch sighed, "There's no stopping that pony, hopefully, she'll get some sleep. We can't reason with her, so... let's go."

"Yeah..." Twilight said, walking away with Hitch. "Hopefully,"

Rainbow and Pipp stood infront of a contraption, waiting for Applejack. It was a scaffold infront of a seesaw, the end closest to the scaffold marked with an X. Applejack ran towards the two pegasi, gasping for air once she reached them.

"Ah'm mighty sorry ta keep ya'll waitin', ah was busy applebuckin' and the next thing ah must'a closed mah eyes fer a second. N' when ah woke up, ah was late." Applejack explained.

"Nah, it's alright. As long as you're here now." Rainbow said.

"If you had arrived here on time, our contraption would still be in the works, so perfect timing!" Pipp said. "So, anyway, here's how it works! It's pretty simple, you climb the scaffold and jump and land on this end." She indicated the end with the red X. "And Rainbow will stand on the other end, and once you land on it, she'll do some amazing flips and tricks! And I'm going to record her doing it so that she'll have something to impress the Wonderbolts with, and I get some exciting new content!"

"That sounds easy enough." Applejack said. She climbed the scaffold, and looked down below her. Her vision blurred, and she squinted her eyes. "Are ya sure bout' this? Isn't this a mite dangerous?"

"Not for a pegasus!" Rainbow shouted.

"Alright... three! Two! One! Go!" Pipp said. Applejack jumped... and missed the seesaw. "Applejack?! Are you alright!?

"Uh... yup," Applejack said, shaking her head. "Ah can do it,"

Applejack tried again, and again, and again, and everytime she did, she landed on the ground. Luckily, after the first failed attempt, Pipp put pillows on the ground beside the seesaw in case Applejack missed.

"Okay, Applejack, what is going on? You're Maretime Bay's best athlete, what's going on?" Rainbow asked. "Is everything alright? That fall didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Ah'm fine," Applejack said. "Ah have an idea!"

She grabs the high end of the seesaw and pulls it down. "Uh... ta-da!"

Needless to say, Rainbow wasn't impressed. Applejack chuckled awkwardly, "Oh, um, maybe not. Okay, one more try." She climbed the scaffold tower once more, "Ah'm sure to get it this time... ah hope."

Rainbow‘s end thuds to the ground, collapsing her onto the seesaw when her knees and legs give out. On the scaffold, Applejack's vision became crystal clear, she knew exactly where to land this time. "Here ah go!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Applejack, stop!" Pipp shouted, but Applejack already jumped. When Applejack landed, the seesaw shot her into the air, hurling her towards the lighthouse.

"Yer welcome!" Applejack shouted.

Pipp was speechless. "So, uh, ah'm gonna go now." Applejack said, taking her leave.

At the lighthouse, Twilight was on the balcony of the second floor, reading. After they had defeated Nightmare Moon and moved to Maretime Bay, Princess Celestia had ordered the light house to be refurbished and renovated. She looked up to see Rainbow, coming towards her at full speed.

"Ack!" Twilight was quick to react, freezing Rainbow in her place before she could hit the floor of the balcony. "Rainbow?!"

Twilight gently put Rainbow on the balcony, "What exactly... happened?"

"Applejack happened, that's what." Rainbow said. "Can't you talk to her?"

"I'll see what I can do," Twilight sighed. With a flash, Twilight disappeared.

She reappeared inside the sheriff's office, a few papers falling on the floor. "Uh, Twilight? What's wrong?" Hitch asked.

"Applejack." Twilight said. "Rainbow was hurled towards the light house! And apparently, it was Applejack who did it!"

Hitch groaned, "I'm going to guess we're going back to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Yup." Twilight said. "Come on, we're teleporting."

"Alright," Hitch said, standing next to Twilight. The unicorn's horn glowed, and they appeared at Sweet Apple Acres the next second. Twilight and Hitch walked to the barn, expecting Applejack to be there. But when they arrived, the only pony there was Big Macintosh.

"Uh... can ah help ya?" Big Mac asked.

"Yes! Yes, you can help us!" Twilight said. "You should talk some sense into Applejack! Because Rainbow was sent flying to the light house, and Applejack was the cause!"

Big Mac grimaced. "Ah'd love ta help, but ah tried tellin' her the same thing! But she didn't listen ta me!"

"Do you know where Applejack is?" Hitch asked.

Big Mac shrugged, "Probably at Sugarcube Corner, somethin' bout' helpin' Pinkie Pie n' Sunny out."

Twilight and Hitch looked worriedly at each other.

At Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie and Sunny were in front of a light blue mare with a pink-ish red mane designed to look like the swirls of a cupcake. Next to her was a yellow stallion with an orange mane.

"Now, Pinkie Pie," The mare said. "are you sure you're up for running the store for the week? We can cancel our vacation, if you want."

"Don't worry about it, go on your vacation! Me and Sunny can handle it, yes-sirree-bob!" Pinkie said.

"We'll have Applejack helping us out, Mrs. Cake." Sunny said. "Pinkie said she's the best baker in Maretime Bay, so we'll be fine!"

"Alright..." Mrs. Cake said. "Speaking of which, where is Applejack?"

"She should get here soon!" Sunny said.

"Come on, hun, we have to get to the train." The stallion said, carrying multiple bags.

"Right, well, we'll see you in a week." Mrs. Cake said.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie said, waving goodbye to the couple as they left the shop. "Have fun!"

Applejack barged in the shop, breathing heavily. "Sorry ah'm late!"

"Actually, the Cakes just left!" Sunny said.

"Come on!" Pinkie entered the kitchen. "Those cupcakes aren't gonna bake themselves!"

In the kitchen, Sunny put down a bowl on the table. "Right. I'll get the sugar, Pinkie you get the eggs, and Applejack, you get the chocolate chips."

"Eh... what was that?" Applejack asked.

"Chocolate chips!" Sunny said, except Applejack only heard "chips".

"Chips." Applejack said, her face brightening. "All right."

Applejack looked in the pantry shelves before she noticed a bag of potato chips. "Tater chips, all salty n' dry." Applejack put the bag of chips in the bowl, which already contained sugar and eggs.

"Next, we need some baking soda!" Pinkie said.

"Soda... perfect! That'll get the chips nice n' wet." Applejack looked in the refrigerator, before spotting a full bottle of Kola. She poured the whole bottle in the bowl before throwing the bottle away.

"Uh, Pinkie? Are you sure this is the recipe?" Sunny asked, looking at the batter.

"Duh! I've made cupcakes before, Sunny!" Pinkie said, still looking at the book. "Then we need to put a cup of flour!"

"A cup of sour? Well, lemons sure are sour." Applejack asked. Applejack shrugged before slicing lemons and putting the juice in the batter.

"Lastly, wheat germ!" Pinkie said.

"Wheat... worms? Oh! That must be fancy talk fer earthworms!" Applejack said.

"Um, maybe I should do this one." Sunny nervously chuckled.

"Oh, sure." Applejack said.

Sunny put two cups of wheat germ in the batter, "Finished... are you sure about this?"

"Of course!" Pinkie said. She put the batter in the cupcake mold and put it in the oven. "It's going to be delicious!"

"Well... if ya say so." Applejack said, slightly not convinced. "Can ah go now? Ah need ta help Fluttershy."

"Yup! We can handle it from here!" Pinkie said. Applejack left Sugarcube Corner, and a few minutes later, the cupcakes were done. The cupcakes looked moldy, and inedible to say the least.

"Ooh! They look scrumptious!" Pinkie said.

"Pinkie, I don't think we should be serving this." Sunny said.

"Why not?" Pinkie asked.

"Pinkie, it looks rotten, and most likely inedible." Sunny flatly said. "We should redo it, we cannot serve this."

"Don't worry about it!" Pinkie took a bite and immediately recoiled from disgust. "Actually, I take it back. We can't serbe these! These aren't baked goods, they're baked bads." She threw up in the trash can, and quickly dumped the cupcakes in there too.

Twilight and Hitch ran into the kitchen, "Where's Applejack?!" Twilight asked.

"Woah, Twilight, what's going on?" Sunny asked. "Is something wrong?"

"We need to talk to her, ASAPP!" Hitch said, receiving confused looks. "As fast as pony possible!"

"Applejack just left!" Pinkie said. "But hey! While you're here, why don't you help us bake some cupcakes!"

"Sorry, but we need to find Applejack!" Twilight said. "Maybe some other time, Pinkie."

"But why do you need to find Applejack?" Sunny asked.

"Remember how Applejack was acting weird at the ceremony? Well, turns out, she's been harvesting apples without any breaks!" Hitch explained. "And because of her lack of sleep, Rainbow was shot flying to the light house!"

"Oh, no! Is Rainbow okay?" Sunny asked.

"Luckily, yes. I was able to catch her with my magic." Twilight said. "While Applejack was here, was she acting... odd? Different?"

"Now that you mention it, Applejack was acting weird." Pinkie said. "She made some of the worst cupcakes! That's not like Applejack to get a recipe wrong! Blegh! She almost put earthworms into it, which would've given me food poisoning!"

"We need to talk some sense into Applejack, do you know where she would've gone?" Hitch asked.

"She mentioned something about helping Fluttershy." Sunny said. "Wait, didn't Fluttershy say that Applejack was going to help her herd the bunnies?"

Twilight was about to respond, but the ground started shaking. "What in the hay is happening?!" Hitch asked.

The four looked outside to see bunnies rampaging the city. "It's a bunny stampede!" Pinkie screamed. "Run for your lives!" Pinkie ran, and it quickly turned into mayhem.

"Pinkie! We need to stick together!" Twilight shouted. "Ugh! It's no use!"

"Twilight! Hitch! Sunny!" Fluttershy ran towards the three, looking fearful. "I don't know what happened! Applejack was helping me herd the bunnies in the park, but she was too hard on them! And now we've caused a stampede! I'm so sorry!"

"It wasn't your fault, Fluttershy." Twilight said gently. "It was Applejack's, speaking of which, I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?"

"She must be at the farm," Fluttershy said.

Twilight nodded. "Hitch, you're coming with me to knock some sense into her. Sunny, Fluttershy, you have to try and stop the stampede, understand?"

"Got it! Come on, Fluttershy, let's go." Sunny said. She and Fluttershy left to stop the stampede, while Twilight and Hitch teleported to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack was pulling a cart full of apples back to the barn, with all the ponies she "helped" today, she made up for lost time. Twilight and Hitch appeared in front of Applejack, looking very crossed.

"Alright, Applejack. Your applebucking has caused an over-propelled pegasus to almost crash into me, almost poisoned Pinkie Pie, and caused a bunny stampede that is currenly rampaging Maretime Bay! I don't care what you're going to say, because you need help!"

"Hah! No, ah don't!" Applejack said. "Ah harvested every tree in Sweet Apple Acres without yer help. How'd ya like them apples!"

Hitch snorted. "Actually, you didn't." Hitch pointed at the other side of the orchard, which had even more trees, which all still had apples on them.

"No.... no!" Applejack fainted, her cart full of apples falling on the ground.

"Applejack? Applejack!" Before she blacked out, she heard her friend's worried voice.

Applejack awoke in an ethereal place, "What? Where ah'm ah?" Applejack stood up, wandering the strange, new area. "Hello? Is anypony there?"

"Hello, Applejack." Applejack looking for the source of the voice. She noticed blue smoke, forming into the shape of an alicorn. The blue smoke disappeared, only leaving...

"Princess Luna!" Applejack said. "What are ya doin' here? Do ya still... remember me?"

"Of course, you are the wielder of Honesty, are you not?" Princess Luna said. Her appearance hadn't changed from when she was redeemed a week ago.

Applejack nodded. "To answer your question, I am the protector of dreams, I make sure that the ponies of Equestria don't have nightmares." Princess Luna explained. "After my transformation from Nightmare Moon to Princess Luna, I've been wandering the dream realm more often. Though, I didn't expect to find you here, young Applejack."

Applejack grimaced, which Luna took a note of. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Can ah be honest with ya Princess Luna?" Applejack asked, to which Princess Luna nodded. "Ah messed up, ah took on more than ah could handle. Ah've created a mess of things,"

"What do you mean?" Princess Luna asked.

"It's harvestin' season, that means the we have to harvest every apple before it's over. Mah big brother hurt himself, and mah granny and lil' sis can't do it, so ah've had to do it alone. But ah haven't had rest since harvest season started, n' when Twilight n' Hitch tried to get me to... ah didn't listen. Ah almost got Rainbow hurt, ah almost poisoned Pinkie, n' ah caused a stampede! Ah wish ah listened to Twilight and Hitch, now Maretime Bay is payin' for mah stubborn head!"

Princess Luna sighed, "I understand, Applejack. I wish I too could go back in time and talked to my sister, maybe then I wouldn't have turned into Nightmare Moon. But you cannot change the past, no matter how badly you want to. Applejack, do you feel regret?"

"Of course ah do." Applejack said.

"Then go make things right." Princess Luna said. Her horn glowed an icy blue, and Applejack felt her consciousness regaining.

Applejack woke up in her bed, Twilight and Hitch sitting next to her. "Twilight? Hitch?"

"Applejack! You're awake!" Twilight said. "Are you alright?"

Applejack sighed, "Yeah, ah am. How long was ah out for?"

"Three hours," Hitch said.

Applejack's eyes widened. "The stampede- is everypony alright?"

Twilight nodded. "Fortunately, Sunny and Fluttershy were able to calm the bunnies down before they could cause serious damage."

Applejack's face turned to relief, then to guilt. "Listen, Twi, ah... ah'm sorry. Ah should've listened to ya, if ah did, none of this would've happened."

"It's alright, Applejack. No one was hurt," Twilight said.

"Applebuck season's almost over, and ah've still got ta buck the other apple trees." Applejack said.

"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." Twilight said.

"We're not going to take no for an answer," Hitch said.

Applejack smiled. "Course', ah really need yer help."

"Finally, you admit it." Hitch chuckled.

The Mane 12, along with Spike and Sparky were helping Applejack harvest the apples. Applejack, who was fully rested, brought a tray with fourteen cups of apple juice to the group. "Why don't ya'll take a break? Ah've got some fine apple juice!"

Applejack sighed, "Girls, ah can’t thank ya'll enough for this help. ah was actin’ a bit stubborn earlier."

"A bit?" Twilight asked.

"A bit is an understatment." Hitch said.

Applejack chuckled. "Okay, a mite stubborn, n' ah'm awful sorry. Now, ah know the town gave me the Prize Pony award, but the real award is havin' you thirteen as mah friends."

They all took the apple juice, "Thirteen is a lot," Sparky said. "But I'm not complaining."

"Phew! That applebucking sure is hard work, wish I had some food." Rainbow said.

"Say no more," Applejack brought out a tray of apple pies. "Apple family apple pies!"

The group cheered, while Twilight brought out a scroll and a quill pen and started writing.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she’s always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it. So while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it’s also about accepting what our friends have to offer.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay! But hey, I got it all out in one chapter! Remember how Pinkie technically got food poisoning in the original episode? Yeah, that didn't make the cut. I didn't write Fluttershy's part because it would've been the same as the original. That, and five thousand words is a lot. Anyway, next episode is an original one. Well, technically it's a mix of the Tell Your Tale episodes "Foal Me Once" and "Pippsqueaks Forever", but it has an original plot! I'm just taking some inspiration! Anyway, next episode will have some lore drop, so stay tuned!

If there is ANY errors, or anything I should fix, please comment so I can work on it.

Wkh wzhoyh zhuh qrw phdqw wr eh. Slhfhv ghvwurbhg exw uhexlow. (Good luck deciphering! Hint: It's the first cipher featured in Gravity Falls.)