Twilight woke with a start, looking over at her alarm clock, it was still 15 minutes before her set time. After turning it off she jumped out of bed and trotted over to her desk, to check the to-do list she had Spike leave her for the morning.
"Oh, right. Today is the day Fawkes is headed to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia." She notes out loud to herself. After checking the length of the items she had scheduled for the day, she picked it up with her magic and stowed it away in case she needs it… not that she'd need it.
Twilight descended the stairs that separated the living quarters, where her room was from the rest of the library; although since no one has once came to get a book, it's just become the first floor of her house, really. She looks around, spotting Fawkes already up kneeling on a pillow by the table, as it's a bit on the short side for him. He was just finishing a bowl of puffed oats cereal.
"Oh, morning, Twi." He says, with a salute-like wave. Before returning to the remnants of his breakfast.
"Hey, Fawkes. Ready to head out I see. Have your letter and ticket ready?" Twilight asks.
"Right here," he says, slightly pulling a small stack of papers from his pocket, "don't worry Twilight. I'm a big boy and can do this all by myself." That second part was delivered with the cadence of him being a young boy, as opposed to the adult he is.
"I know that," Twilight says with a slight giggle, but You aren't of this world, and even armed with the knowledge from yours, I still feel a bit nervous about you going alone. Are you sure you don't want me to join you?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Fawkes said with a definite finality, "You have a busy day yourself, with You helping Mayor Mare with the Town Meeting? Plus Applejack is exhausted with Big Mac out of commission with that injury he got from twisting an ankle and falling into a ditch, he couldn't help with the harvest last week, right?" Fawkes gave a sly smile that he knew more than was letting on.
"Besides I think we're in for a busy week."
"Huh, what makes you say that?" Twilight shot a quizzical look his way."
At the moment, the clock on the wall rang 7:00 am and Fawkes sprung to his feet.
"Aw, crap. I got to go, my train is in 20 minutes." He said before running out the door.
Twilight took a look at Spike, still curled up in his bed, and with a smile and a slight eye roll, heads off to brush her mane and prepare for the Town meeting with Mayor Mare.
The mayor of Ponyville, a Mare of seemingly older stature, with a greyish amber coat, and grey mane quickly waved Twilight over as she approached the large building right in the middle of town.
"Hello, Twilight, it's great that you volunteered your help to today's town meeting. I'm great at speeches and presiding, but not so good at organization. Things are often a tad messy backstage, and I appreciate your help. The mayor speaks in a formal tone, but with childish prose. The voice of someone important but young at heart.
"Oh, it's not a problem, Mayor, thanks for having me. I've got things organized. Just give me the docket of today's meeting and I'll get everything ready for you." Twilight says cheerily, with a smile on her face.
"Docket?" the mayor repeats.
"Uhm, the list of things the meeting is supposed to cover." Twilight clarifies.
"Oh, of course. The Docket. Right. Of course, I knew what you meant." The mayor blushes lightly as she finds the list and hands it off to Twilight. "Oh, and we're having the meeting outside. People have been… less than thrilled at the idea of being closed in inside the town hall, ever since the Summer Sun Celebration…"
Visions of Nightmare Moon, the week of darkness, and the booming jeering calls echoing through the town flashed through Twilight's mind for a moment.
"Yeah, I can understand that," she says, looking over the list of items she needs to prepare. "No problems here, Ms. Mayor. I got this under control. you can rely on me.
Twilight heads off to prepare for the Town meeting, as the Mayor trots off in the opposite direction, apparently now engrossed in repeating a prepared speech out loud. The preparation goes smoothly, as she sets up a podium and greets the ponies who will be taking part in this meeting before the populace arrives. By 9:00 am, everything is ready, and Mayor Mare takes the podium to begin her speeches.
"Greetings, citizens of Ponyville. As you all know, I am Mayor Mare, your elected representative for the Town, and Master of Ceremonies for all official events and meetings. Today, I will be informing you about several events happening within the next few days, here in our quaint little town. First on the list, it's Free Muffin day, down at sugar cube corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake will be bringing in two additional bakers to help fulfill the quota, and for every muffin given away, 1 bit will be donated by the town to help renovate the Ponyville Senior Center! So swing by today, get a free muffin, and help keep our older community comfy."
The mayor stops for a moment and allows the whispered discussions, cheers, and applause to come to a stop before continuing.
"The next item on our list, the Wonderbolts are considering opening a reserve program, due to having to cancel some recent shows due to injuries on the team. Registration will be tomorrow morning, and the selection will be the day after. Make sure you practice up if you intend to register." The mayor stopped for a moment as whispered discussion and light applause filtered through the crowd again. She cleared her throat, which eschewed the noise from the crowd before continuing.
"Our yearly bunny census is happening this afternoon as well, so please keep your distance from all know roads until our official bunny census taker is finished. She has a helper this year, so it should go more quickly and ponies should soon be able to take their favourite paths around our town and natural areas again." She again stopped for a moment as ponies discussed amongst themselves for a short time before continuing. "Finally, I'd like to invite Twilight Sparkle up on stage to make a very important award speech, about her most dependable friend. Twilight, if you will?"
The mayor stepped aside, and moved slightly off stage, as Twilight came out and took her place at the podium, holding a small stack of index cards with her magic.
"I was surprised when the Mayor asked me to make a short award speech for Applejack, but I think I put something together well enough." Twilight smiles awkwardly at the crowd, who sit in silence, before clearing her throat and beginning to read from her cue cards. "Applejack is certainly a valid recipient of this year's Most Dependable Pony award. I've only known her for a few weeks, but she's become a friend I'm always happy to see when I need a hoof with a small task or even just a friend to talk to. Applejack often volunteers herself the moment you mention needing help with anything, and still manages to care for her family, and farm at Sweet Apple Acres. She's the single most hardworking and dependable pon…"
Twilight trails off, have noticed a tap on her shoulder. She turns her head to look behind her and sees none other than Pinkie Pie standing beside her on the stage
"Pinkie, how did you get up here? No, actually. Why are you up here?"
"Hiya Twi, you're making a great speech, and Imma let you finish, but I gotta cut in and mention one thing first!" Twilight lets out a small sigh and stands aside to give Pinkie the podium. "Hiya everypony! Pinkie Pie here! The Cakes are letting me bake today, and we're bringing in Applejack as a guest baker! After all, she's one of the best bakers in town, and there's a lot of ponies in town who need to be muffinfied! We're also making a bunch of barley tea, so we're giving it at a discount! Stop by after this, and come get a muffin!"
Twilight takes the podium again, and tries to repeat her last sentence, but stopped as a cyan blur landed beside her.
"Yo Twilight, I got something cool to say about Applejack too." Rainbow dash stared excitedly. Twilight rolls her eyes, and gives a slightly louder sigh, clearly forced to show her displeasure and being interrupted for a second time.
"When I saw the flyers yesterday advertising the WRT.. uh, Wonderbolts Reserve Tryouts to you normies, I was so EXCITED! I flew immediately to Applejack's and she agreed to help me with a brand new move, sure to impress the flanks off any Wonderbolt who sees it! How cool is that? And how cool is Applejack for helping me! Be sure to come to see me fly tomorrow. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see someone as great as me do this trick!" Alright, peace out everypony, I gotta go set up practice before AJ shows up!" After saying the final word, Rainbow Dash blasts off over the crowd, knocking a few chairs back with the pressure.
"AHEM. Now that she's gone I can continue. Applejack is one of the single most hardwor…." Twilight trails off again as she hears a small whisper coming from… behind the stage curtain apparently. "what?... No, you tell them, Fluttershy… you're too scared?... of just being on stage?... Fine. I'll tell them…"
Twilight rolls her eyes and turns back to the confused crowd.
"Fluttershy wants me to say that Applejack is the one helping her with bunny census this afternoon, and wanted to say thank you to her as well. Thank you, Applejack, for helping with the bunny census. Now, anyone else want to speak?" Twilight looks around her, and once she's finished, she continues. "Applejack is the most dependable pony of this year, but I would also like to give special thanks to Fawkes, the Human who recently settled here in our town. He's adapted to his sudden changes in life very well and has proven to be a dependable pony… person on his own. He, unfortunately, couldn't be here, as he has a very important meeting with Princess Celestia today, but I'd like you all to say hi when you see him next. You'll find he's quite nice…"
Twilight again trails off, as whispering punctuates her own statements.
"Wait, they're letting him meet the princess?"
"I'm surprised they let him in the castle at all, just look at him. Are they sure he can be trusted?"
"I've seen him around town. He's so weird, being tall and hairless"
"his mane is just on top of his head, and his ears are round, and on the side. It's really odd"
Twilight's ears dip a bit, but she continues her closing statements, before passing the podium back to the mayor. Spotting Rarity in the crowd, she quickly approaches her.
"Rarity, did you see where Pinkie went? I need to talk to her about Applejack. I don't think she's in a fit state to be baking, or helping with tricks, or counting bunnies. She's spent the whole week, nearly sleepless picking the apple harvest from her field."
"Ooh, before that, darling. Did you hear the things they were saying about our friend? I for sure thought you'd tell them off for whispering such callous things behind poor Fawkes's back."
"Now's not the time, Rarity. We can talk to him about it when he gets back, but Applejack is a more pressing issue right now." Twilight urged.
"Hmm. Not sure entirely where she went, but if I had to presume, she's probably either went to the bakery to set up or off to the farm to collect Applejack." Rarity mused for a moment and said with a firm nod.
Twilight mulled it over a moment and then sped off towards Sweet Apple Acres at a full gallop. Perhaps if she's fast enough, she could catch Applejack en route and convince her to let someone else help, so she could rest. Arriving about 10 minutes later, she slows to a trot to start to catch her breath and sees Applebloom raking some leaves up in the yard outside the house.
"HI… Apple… bloom…" she wheezes as she catches her breath. Having had a moment to do so, she continues, "have you seen Applejack? I need to speak to her as soon as possible."
"Uh, sorry Twilight, she left for Sugar Cube Corner over an hour ago. Something about gettin' a headstart on the bakin'. She's used to the family recipes, but she does stuff by the book when she's baking outside the family."
"Oh. Okay, I'll head there. Thank you, Applebloom. By the way, why are you raking the lawn? There aren't any leaves."
"The first sign was last night, so we gotta get ready for the Zap Apples soon. I'm rakin' the lawn to make sure it's easier when we have to do all the special steps. Granny Smith is weird, and makes us do all sorts of crazy things because 'it's what the apples like,' or something."
"Uh…huh… well, nice talking to you. I've got to catch up to Applejack, so I better run!" Twilight says, running off as she does so.
"Buh-Bye Twilight! Thanks for stoppin' by!" Applebloom calls after her, before shrugging to herself and resuming raking.
Twilight gallops back into town, only slowing upon hitting the busy town streets. She canters towards the bakery until its large multi-story silhouette rises against the still morning sun. As she opens the door, she is visited upon by a scene completely unexpected.
"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're here! Everypony is sick, and I don't know what to do!" A shill panicked voice hits Twilight as she enters the building. She looks frantically for the source before seeing Pinkie Pie run out from behind the counter.
"Pinkie? What's wrong? What happened here? Where is Applejack?" Twilight asks, putting a hoof around her friend in an attempt to calm her down. Pinkie sputters and tries to explain, but isn't quite making sense. Twilight takes her by the shoulders and gives her a hard shake, before looking her in the eyes and sternly asking again. "Pinkie. What happened? Where is AJ? Calm down, and explain."
Pinkie looks shocked about being handled so roughly, but quickly composed herself.
"Sorry Twilight. Let me explain." Pinkie wiped a tear from her eye and took an unsteady breath before continuing. "Well, I had to speak at the meeting today, right? So when Applejack got here, I just showed her the recipe book and got out some ingredients. She urged me to go to the meeting and said to leave the baking to her. She's a wonderful baker, so I didn't think there'd ever be any trouble. And it was just muffins! How do you mess up muffins? Mix, scoop, bake. Easier than boiling toast!"
"Boiling… toast? Never mind that. Pinkie, where is applejack? Have you collected the baked goods so no one else can eat them?"
"Not baked goods! Baked BADS!" Pinkie cried quietly. "Yeah, I collected them as soon as I could."
"Okay, here's what you do. Go to the clinic, and find Nurse Redheart, Tell her to bring all she has for stomach aches and to meet you here, and then go to the library and find Spike. Have him come and see if he can destroy the baked… bads with his fire. Now, where did Applejack go?"
"She said she pro… pro… promised to help Rainbow with something, so I told her I'd handle things here and she left, just after I got back." Pinkie sniffled and got up to go get the nurse. Twilight headed out the door and started searching the skies for any sign of Rainbow Dash.
After a minute or so of aimlessly searching, Twilight decided to go to the park. It's all open-air there. Great for practice. She arrives quickly and finds an odd contraption sitting along the edge of the park. It seems to be a large see-saw with a tower platform beside one side. On one end was Rainbow Dash, crouched and ready to go, and on the tower, seemingly about to fall off was…
"APPLEJACK!" Twilight shouts in panic, as the orange mare threw herself off the edge of the tower. Galloping as quick as she can, Twilight uses her magic to slow and then halt the momentum of her falling friend, setting her down in a heap beside the see-saw.
"What the hay, Twi?" Rainbow complains, clearly affronted at her friend's actions. "AJ was going to send me flying with more speed and height than I could get in a takeoff. I was going to do all sorts of neat tricks!"
"Yeah Twinklee, what gives?" Applejack says blearily, not even looking up from the ground where she still lay.
"No, Applejack was about to collide into the ground, a clear 3 feet from her intended mark." Twilight says sternly. "have you even taken a good look at her? She's so tired, she didn't even get my name right! Why did you even let her up there when she's so out of it!"
"I gave my word, I ain't gonna go back…. Yaaaaaawn… on it" Applejack says, yawning partway, as she picked herself off the ground. "Ah can't be the town's most dependable pony if I go back on my word."
"Applejack, you've been working a week straight finishing that harvest without your brother. You're tired and need to rest. Why didn't you ask your friends to help, or to cover for you?"
"Nothin' doin' Twilight, but I gave my word." She repeats.
"Twilight's right. I should have seen how tired you were and asked someone else. You can't be the 'most dependable pony' if you get hurt, or worse and put yourself out of commission. Besides, I'm honestly awesome enough as it is. I… don't really need to practice. I'll show the Wonderbolts what I'm worth tomorrow without it. Go home and sleep."
"Well, if yer not needing me here, I'll go help Butterfly… uh, Fluttershy with countin' those there bunnies." Applejack started to trot off in the general direction of Fluttershy's cottage.
"Applejack, no!" Twilight exclaimed loudly, trotting after her. "you need to go sleep. Let us help Fluttershy. She'll understand that you're not able to help yourself. Go rest. Please."
Applejack paused for a moment, as if considering the option.
"No, Twi. I made a promise, and I'm going to make good on that. When I give my word, I keep it. No matter what."
"In that case, I'm sorry. I hoped I wouldn't have to do this, Applejack, but you gave me no choice." Twilight said threatening. Her horn began to glow, and so did Applejack.
"Hey! What in Tarnation are ya… Woah, Nelly…" Applejack tried to resist, but the spell won as she slumped to the ground, and started snoring.
"Woah, Twilight. Is she sleeping? I didn't know you could do that." Rainbow dash commented, a look of surprise on her face.
"Honestly, neither did I. I knew the theory of the spell, but I've never actually practiced it. Either way, she's going to be out for a good long while. I discovered this spell as a way of countering all-nighters but never used it. It makes the body sleep until you're good and rested. Here's what I want you to do, Dash. Go find Fluttershy, and explain to her that Applejack can't make it and that she asked you to come in her place. Do everything to help her, follow her orders exactly, okay? We don't want any scared bunnies. I'm going to go bring Applejack home and ensure she gets in bed. "
"You got it, Twi!" Rainbow Dash says with a salute. "On my way!" she shouts as she flies off, leaving Twilight to figure out how to get Applejack home.
Twilight used her magic to pick up and carry Applejack and started to walk off towards Sweet Apple Acres, but it became clear quite quickly that carrying the weight of a full pony would wear quickly on her magic. She turns off and heads towards the Golden Oak library instead, luckily it wasn't too far away.
"Spike! SPIKE! Where are you?" Twilight shouted as the door to the library burst open. Twilight then remembered that she had Pinkie come and collect spike to help with the muffin incident "Oh, right. I should go check on Sugar Cube Corner after." Twilight mused to the empty room, as she used her magic to pull a dusty old book cart out of the corner, put a blanket and pillow on it, and lowered Applejack carefully on it, before strapping herself to the cart and pulling it out into the street
It took about 20 minutes to make her way to the farm on the edge of town, moving slowly and carefully to avoid Applejack getting bumped off, especially as the roads closer to the farm were less cared for and had some rocks and potholes that could throw the balance of the cart off. As she pulled up to the main house, Applebloom came out of the barn and saw her sister on the cart being pulled by Twilight.
"What happened?!" Applebloom shouts in concern, running up to the cart. "Big sister! Is she okay, Twilight? Big brother! Git out here! Applejack's hurt something awful!"
"Don't worry, Applebloom, she's not hurt. Just sleeping" Twilight says reassuringly. Applebloom sighs in reflection but then looks up confused.
"Sleepin'? Why? Did she get cursed by prickin' her hoof on a spinnin' wheel or something?"
"No, nothing like that." She explained as Big Mac came limping out of the house. "It's okay, Big Mac. She's not hurt. She just sleeping. I didn't want to, but I had to put a sleeping spell on her. She was overtired, and trying to fulfill all the promises she made, despite her friends telling her we'd help so she can rest…"
"You WHAT?" Big Macintosh shouted loudly, causing Twilight to recoil slowly and turn her ears back. "You used your hocus pocus on her? Why would you do that to one of your friends?"
"I didn't want to, I promise, but she was going to end up hurting herself, or someone else. Because she was so tired, she gave all sorts of ponies food poisoning and could have hurt herself trying to help Rainbow dash with her trick. Who knows what would have happened if she went to help with the bunny census. Maybe she'd accidentally spook them, and they'd run into town and rampage!"
"Bunnies? Rampage?" Big Mac snickered, trying to picture the thought in his head. "I'm not happy you cast magic like this on my sister without her consent, but you seemed to be trying to do the right thing. Maybe next time, talk to us. Maybe we could help out."
"Sorry, I'll keep that in mind, but time was of the essence. It took me all day just to track her down. The spell will only last until she's gotten a good night's sleep. Just make sure she's comfortable, and she'll be up and about tomorrow, good as new. Could you please tell her sorry, from me?"
Big Mac looked solemnly at her for a few seconds before….
"Eeyup."
He bumped the cart with his hip, transferring Applejack from it to his back, blanket and all. And limps slowly toward the house. Twilight nods at Applebloom and starts to walk away with the cart, as Applebloom waves goodbye. And she starts walking back towards town. One more stop to make before she can go home, as she makes her way through to the bakery she left only a couple of hours ago.
As she approached Sugar Cube Corner, she noticed a triage tent had been popped up in front of the store. Removing herself from the cart, she sticks her head into the flaps.
"Hello? Anyone here?" Twilight asks quietly. A light grey pony with a pink mane and a medical cap popped into her view.
"It's good to see you, Twilight. Thanks to your quick thinking, most ponies have been supplied medicine and discharged. We have 2 patients left." Nurse Redheart said, motioning to the only 2 cots with occupants. A very green-in-the-face Spike and a clearly not well Pinkie Pie lay in the beds.
"What happened to you two?" Twilight asked, incredulous.
"Fire…didn't work. Tried to eat them all… instead." Spike gurgles out before retching and his face disappearing behind the cot as he emptied the contents of his stomach into a nearby bucket.
"I hadn't tried any of the muffins myself, as I trusted Applejack. She's never led my mouth wrong! So, I ate some out of curiosity when spike did, and… it didn't go well." Pinkie said. "I didn't eat as much as Spike here though. When he realized that they don't burn well, he just started eating them. He was fine for a while, but eventually…" she just motioned weakly at Spike, who continued to make occasional use of the bedside bucket.
Twilight waited around for another hour or so, and another dose of stomach medicine. Pinkie Pie eventually felt better and returned to the bakery to finish the cleanup, and Twilight helped the Nurse take down the triage tent and pack everything into her medical cart before taking a still sick, but feeling better Spike back home, putting him on the cart she had used for Applejack, and bringing him back toward home. He was still a little green around the gills but was managing to keep the contents of his stomach where they belong.
Opening the library door, Twilight looks up and sees the sun starting to set. She goes inside and puts Spike Into a chair where he seems to fall asleep immediately. A quick look around shows that Fawkes has yet to return home. Hopefully, his trip went well. Twilight climbs into her favourite reading chair and lays her head down on the arm. She had been so pumped up on adrenaline all day, that she never noticed how ridiculously tired she was. She barely put her head down and quickly falls into a light sleep.
"Hey, guys! I'm home!" Fawkes says loudly as he opens the door and comes in.
Twilight, have been wrested from the light sleep she was in barely lifts her head and looks at the offending noise.
"Oh, hi Fawkes. You won't BELIEVE the day we've just had…" Twilight says, her head dropping back down to the arm it was resting on previously. That's all she remembered as she drifted back off to sleep due to her exhaustion setting in.