It had been three weeks since the events of Nigtmare Moon. The land of Equestria has drowned in the darkness of ever-lasting night. After only three days, the absence of the sun has taken its toll on the crops of the land. Without the earth of the sunlight, many of the plants started to wither.
The many unicorns of the land came together and found out a way to feed their magic into the soil to allow the plants to grow without sunlight. This method leaves many of the less powerful unicorns very weak. Simple day-to-day tasks became exhausting for the magical equines.
While the crops were able to grow again, they would not be as healthy or bountiful as they originally were. Against the horrible outcomes brought by the never ending night, the Apple's crops seem to stand tall and healthy. Being near the end of summer, it was time for Applebuck season.
Due to an unexpected accident that occurred while fixing the old barn, Big Macintosh, the families head farmer, had broken several ribs. He was unable to work during Applebuck season, leaving the entire job to his sister Applejack.
"Boy howdy! I got my work cut out for me." She yelled in excitement. "That there is the biggest bumper-crop of apples I've ever laid my eyes on." Applejack and Bic Mac stood on the outskirts of their apple orchard, glad to see that the cold night had not hindered the growth of their crop.
"Yee-up. Too big for you to handle on your own." Big Mac said in a blunt tone.
"Come on big brother. You need to rest up and get yourself better." Applejack replied, ignoring his statement. "I haven't met an apple orchard yet that I can't handle." Upon this sentiment, she gave an assuring hoof into her brother's ribs.
"Oops. Sorry." She said as she pulled her hoof away. "I'll take a bite out of this job in no time at all." She said with a confident attitude.
"Biting off more than you can chew is just what I'm afraid of." Big Mac replied with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Are you saying that my mouth is makin' promises my legs can't keep?" Applejack rebutted. Big Mac only replied with a simple, "Yee-up."
"Why of all the, this is your sister Applejack, remember? The loyalist of friends and most dependable of ponies!" She exclaimed staring down her brother.
"But still only one pony. And one pony plus hundreds of apple trees just doesn't add up to-" Big Mac was quickly interrupted by his sister, determined to make her point.
"Don't use your fancy mathematics to mutter the issue. I said that I'm going to handle this harvest and I'm gonna prove it to you!" She stared out into the mass amount of apple trees in the distance. "I'm gonna get every last apple out of those apple trees this apple buck season all by myself!"
As she said these words, a thought occurred to her. Big Mac was right, there were hundreds of apple trees that needed to be harvested. This would take a lot of work to be finished. Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat and walked to the first tree to begin her bucking.
"So Pinkie, have you ever had any culinary practice before?" Asked a blue mare with a strange mane resembling that of cupcake frosting. Pinkie sat there at the counter of Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville's top bakery. She gave some thought into her experience.
"Well, nothing official. But I have thrown many parties before. I always make tons of treats for those. Does that count Mrs. Cake?" She asked. Mrs. Cake thought about this for a second.
"Well, I guess if you have made treats before, that would count as experience." She said as she scribbled down something on a clipboard. "All you really need to do is follow the instructions in the cook books. How do you feel about talking to other ponies? Would you be willing to make sure they have a nice visit?" Pinkie, upon hearing this, grew a wide smile.
"Oh, I love to give ponies a good time. I'm able to get everypony I meet to smile!" She said with giddy enthusiasm. Mrs. Cake wrote down some more notes on her clipboard.
"All right, this job allows you to rent the spare bedroom upstairs, plus a few bits for you to do what you want with. Is that okay dearie?" Pinkie put on a surprised, but happy smile.
"If I work here, I get to live here too? How awesome is that?" She clapped her hooves together in joy. Suddenly a tall, skinny, orange stallion walked through the doorway.
"Honey, don't forget that we have to go to that bakers convention in a couple of weeks." He called out as he held out a calendar. Pinkie curiously stared between Mr. And Mrs. Cake.
"You get to go to a convention too? What's that like?" She asked with eagerness in her eyes. Mrs. Cake gave a small chuckle.
"The bakers convention is where bakers from all across Equestria get to meet each other and share recipes. We also get to talk about how well our businesses have been doing." She put down the clipboard and gave Pinkie a serious look.
"We were hoping to fill our open spot so we didn't have to close the shop every time we needed to go to things like the convention. That gives me one more question to ask you." Pinkie saw the seriousness in Mrs. Cake's eyes and gave a quick look of understanding.
"When we leave the shop to attend events like the convention, would you be able to take care everything that's needs to be done here?" Pinkie sat there for a few moments to find the words to say.
"You can count on me Mrs. Cake." She replied as she brought her foreleg to her head in a salute. Mrs. Cake gave a quick smile and put away her clipboard.
"Okay dearie, come back on Monday and I'll teach you how to run the shop." The two mares shook hooves and stood up. "I think you'll make a great addition to the Sugarcube Corner."
As Pinkie Pie turned to leave, a big smile found its way into her face. "Don't you worry Mrs. Cake! I'll do my best to make the tastiest, wonderific treats ever!" As she left the building, she was welcomed by the darkness of night, held off only by many street lamps that lined the streets of Ponyville.
As she started down the path towards her small apartment building, the ground started to shake underneath her hooves. She saw Rainbow Dash flying above of Ponyville, searching for the disturbance. She looked out into the distance to see a large herd of cattle charging straight for Ponyville.
"Stampede!" Cried out the terrified pegasus. Upon mention of the stampede, the citizens of Ponyville started to panic. The flooded into their homes swiftly shutting their doors and windows tight. Due to the ground shaking under her hooves, Pinkie started to vibrate over the ground. As she tried to talk, her voice was distorted by the tremor.
"H-h-hey. Th-th-th-this m-m-m-makes m-m-m-my v-v-voice s-s-sound s-s-silly!" She said as she shook violently. The panicking ponies around her just ignored her strange behavior and continued to barricade their homes. The mayor stood in the middle of the hysteria trying to calm down everypony.
"Everypony calm down, there is no need to panic."
"But mayor, whatever shall we do?"
"Look there!" Yelled Rainbow Dash as she pointed out into the distance. Among the stampeding cattle, an orange mare and a dog were riding up beside them. The orange mare was carrying a length of rope at her side.
The villagers applauded as they saw Applejack run into the herd of cattle to steer them away from the town. The farm pony and the dog started to narrow the crowd to a more fine pointed herd.
"This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!" Yelled out Pinkie as she stuffed her face into a bag of popcorn she found conveniently on a nearby popcorn stand. At this point, Applejack had found her way to the front of the stampede.
She abruptly climbed to the top of one of the bovines with her rope in her mouth. With skilled accuracy, she threw the rope around the neck of the leading cow. Applejack jumped down to the side of the rampant bovine and pulled it towards her. This motion allowed the entire flock of cattle to turn away from Ponyville at the last possible moment. She then led them down the town's outskirts path to slow them down.
The villagers of Ponyville gave a rousing cheer for Applejack. Pinkie was holding up a green apple flag she conveniently found in a nearby apple flag stand. After Applejack had stopped the cattle from charging, she quickly began to trot home.
"Ye-haw! Ride em' cow-pony!" Yelled out Pinkie Pie as she started to buck like a bull. The mayor was excited to see the cattle slowly returning to their plain.
"Applejack was just, just-" She began as Pinkie quickly came out of nowhere interrupting her.
"Appletastic!" She yelled out with exhilaration right before falling to the ground.
"Exactly!" Commented Mayor Mare. "We must do something to thank Applejack for single-hoofedly saving the town." Pinkies eyes started to shine with excitement.
"I know!" She said with delight.
"A party!" Pinkie yelled as the ponies of Ponyville were setting up the town hall to celebrate Applejacks achievements. Mayor Mare was walking down the street, chaffing to see if everything was in order.
"Are we just about ready to begin?" She asked Rarity just as she was thing an oversized ribbon to a tree.
"Eh, one last thing." She blearily stated. She strained her magic to tie a very large apple-decorated banner across the beams of the town hall building. Rarity brought her hoof to her head in minor pain. "Uhh, now were ready."
"That's great." Replied the mayor. "Is Applejack all ready for the ceremony?" Upon hearing this, Rainbow Dash flew down to join the two mares.
"Actually, I haven't seen her all week." She said as she softly landed on the ground.
"Not since the stampede." Came Pinkie as she trotted up behind them. The mayor took a worried face.
"But she'll be here for sure." Rainbow replied, seemingly finishing Pinkie's statement. "Applejack is never late." She said with a reassuring tone.
After the last few preparations were finished, it was time to start the celebration. The ponies of the village had all gathered into the town hall to congratulate Applejack. Mayor Mare stood at the town hall podium, standing nest to a large curtain and an oversized trophy depicting a mare in mid-gallop. She was ready to give a speech to warmly welcome Ponyville's most dependable friend.
"Ladies and gentlecolts, I thank you for being here today to celebrate the kindness and tenacity of our dear friend Applejack. A pony in which we can depend on in matters great and small. A mare who-" She was abruptly interrupted by a rainbow pegasus who flew up to the stand.
"Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there?! What an athlete!" She expressed with envy. "This week, she's gonna help me with my new flying trick and I know it's going to be SO AWESOME!" Mayor Mare quickly took to the stand.
"Yes, I'm sure it will be. Anyways, we-" She started as she was rudely interrupted, once more, by Pinkie.
"And this week, I get to run Sugarcube corner for the first time!" She announced with excitement. "And Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes every thing great, so free samples for everypony!" As she finished her say, the crowd of ponies have a loud cheer. Pinkie was gingerly shoved by the mayor.
"Alright, that is good to hear, but I need to make my point without being-" She was cut short when a yellow pegasus flew up and got her attention. "-interrupted. Sigh, what would you like to say?"
"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census." She quietly stated with joy. "It's where we count up all the new baby bunnies that have been born this season. She's going to help gather them with her wonderful herding skills." She say the agitated look on the mayors face and slowly left the stage. Mayor Mare quickly put on a smile to finish her speech.
"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 upmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend, Applejack!"
The curtain was pulled back with Applejack expected to be standing behind. The crowd of ponies started to cheer for the orange mare. But as the curtains were pulled fully back, the ponies saw that Applejack was not standing behind the curtains. The cheering slowly calmed down as they realized there was no one there to cheer for.
After a few moments of awkward silence, a voice spoke up from the back of the crowd.
"I'm here! I'm here. yawn Sorry I'm late." Applejack walked down the path to the town hall building bleary-eyed. She held a saddle bag at her side which was overflowing with apples. "I was just, wahh-" She shouted as she stepped on something and lost her balance. "Did I get yer tail?" She asked the pony she was next to. After a bit of wobbling around, she finally made it to the stand.
"Mrs. Mayor," She said as she approached the podium. "That ya kindly for this here, uh, award thingy. It's so bright and shiny and-" She paused for a moment as she looked at her reflection in the trophy. "I sure do look funny."
Applejack started to bob her head around making the reflection randomly distort. She sat there for a moment, moving her head around saying, "Woooo-oooo" a lot. Eventually, Pinkie came up to join her. They both sat up there bobbing their heads around the trophy making "wooo" noises.
The crowd looked at this displayed with confusion. The mayor walked up to Applejack and gave an awkward cough.
"Well, umm, thank you Applejack for saving the town from that horrific stampede," She stated as she curiously watched her light-headedly swerve around the gleaming trophy. "and always willing to help the fair ponies of this town." Applejack gave a quick yawn before replying.
"Yeah, I like helping the pony-folks and yawn and stuff..." She quietly finished her statement as she abruptly fell asleep on the stage. After a few moments, she quickly shook her self awake. "Ohh, a yeah. Thanks." She said as she gripped the trophy's handle with her teeth.
Applejack slowly pulled the award along the ground as she carefully walked backwards through the crowd. The other ponies stood their in awkward silence as Applejack left town square.
"Is it me or does Applejack seem a bit sleepy?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"She seemed a bit messy to me." Replied Rarity. "I mean, did you see her mane?"
"She seemed fine to me." Came the joyous voice of Pinkie, who then continued her chorus of "woo". The other mares weren't sure what was wrong with Applejack, but they were sure that something was different.
"Ohhhhh, thank you thank you thank you for helping me with baking the treats for Sugarcube Corner Applejack!" Came the bubbly voice of Pinkie. Pinkie and Applejack were trotting down to Ponyville's premiere bakery.
"You bet Pinks." Replied Applejack with a yawn. "All we gotta do is just make muffins, right?" Pinkie gave a quick, joyous nod as the entered the pastry shop. They walked in to see the Cakes packing their things for the convention.
"Hello there Pinkie Pie." Greeted Mr. Cake as he finished stacking a couple of boxes full of cupcakes.
"Hey there Mr. Cake! I'm here to watch the shop!" She said with exhilaration.
"Now Pinkie Pie, are you sure you're up for baking the muffins and running the store this afternoon?" Mrs. Came asked with a sweet but stern voice.
"Yes-sir-y-bob Mrs. Cake! Plus I have Ponyville's prized pony to help me out." Pinkie said as she motioned towards Applejack. "Why, she's the best baker ever. Right Applejack?" Applejack had trouble hearing her remark. She shook her head to try to concentrate.
"No? You're not the best baker ever?" Mr. Cake asked with confusion.
"What? Oh no! I mean," Applejack stuttered as she snapped back into focus. "don't you fret I can bake anythin' from fitters to pies in the blink of an eye." The cakes gave nervous smiles and started out the door.
"Alright, well see you later girls." Said Mrs. Cake as they disappeared out the door. Applejack shook her head again to clear her mind, only to be stopped by Pinkie.
"Stop with the shakin' its time to get bakin'!" She yelled out with excitement. The entered the kitchen, pinkie heading for the open cook book on the counter. The book was left open on a chocolate-chip muffin recipe. Pinkie quickly examined the ingredients.
"Alrighty, I'll get the sugar and the eggs. Can you get me some chocolate chips?" She asked as Applejack stood at the counter asleep. At the order, Applejack shook herself awake.
"Eh, what was that?" She blearily asked. Pinkie repeated the ingredient once more.
"Chocolate chips!" Applejack had a hard time discerning the words. Instead of hearing chocolate chips, she only heard 'chips'.
"Chips, got it." She said as she walked on over to the shelves. "Tater chips, all salty and dry. Okie dokie." She pulled out a large bag of potato chips and carelessly dumped them into the nearby mixing bowl. "What next?"
"Baking soda!" Pinkie read aloud from the recipe.
"Soda, perfect! That will get the tater chips nice and wet." Applejack said as she opened the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of cola and continued to our it into the bowl. "Now what?" She asked as she was ready to get the next ingredient.
"A cup of flour." Replied Pinkie as she sounded out the eggs she needed. Applejack once again heard the wrong ingredient.
"A cup of sour? Well, lemons are sure sour." She continued to squeeze lemons into a measuring cup until she filled it to the brim. "One cup of sour comin' up." She said as she poured the glass into the bowl. "Anythin' else Pinkie?"
"One last thing. Wheat germ." Applejack gave a disgusted face to this remark.
"Ugh, wheat worms? Oh, that must be fancy talk fer earth worms." She swiftly walked outside and started to dig at the ground. After she had found a few worms, she threw them into the mixing bowl.
"Now that's gonna be delicious!" Pinkie said with enthusiasm as she closed the cook book. Applejack looked at the mixture with repulse.
"If you say so." She said as she helped pinkie fill the mixture into the muffin tray. A couple of hours later, after the cupcakes had cooled down, the two mares had set them down at a small stand set up outside of Sugarcube Corner.
"Free muffin samples spectacular!" Cried out Pinkie with delight. In no time at all, a large group of ponies had gathered around the stand and stood in awe for the treats.
"Yeah, muffin spectacles! Get em' while they're hot!" Applejack yelled out as ponies left and right took the muffins off the stand. Seeing things go well, she gave a small goodbye to Pinkie and walked back to her family's farm to continue her apple bucking.
Only about two minutes after she had left, the ponies who had eaten the muffins felt quite ill. The disturbing taste had left many ponies with bad indigestion. Some of them fell to the ground holding to their stomached while others tried to find a pale to vomit into. Pinkie looked out into the crowd of sick ponies, and then at her own half-eaten muffin.
"Uh-oh." She said right before her stomach started to growl. She had messed up her first time running Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was really going to need to explain this to the Cakes. But first, she needed to find somewhere to puke.
It had been a rough week for Applejack. She had launched her pegasus friend across town with a strange see-saw platform. She was responsible with possibly poisoning plenty of ponies. And to add to that, she created a stampede of hungry new-born bunnies that ate Ponyville's crops, making it harder for the ponies who ere struggling with their crops to begin with.
But among all of this, she was glad that she was nearly done with her apple bucking. She only had this last tree to deal with, and the entire orchard would have been harvested. She was glad that there was just one tree left. She wasn't sure if she could handle doing this any longer. Her lack of sleep and food had really taken a toll on her.
Just one more good buck. She planted herself in front of the tree and lined up her back hooves. She lifted her leg into the air and with a loud thud the apples that were held on the tree came falling into Applejacks saddle-baskets. She was finally done. She grew a smug grin as she saw her brother walk up to her.
"Look-ee over here big brother! I did it. I harvested the entire sweet apple acres without yer help. How'd ya like them apples?" Applejack yelled out smugly as she believes her work to be over.
"Um, how do you like THEM apples." Big Mac replied as he pointed to the rest of the apple orchard. Applejacks attitude of triumph turned into one of despair. She looked at the hundred trees still lined with apples. She began to mutter to herself, unable to keep her balance. After a moment of swaying around, she collapsed onto the ground.
Applejack stayed there motionless for twenty minutes. After her brief slumber, she rose to look at the field of apple trees. She knew now that she truly had taken more than she could chew, but it was too late now. She wouldn't let herself quit after coming so far.
She knew that she would need help, but no one in her family could help her. Her sister, Applebloom, was too young to help buck, while her grandmother, Granny Smith, was far too old. Big Macintosh was still recovering from his injury and was still incapable of helping. Applejack was in this alone.
With a heavy sigh, she picked up her saddle-baskets ready to finish the harvest. She didn't care how long it would take or how exhausted she would become. This only wasn't for her family, it was to provide food for all of Ponyville. She picked herself up as she trotted to the nearby tree to, once again, begin apple bucking.
It was about seven hours later when Applejack had continued her harvest. Her mind was clouded with exhaustion and her body week from hunger. She had not stopped bucking since she started. She had trouble keeping her balance and repeatedly fell to the ground.
Every time she attempted to buck a tree, she would either miss completely or just scrape the side of the trunk. Only after a few attempt could she make full contact with the tree, only to not have enough power to knock down all of the apples. Applejack has been fighting sleep for three hours now. She was not sure how long it would be before she collapsed. She continually told herself to finish bucking before that happened.
The orange mare continued down the laid-out path to the next tree until she heard a strange voice.
"Poor, poor Applejack." Came a mocking voice from up in the trees. "So many trees to buck and no one to help you."
"Who's there?" Applejack cried out. "Don't think you can steal any of the Apple family's apples!" She stood swaying in a defensive stance.
"A-ha-ha-ha." Came the mysterious voice. "Why would I try to steal my brothers?" Applejack looked around in confusion.
"Brothers? Whaddya mean 'brother's" She asked as she wearily stared out into the distance.
"You would think that for a mare who has spent her life working with apples, she would know when one was talking to her." Applejack froze in place, still unbalanced but not as bad as before. She stared up into a nearby tree to see a swaying apple with two blank eyes and a wide grin. She nearly screamed at the sight.
"You really took more than you could chew with this, didn't you Applejack?" The apple mocked from up high. "You spent so long working these fields with no one to help you. This job gets real hard without company. Isn't that right brothers?" With this remark, many other apples lined across the trees sprang to life, giving their agreement.
Applejack could do nothing but look I horror as the apple of her or hard began to come to life and laugh at her. She could feel as their blank eyes stared into her. She wanted it to stop. She wanted the voices to cease. The orange mare fell to the ground with her hooves covering her ears, hoping to mute the noise.
The apples only seems to get louder due to this. They kept yelling at her with remarks like, "so alone," and "no one to help," and "silly little farmer." Eventually, their voices all came together as one, but still many. Their mocking remarks became a melodic tune.
"Applejack, Applejack, working through the day.
Applejack, Applejack, gave no time to play."
The orange mare laid on the ground, hoping for the voices to stop.
"She worked all night she worked all day, she worked without rest.
There was no other mare like her, she truly was the best.
But one day she worked too hard, her mind began to crack.
She heard the voices in her head, and then she finally snapped!"
The apples continued to sing this song while Applejack shakingly stood up. She started to smile. She started to laugh. She sat there in hysteric laughter for a few minutes. Then, she sang.
"Applejack, Applejack, working through the day.
Applejack, Applejack, gave no time to play.
She worked all night she worked all day, she worked without rest.
There was no other mare like her, she truly was the best.
But one day she worked too hard, her mind began to crack.
She heard the voices in her head, and then she finally... snapped!"