Chapter 13: Applebuck Season
The next day was far more peaceful than yesterday, as he did his chores and finished in record time, as always, while having some free time to continue working on his Gummi Garage. He was putting up the walls and using his magic to make them near indestructible so nothing could destroy them, not even the most destructive of magical spells. While he was setting the roof, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac came over to see how he was doing. When they entered the garage, they were amazed at how it looked on the inside with mechanical arms, dozens of lights on strange machines, even a control center where he can build his ship without any problems.
"Wow, this place looks amazing." Applejack said. "How does everything work?"
"Well, let me show you." Spyro said, popping up behind the computer that controlled the machines.
Applejack walked up to where Spyro was while Big Mac and Apple Bloom looked around, awe struck by the machines they've never seen before. When she was next to Spyro, she looked down at the control panels and holographic display, awe struck by the futuristic technology, way more advanced than what she could ever dream of seeing.
"This is the master control." Spyro said. "This is where I make designs for my ships and where I can begin construction."
He swiped across the screen to the left, showing her the section that allows for construction and a second later, the arms started moving on their own, ready for orders. She was entranced by how everything worked, but heard something drop, making the two of them turn to their left to see Apple Bloom had knocked down a Meteor-G laser cannon.
"Apple Bloom, will ya'll be more careful!" Applejack said. "Ya could have gotten hurt."
"Sorry AJ." Apple Bloom said, walking away.
"Ah, she's fine." Spyro said, shocking Applejack. "That Meteor-G laser missile launcher had its power core removed and firing mechanism deactivated. It's harmless." He then looked to his right and saw Big Mac examining a Fire-G laser cannon, which he knew wasn't safe. "That on the other hoof is not safe. That Fire-G laser cannon is still working and it has a full magazine. If that falls, we better be taking cover until it's empty."
Big Mac looked between Spyro and the cannon, backing away from it to not risk knocking it over while Applejack looked all around the room, observing everything as it worked, hands painting blocks, devices doing calculations, even some large tubes of electricity connected to something. She marveled at everything until a set of mechanical arms picked up the disabled weapon and took it to the next room behind Spyro.
"Where'd them arms take that meteor thingy?" Applejack asked.
"To the disassembly line." Spyro replied. "That's where old ships and weapons are taken to be scrapped and reused to make new ships. And thanks to Chip and Dale I have more than enough Gummi Blocks to make a new ship."
"Gummy!" Apple Bloom said, excited about sweets. "Are the blocks edible!? Please tell me they're edible!? You got apple flavored gummies!?"
"No Apple Bloom." Spyro replied. "Not Gummy as in sweets and candies. Gummi, G-U-M-M-I. They're a special kind of block used to make ships quick and easy. Speaking of which."
Spyro swiped a couple more times to the left to show his first ship, a blocky dragon shaped head with which he began rearranging the ships design to make it sleeker and less of a target while keeping the weapons the same, but their positions being different. Applejack walked up to see what he was doing when one of the mechanical arms came by to pick up the active cannon, being careful to lift it up. Big Mac watched them move the cannon in the same direction as the missile launcher, but saw the cannon slip out of its hands, falling to the ground.
"Look out!" Big Mac said, making Spyro look up and see the cannon fall.
"Hit the deck!" Spyro shouted, jumping to Applejack and shielding her from the cannon as it fired in random directions towards the ceiling.
Applejack was covering her ears as the cannons loud shots rang out from the muzzle of the enormous weapon while also staying underneath Spyro for protection. When the cannon had stopped firing, Spyro looked over the control station and saw the cannon lay on the ground, having spent its magazine, smoke coming out of the barrel. He then looked around to make sure everyone else was ok, finding both Big Mac and Apple Bloom unharmed having taken cover behind a few metal crates. Everyone got up and out of their hiding places, looking at the cannon like it still had another round in it, being cautious not to approach.
"How did it fall down?" Applejack asked. "None of us were near it."
"Maybe it slipped out of the mechanical arms grip." Spyro suggested. "The surface of the cannon was slick as it was found in the nearby pond and it did have some slime on it. I'm just surprised that it could still shoot."
"But it's safe now, right?" Applejack asked, not wanting to go near it.
"Yep. It's safe now." Spyro replied. "And with a few tweaks, a bit of cleaning, and a new paint job, it should be good to go for the ship."
The arms returned and picked it back up, taking it to the cleaning area where it would clean any Gummi block that has been collected. Everyone then walked out of the garage and into the beautiful day, enjoying the sun shine of the day.
"What a beautiful day." Spyro said. "Perfect day for a picnic."
"Ya'll said it." Apple Bloom said. "Granny Smith was planning a family picnic at lunch time. Wanna join Spyro?"
"Sure." Spyro replied. "Why not? Just gotta make sure nothing was seriously damaged and we should be good to go."
He turned and walked back into the garage, not realizing that Applejack was watching him as he was checking on everything, day dreaming about him. But her day dreaming didn't go unnoticed as Apple Bloom and Big Mac noticed, smirking to each other at their sister having a crush on their helper and their resident prince.
"Ya'll should ask him to be yer colt friend." Apple Bloom said, catching Applejack off guard. "Ya seem to really like him."
"Ah do not!" Applejack said, her face completely red.
"Yer a bad liar Applejack." Apple Bloom said. "Ya totally got a crush on him."
"Eyup." Big Mac said, agreeing with Apple Bloom.
"Hey Big Mac!" Spyro exclaimed, getting his attention. "Can I borrow ya for a second?"
"Eyup." Big Mac replied, walking towards Spyro, who seemed to be at some kind of terminal.
However, a moment later everyone heard something creaking and breaking above them. Everyone looked up, but a metal support beam broke off and landed right on top of Big Mac, horrifying everyone as they ran to help the red earth pony. The next day however, Spyro, Applejack, And Big Mac were walking towards the orchard and over the hill to see thousands of acres of trees, all of which with apples as far as the eye could see. Spyro looked over at Big Mac and saw his bandages around his rib cage as he managed to use the cure spell to heal his exterior wounds, which were more life threatening, while he had a few broken ribs and was lucky his back wasn't broken.
"Again, I am so sorry Bog Mac." Spyro said. "I should have unloaded that cannon when I first got it into the garage." He then walked over to him, trying to see if he could heal him further, but the red earth pony stallion backed away, not wanting to be healed by magic, but preferred the old fashioned way as to avoid any further complications. "You sure you don't want me to heal you further?"
"Nope." Big Mac replied
"Spyro, it was an accident. Stop beating yerself up about it." Applejack said, reassuring the prince.
"Still, it could have been avoided." Spyro said, looking back to the trees. "I still can't believe you guys harvest all these trees in a week by yourselves. Seems a bit much just for two ponies."
"Well, we manage it." Applejack replied. "We usually take the whole week or so to harvest them apples so they can be sold later. In fact, Ah could probably do this all on mah own."
"That seems like too much to do for one pony." Spyro said, looking over to see Big Mac back away while Applejack leered at him.
"What, ya'll sayin' Ah can't handle this on mah own!?" She asked,taking it as a challenge.
"No, no, I'm sure you could." Spyro replied, backing away. "It's just, I think we could get our friends to help us as it will make it quicker and we could harvest more apples before they rot."
"Well mister, Ah'll tell ya this here and now." Applejack said, getting into his face. "Ah am a very capable farm mare and Ah can buck all these trees all by mahself before the end of the week!"
Before Spyro could say a thing, Applejack walked down to the trees and away from them, determined to do what she said she'd do, leaving Spyro and Big Mac alone on the hill. He looked over tot he red stallion, but all he did was shrug, but when he did, he winced a bit, still hurt from that metal beam.
"Guess we are going to just let her learn the hard way?" Spyro asked.
"Eyup." Big Mac said, turning back to the farm house.
"And we aren't going to help her?" Spyro asked, walking beside Big Mac.
"Eyup." Big Mac replied.
'Well, guess that means I have more time to make my new ship for our date." Spyro said.
"Date?" The red stallion asked. "What date?"
"Holy cow he talks." Spyro said, earning a glare from the red stallion. "Kidding, I'm kidding."
The two of them arrived at the Gummi garage where Spyro pulled up the plans for his new ship, working on refitting it for the journey. All the while the red stallion was watching, still waiting for an answer when. He watched the floor open up and blocks begin to attach to each other, watching as his ship was being constructed.
"I asked AJ out to dinner this week." Spyro replied. "She's a strong and very capable mare. Plus, I felt something for her while we were in the Everfree."
As he talked, he turned to face Big Mac, seeing him giving him the eye as he was still waiting for him to explain.
"She saved me from a Heartless sneak attack." Spyro continued. "She was hit and... When she was about to pass, it was then I felt something I never felt before. Something I couldn't explain."
"Ya fell for her huh?" Big Mac said, smirking. "And it was about time she found herself a colt friend."
Big Mac turned to watch the ship being constructed, marveling at how each piece fit together perfectly, finding it to be something to watch, but turned back to face Spyro.
"She's a stubborn pony." The red stallion said. "Always worked and never had time to find a colt she liked. But when she saw ya, her heart melted. Her crush on ya was obvious to us, but to hear she actually accepted a proposal for a date, that'll make granny happy."
"Well, glad I could have made her happy." Spyro said, returning to the console. "And when this ship is finished, we can head to Twilight Town. That's where we're going."
A second later, they felt the earth beneath them shake like an earthquake. The two stallions ran out to see a cloud of dust in the distance, not knowing what it was, Spyro took off towards the dust cloud, seeing it was a stampede of cows heading towards Ponyville. Without a moments hesitation, Spyro flew towards the town, seeing everyone was already running for cover. He turned around to see what he could do about the stampede, but saw Applejack was already rounding them up, calming them down as they went. When they stopped, Spyro flew down and landed next to Applejack, smiling at how easily she handled, talking to the cows because they were sentient, figures.
"Dang AJ, way to make me look useless." Spyro said,getting her attention. "Plus, I thought you were busy with Applebucking season."
"Ah'm never too busy to help mah friends." Applejack replied.
Everyone in Ponyville came running out to thank Applejack and to cheer for her for saving the town while Spyro just stood back, smiling at the farm mare. The next day, the whole town was getting ready to celebrate Applejacks heroism and were setting up decorations across town and onto the town hall. Spyro helped with some of the decorations while getting ready to give an award to the farm mare for her bravery, helping to prepare the stage for the ceremony. Once the decorations were finished, everyone waited for patiently for the event to begin. A moment later, Twilight walked up to the podium and put some reading cards on it while her friends were standing to the right of the stage.
"Welcome, all of Ponyville!" Twilight said, getting everyone's attention. "Today, we are here to honor a pony we know we can rely on in any matter, big or small." As she said that, everyone started to cheer and stamp their hooves, applauding for her. "She's a pony who-"
"Did you all see how Applejack took care of that stampede?" Rainbow Dash asked, pushing Twilight away from the podium and nearly sending her cards flying everywhere. "How awesome was that!? But during this week, AJ's gonna be helping me with a sick trick I got planned, it's gonna be awesome!"
While she was squishing her own face, Spyro levitated her towards him and plopped her down right next to him, putting his hoof on her tail so she wouldn't fly towards the podium again. Twilight returned to the podium, clearing her throat while trying to remember where she left off before being interrupted.
"Thank you Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. "And furthermore-" She was interrupted again by Pinkie who popped up next to her.
"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time in ever!" Pinkie exclaimed, Twilight glaring daggers at Pinkie.
"How's that related to AJ Pinkie?" Spyro asked.
"Oh yeah." Pinkie said. "And Applejack is going to help me bake some yummy treats, and we're going to give out free samples to everypony in Ponyville!"
Everyone cheered when Pinkie said there would be free samples, all of them waiting eagerly for that day. When Pinkie was done, she stepped aside, letting Twilight back onto the podium, getting annoyed by her friend's eagerness to brag about Applejack.
"Great." Twilight said, trying to calm down. "Anypony else want to say something before interrupting me!?"
A moment later, Fluttershy walked up, letting everyone know she wanted to say something.
"Well, um, Applejack's going to help me this week, counting all the new baby bunnies that were born this season." Fluttershy said. "Her hoarding skills will be helpful since they are very skittish."
"Ok, perfect." Twilight said, annoyed with being interrupted. "Now, does anypony else have anything to say?" Waiting patiently, Twilight looked to her friends and then to the crowd, trying to see if anyone else would interrupt her, but no one came forward. "Good. Now, as I was saying..." That was when Mayor Mare walked up, making Twilight toss her cards in the air, completely frustrated. "NEVERMIND! I don't get why I made this speech when everypony is going to interrupt me!"
She stormed over to her friends, plopping next to Spyro, clearly annoyed by her friends and looking ready to tear her hair out.
"Maybe later in the week I can help you to relax." Spyro said, getting her attention. "Maybe some meditation could help."
Twilight looked over to Spyro and smiled, nodding her head to agree to his help in calming down.
"Mares and Gentlecolts," Mayor Mare said. "It is with great pleasure that I wish to award the Pony of Ponyville Award to our dependable and reliable friend; Applejack!"
Mayor Mare pointed to a large golden trophy that was to be presented to Applejack, but she was no where to be seen. Spyro took off into the air to see where she was and saw her walking up, relieved that she was ok, but she looked rough. As she walked up, everyone could see bags under her eyes like hand;t slept at all last night and Spyro could take a guess at what it was.
"Sorry Ah'm late everypony." Applejack said exhaustedly, wobbling up the stage. "Thank ya'll for the... award thing..." Applejack walked up to it and was fixated on her reflection, laughing at herself and her terrible condition. "Ah sure do look funny."
"Oh boy." Spyro said as Applejack started making funny noises, to which Pinkie joined in, making things worse. "This is not good."
Applejack started thanking everyone for throwing the celebration for her and started to drag the trophy away, making an irritating scrapping noise as she dragged the trophy away. The celebration was a disaster after that, which made Spyro worry as he returned to the orchard, finding Applejack bucking a few trees, but ended up drifting to sleep a moment later, standing as she slept. He walked up to the sleeping mare and shook her awake, making her snap her eyes open and grunting, trying to fully wake up.
"Huh, what?" She said, trying to remember where she was. "Oh, hey Spyro. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, you." Spyro replied. "AJ, you look exhausted. Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Nah, Ah didn't sleep a wink." Applejack replied. "Ah need to get this done before the end of the season."
"AJ, I admire how hard a worker you are." Spyro said. "But even you have your limits. Maybe take a break and take a nap. I can do a bit of the work for you and-"
"No way partner!" Applejack said. "I told ya'll Ah'd do it on mah own and Ah'm gonna prove it!"
She pushed past Spyro and kept working, bucking trees, leaving Spyro alone at the orchard that was fully picked of fruit. He shook his head in disbelief, frustrated by the stubborn farm mare and ran to catch up with her so he can try and talk some sense in her.
"AJ, our date is this Friday." Spyro said, getting her attention, making her stop on the spot. "If you keep this up, you're going to be too exhausted to even go. You need help."
"Wait, did ya just say our date is this Friday!?" Applejack asked, surprised. "WOW nelly! I need to work quickly, get everything done before then!"
She then took off, running and kicking the trees with such speed that it seemed like she was reinvigorated. Spyro hoof smacked his head, his plan backfiring as she was now working even harder to finish quickly before the day of their date. Not wanting to even try to stop her, he went back to the Gummi garage to see. The progress of his ship and saw it was working slowly, but was making progress aa a fourth of it was complete, but was still a slow process.
"At least machines don't get tired." Spyro said to himself. "Must be some way I can help AJ without upsetting her."
The next day, Spyro was walking to the Golden Oak Library where Twilight was waiting for him, reading some books when she heard his hoof steps, happy to hear him come. She opened the door before he could knock and pulled him in, sitting him in a chair that she had already prepared.
"Good to see you Spyro." She said excitedly. "I thought, instead of meditation, we could talk about some of the magic you use! I want to learn everything about it."
"Wow there Twilight, calm down." Spyro said, getting up from the seat. "My magic is far too dangerous for you to write down. Besides, it would probably take years for me to tell you every spell, every enchantment I can use."
"Great, so what do we start with!?" She said, pulling out parchment and quill.
"Meditation." Spyro said, sitting on the ground and crossing his legs. "I saw how frustrated you were and know you need a way to relax. So meditating is the best way."
"But I want to learn about your magic!" She said in desperation. "Besides, you're also the princess's student, we could share notes. I share what I know of the magic I use, you can do the same."
"Fine." Spyro said, making Twilight excited. "But first, meditate."
Twilight sighed in defeat, putting the quill down and walking over to where Spyro was sitting, taking a seat next to him and cross her legs the same way as him. She then looked over and saw his eyes were closed and closed hers, trying to understand what he was doing, but not having any luck as she could only see darkness.
"What's the point of this?" Twilight asked.
"This is to help you clear your head." Spyro replied. "When I get frustrated or need to think, I meditate, clear my head and let new thoughts enter. Just think of nothing, let go of your frustrations, and tune everything out. Empty what you know, and let all the negative feeling go."
As Spyro explained, he started to levitate off the floor as books started to float around him, stunning Twilight as she wanted to document this, but wanted to try it for herself. She closed her eyes and tried to think of nothing, doing what Spyro did and letting go of everything, tuning everything out until she felt calmer, more relaxed, feeling like a better pony. While Spyro opened his eyes and started to walk around her, seeing how she was doing.
"Some even believe that you can feel the Force if you do." Spyro said, peaking her curiosity. "The Force is in every living creature, every rock, every droplet of water, everything has the Force in it. But only a few are born with the natural talent to wield it. Those who aren't naturally gifted, with enough time, training and dedication, they can wield it."
"Really?" Twilight asked, her curiosity and her thirst for knowledge skyrocketing.
"Yes." Spyro said. "They say that if you reach your hoof out, and focus on lifting something, without using your magic, you can lift something as large as a book."
Without even thinking about it, Twilight lifted her hoof, trying what he said, making Spyro face hoof himself as she was probably a long way off from actually using the Force. He took the quill she wanted to use for and used it to brush against her coat, making her gasp as she felt it.
"I think I can feel it." Twilight said excitedly.
"Do you now?" Spyro asked. "What does it feel like?"
"Like something is running up my forelegs!" She said excitedly. "And it tickles."
"Tickles does it?" Spyro said, smirking as he used the quill to start tickling Twilight, making her go into a laughing fit as she was being attacked with multiple quills Spyro summoned.
"Stop! Stop Spyro! That's not fair! I'm ticklish there!" She shouted, tears running down her face with laughter.
The two of them started to laugh together, having a good time as they both got into a tickle fight, Twilight grabbing some of the quills Spyro was using on her and tickling him back, both having fun. But it was put to an end when they heard someone scream like they were falling until they heard a loud crash outside on the library's balcony. They both ran to the balcony to find Rainbow Dash sprawled out on the floor, dazed and groaning from the impact as she regained consciousness, finding the two of them together.
"Rainbow Dash, what happened?" Spyro asked.
"Applejack that's what." She said, rubbing her head. "I had my trick all worked out and it was botched the moment I took off."
"Ok Rainbow, start from the beginning." Spyro said. "How did it happen?"
"Well, I made a catapult for the trick." Rainbow Dash said. "I would stand on one end while Applejack would jump onto the other, launching me into the air so I would perform the trick I wanted to show for the Wonderbolts. But she kept missing and falling onto the ground everytime. She then decided to just pull it down as a joke and got off, making me fall down and be unprepared as she jumped again, this time hitting it right and sending me here."
"Right, I think I get it." Spyro said. "I'll see if I can talk to her."
"I'll come with you." Twilight said. "You might need some back up."
They both left the library and went to the orchard, hoping to at least get Applejack to listen and if not to him, then maybe Twilight could get through to her, but when they arrived, they found Applejack still working. But when she tried picking up an apple, she ended up hitting a tree branch, knocking her for a loop as the two friends approached.
"AJ, we need to talk." Spyro said, only for Applejack to flick her ears to hear what they were saying.
"The two of you wanna go for a walk?" She asked, misinterpreted what they said. "It's fine by me. Just don't buck any tree ok?"
"No Applejack, we want to talk to you." Spyro said, this time louder.
"Do bees Squawk?" Applejack asked. "Of course not, they buzz."
"She can't hear what I'm saying." Spyro said. "That hit to the head must have messed up her hearing. Combined with her insomnia, she's going to be hearing ringing bells for a while."
"How's your style?" She asked. "Ah think ya look better with that coat on than with yer royal outfit."
"Oh for crying out loud." Spyro muttered. "Applejack, you sent Rainbow Dash flying into the Golden Oak Library, messing up her stunt!"
"Oh, yeah." She said. "Sorry, Ah wasn't feeling quite like mahself."
"No kidding." Spyro said. "You need some help."
"Heck no!" Applejack retorted. "Ah don't need any help! Now if ya excuse me, Ah need to go and meet with Pinkie."
The two of them watched as Applejack hit her head on the same branch, wobbling away from them, making the two of them shake their heads.
"She's as stubborn as a mule." Spyro said, then there was a sound that was like a mule coming from next to her. "No offense."
"None taken." Said an actual mule, confusing Spyro as he wondered where he came from.
"Is there something we can do to stop her?" Twilight asked.
"Only thing to do is to let her learn the lesson the hard way." Spyro replied, but wishing he could help as well. "Let's just hope nothing bad happens."
"It happened." Twilight said, both she and Spyro right in front of the hospital where there was a bunch of very sick ponies throwing up.
"Oh, thank goodness you're both here." A unicorn wearing a nurses hat said. "Your highness, Twilight Sparkle. There has been a mishap with some of the baked goods that were given out as free samples."
"You mean... baked bads!" Pinkie said, throwing up into a bucket.
"Pinkie what happened?" Spyro asked, running towards her. "You're one of the best bakers here in town. There's no way you'd mess up a recipe."
"I... I told Applejack... what to get and... what to do." Pinkie said, clearly trying not to puke. "And... the next thing I knew... everypony who ate them... got sick."
Spike then came walking over with a muffin, to which Pinkie's face turned even greener than it already was and puked. Spyro looked at the muffin and saw he had another one in his other claw.
"Hey Spike, mind if I see that other muffin?" Spyro asked.
"Sure." Spike replied. "Help yourself."
Spyro used his magic to pick it up and took a sniff, trying to figure out its smell, but got nothing from it. He then took a bite, only to taste the most foulest thing ever, finding a nearby trash can and spitting it out, wiping his tongue off and then burning the muffin. He turned to find something to drink, but one of the staff brought over a soda, handing it to him as he eagerly accepted, drinking the contents not caring what the taste was as long as it got rid of the taste of the terrible pastry.
"That's the worst muffin I've ever had!" Spyro exclaimed, drinking the soda again. "We really need to talk to AJ."
"No kidding." Twilight said, seeing a worm pop out of the muffin, disgusting Twilight as Spike ate it. "Because there is no way in Equestria worms are supposed to be baked into muffins."
Twilight and Spyro went back to the orchard to talk with Applejack again, but found her backing a cart full of of apples into a massive bucket, only to fall asleep and be tilted upward, stuck in the air.
"Maybe we should leave her there." Spyro said. "At least she can get some sleep."
A second later, Applejack woke up and saw them, yawning as they approached.
"Spyro, Twilight." She said, yawning. "Ah know what you're gonna say, but the answer is still no."
"Come on AJ, you really need help." Spyro said, walking up to the apple cart. "You're exhausted beyond comprehension, you're loosing strength, and are barely able to stand up straight. You need help."
"And Ah told ya... Ah don't need help." Applejack said, struggling to get back onto her hooves, only to get back on them and go to the next tree, kicking it. "Ah'll prove... this apple... can handle... these apples."
"AJ, you're kicking a dead tree." Twilight said, pointing out that Applejack was kicking a dead tree.
"Ah knew that." Applejack said, walking away.
Both of the ponies were flabbergasted, not believing how stubborn she was. Spyro then walked to the Gummi Garage, followed closely by Twilight as she needed his help to figure out how to convince Applejack that she needed help, only to gasp in amazement at his Gummi Garage, looking at all the futuristic technology and devices in the room. She walked over to the control panel and looked at all the screens and charts, plans and figures, trying to make sense of it all, but failing to even find the right words to express what she's feeling. She wanted to touch something, But Spyro came over and pushed her aside, looking over the charts and the schematics to make sure everything is being built in the proper place.
"We'll try again tomorrow." Spyro said, walking out of the garage with Twilight. "Something tells me she's reaching her breaking point."
"How can you tell?" Twilight asked.
"I saw it through the Force." Spyro replied, making Twilight snicker.
"Good one there, 'Jedi.'" Twilight said. "What, the Force lets you see the future or something?" She then saw the smile on Spyro's face as he walked past her, making her snickering cease as he didn't give an answer, but winked at her. "Wait, for real!? You can see the future!? Through the Force!!"
She then ran after him, pestering him on everything about the Force and about all his other magics, not resting until she got something out of him, even so much as begging to look at some of his books to see the spells in them. The next morning, Spyro got up and went to do his chores as he was confident his ship was done by now, only to not find Applejack in the orchard and no where in sight. He didn't know where she was until he remembered some of the things Applejack was helping her friends with, understanding where she was now, he flew off to Fluttershy to see if he could prevent a possible stampede of baby bunnies.
Upon arrival, it was already too late as the baby bunnies were already on their way to the town, stampeding through everything, devouring gardens, flowers, potted plants, everything they could get their paws on while everyone seemed to be panicking over a group of baby bunnies. Face hoofing himself, he flew down and saw Fluttershy trying to round them up, but not having luck as they didn't listen to her. Seeing Spyro flying down to her, she waved her forelegs and flew up to him.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here." Fluttershy said. "Applejack scared all the little baby bunnies and they won't listen. I need help rounding them up."
"Right, leave this to me." Spyro said, landing on the ground and sitting, crossing his legs and closing his eyes.
Fluttershy was wondering what he was doing, landing next to him when Twilight walked up, just as confused as her friend, when he lifted his forelegs and all the baby bunnies stopped what they were doing, looking to him. They then dropped what they had and hopped up to him, sitting in front of him as he opened his eyes.
"There, that should do it." Spyro said, getting up.
"What did you do?" Twilight asked, getting out her parchment.
"I reached out with the Force." Spyro replied. "When one reaches out to the animals through the Force, they can influence them. Some Jedi use this to move wildlife out of the way or to pacify predatory animals." He then looked to the destroyed gardens and plants, seeing all the passed out ponies on the ground, groaning. "Ok, this is the final straw. I am going to put my hoof down and I am going to make Applejack listen to me!"
Spyro and Twilight ran out of town and towards the farm, determined to put an end to this entire ordeal before anyone else got hurt due to Applejack's help. When they got to the orchard, they both saw Applejack kicking a lone tree up a top of a hill, looking dead tired as she gave some weak kicks to the tree, barely even shaking the apples off of it. When they reached the exhausted farm mare, she was nearly asleep, trying her hardest to stay awake while she kicked the tree.
"Ok AJ, this season is over for you." Spyro said, the both of them walking up to her. "Your applebucking hasn't been just a problem to you. You propelled a Pegasus into the air and nearly gave her a concussion, you practically gave everypony in Ponyville food poisoning, and you terrorized a brand new generation of bouncing baby bunnies. I care not what you say, you need help!
She then kicked the tree, getting the last of the apples off them and smiled, proud of her achievement.
"No Ah don't." Applejack said, pointing to the orchard where every tree in view was bare, no apple whatsoever. "Ah have harvested all the apples off them trees, all on mah own. And just in time for our date."
"Date?" Twilight asked, looking at Spyro.
"Spyro asked me to dinner tomorrow night." Applejack replied, smiling, making Twilight jealous. "And Ah think Ah've earned it for harvesting all the apples alone. How do you like them apples?"
"Pretty nice." Spyro replied. "But how do you like them apples?"
Spyro pointed to his right, revealing she only harvested half of the orchard when she believed she harvested them all. When she saw that there was more apple tres to be harvested, her eye twitched and she mumbled to herself, not believing that there was more trees to buck. The shock ended up being too much for her as she ended up fainting, both from exhaustion and from total shock, but it was mostly from exhaustion. When she regained consciousness, Spyro looked down at her, a serious look in his eyes as he helped Applejack back onto her hooves.
"Glad you're ok AJ." Spyro said. "Now AJ, I know you said you would harvest all the apples on your own, but I'm going to say it again, you need help. You have always been there for everypony else, but maybe it's time you allowed others to be there for you when you need it."
"Yer right Spyro." Applejack said.
"And I am not going to-" He said, ending his sentence when he heard Applejack say he was right. "Wait, say that again?"
"Ya'll are right Spyro." Applejack said. "Ah need help as Ah can;t harvest these apples on Mah own. Spyro, Ah need help."
Nodding his head, he turned to Twilight to ask her to get their friends to help, but she was already on her way to get them, leaving the two of them alone. When Spyro returned his attention to Applejack, she was wobbling and barely able to keep her eyes open, barely fighting to stay awake so she can get to bed.
"Also, Ah need a nap." Applejack said, smiling a weak smile.
"Yes, you do AJ." Spyro said, turning his hoof into a paw and tapping Applejacks forehead, putting her to sleep instantly as he caught her on his back. "Let's get you to bed."
It was getting late and Applejack had just woken up from her Power Nap, feeling refreshed after finally getting some sleep. She got up and went down stairs to see Spyro getting some apple juice onto a cart along with a small chest in the center. he looked to the stairs to see her walking down, looking better than she did this morning.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty." Spyro said jokingly. "How ya feeling?"
"Better than Ah did the last few days." Applejack replied. "What's in the chest?"
"You'll see." Spyro said, pushing the cart out. Applejack followed him outside to see their friends bucking the last of the trees and moving the apples to the barn for storage. When they got out, they saw the cart and came running for some refreshments, pleased to have something to drink after some hard work. "Looks like everything is finished. Looks like it's time for a break."
"You said it Spyro." Rainbow Dash said, drinking the apple juice. "But man, did that work make me hungry."
"And I have the perfect snack." Spike said, pulling up the tray of disgusting muffins.
"Ew, Spike I threw those away." Pinkie said. "Where'd you get them?"
"From the trash." Spike replied, but was shocked when Spyro sent a fireball at the tray, incinerating the muffins, glaring daggers at him. "Oh come on Spyro, those were good."
"Yeah, good for food poisoning." Spyro replied. "Besides, I got something better."
Spyro opened the chest, letting everyone look in to see ice cream int he chest with ice in it to keep them cold. Everyone eyes the frozen treats and immediately grabbed the closest frozen treat to eat it. As soon as they took the first bite, everyone was hooked as they took one after the other, getting their fill of the frozen dairy item.
"Wow, that was so good!" Rainbow Dash said, grabbing another one.
"You said it!" Pinkie said, licking the last of the ice cream off the stick. "It's salty at first, but sweet at the same time! This is the greatest ice cream I have ever tasted!"
"Wow Spyro, did you make this yourself?" Twilight asked, licking her frozen treat. "What's it called?
"Sea-Salt Ice Cream." Spyro replied. "And yes, I did make it myself thanks to a piece of paper we found in the Everfree."
Everyone stopped eating the ice cream and looked at him, stunned that the paper they found was the recipe for the delicious treat they were eating right now. He then pulled out another piece of paper and slid it over to Pinkie, who snatched it up without hesitation to read it, finding it to be the very recipe itself.
"I copied the recipe so Pinkie could use it." Spyro said. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be a smash hit with all of Ponyville. Probably a welcome treat after those muffins put everyone in the emergency room."
Everyone laughed as he said that, lightening the mood as the sun went down. Everyone left at that time to return home while Spyro and Applejack returned to their rooms, but when Applejack got back to her room, she saw the blue box Spyro had with him when they were at Twilight's getting ready to hear what her decision was for the Gala tickets. She walked over and opened it up, finding a beautiful dress inside with pieces of jewelry with red rubies in them. She was shocked at what she saw and found a note with the dress, opening it to see what was written.
"Got you this dress because I saw Twilight wearing one like it and thought it would look great on you. Rarity outdid herself with this one as it might possibly compliment your eyes. I also saw you liked red as you have red hair bands and a red rim on your hat, so I found these in a jewelry store and thought they'd look great on you. Can't wait until tomorrow. You are going to love the Bistro I will be taking you to as it's some of the best food you could ever eat. Get plenty of sleep AJ because I want you at your best for tomorrow night."
Applejack was touched and surprised by Spyro for getting her this dress as she pulled it out and hanged it in front of the mirror, looking at it and then at herself, smiling as she was looking forward to dinner tomorrow.