Applebuck Season

Applebuck Season is the fourth episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, with her big brother Big McIntosh hurt, Applejack volunteers to harvest the apple trees in Ponyville all by herself. Hasbro started packaging a DVD of this episode with certain pony toys in January 2012.

Production and development
Originally, the episode involved "applebumping", with Applejack's loss of acuity resulting from using her head to bump apples off trees. The concept was dropped and replaced with "applebucking" (kicking the trunk of apple trees to knock the apples off the trees).

The most dependable of ponies
The episode begins in Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack points out how much work she has, seeing all the apples in the orchard. With Big McIntosh injured, she decides to add her brother's workload to her own. Despite his warning that it would be a huge task for just one pony, she vows that she can take care of it by herself.

"How many times do I gotta say it!? I don't need NO help from NO pony!"

- Applejack

The scene cuts and fades in to Applejack readying to buck the apple trees. Just then, she hears a cattle stampede heading towards Ponyville. She is able to drive the cows away from the town with the help of her dog, Winona, just before the cows charge into the streets. Impressed by the farm pony's loyalty and reliability, the ponies throw a ceremonial party in her honor. Twilight Sparkle tries to give a speech, while being constantly interrupted by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, who excitedly extoll Applejack's good qualities and express happiness at being able to work with her in the near future. Exasperated, Twilight gives up on finishing her speech when the mayor steps up to deliver a little speech of her own. The curtain is drawn, but Applejack is nowhere to be found. When Applejack finally trots down the aisle, laden with two full baskets of apples, she has bags under her eyes and is easily distracted by her reflection in the shiny trophy intended for herself. A concerned Twilight finds Applejack and learns that Applebuck Season is when the apples must be harvested. Also, Applejack's large family only stayed for the family reunion (in the first episode) and are elsewhere in Equestria dealing with their own orchards. Twilight offers to help, but Applejack stubbornly refuses.

Swing and miss
Having earlier promised to help out some of her friends, an exhausted Applejack ends up hindering them more than anything. When she tries to help catapult Rainbow Dash so the latter can perform aerial tricks, she is unable to focus and ends up hurting herself by repeatedly missing her side of the launcher. Dash wonders in annoyance if Applejack is really Ponyville's best athlete. Applejack succeeds in one last attempt, but the unprepared Pegasus is sent flying onto Twilight's balcony. Twilight guesses that Applejack is involved and returns to Sweet Apple Acres to offer help. Applejack has difficulty hearing after hitting her head, but still declines.

"Baked bads"
Later, Applejack helps Pinkie Pie with baking muffins at Sugarcube Corner while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are away. Her fatigue causes her to misunderstand her friend's instructions, substituting potato chips for chocolate chips, regular soda for baking soda, a cup of sour lemon juice for a cup of flour, and earthworms for wheat germ. After they're done, Pinkie Pie offers the muffins to a crowd of ponies, one of whom is Derpy. Her mouth moves along with the line "Muffins!", which would make it her first line on the show, although Minuette's and Sea Swirl's mouth movements also match the line. The scene wipes into a sick-tent where many ponies are lying sick from eating the baked goods, which Pinkie Pie calls "baked bads". Spike, however, gleefully eats the discarded muffins, even one with a live worm wriggling in it.

Continuing her apple harvest later, AJ once more is offered help from Twilight, and once more she refuses. Twilight tries to reason with her and says, "Not to upset your apple cart, but you need help." Twilight expresses her annoyance of her friend being "stubborn as a mule", but apologizes to a nearby mule.

Bunny census
Twilight's offers for assistance has frustrated the farm pony as she heads off to finish her final task before finishing bucking the apples back at the farm. During her third promised task, helping Fluttershy with rounding up a group of baby rabbits during the "bunny census". However, Applejack's current aggravated attitude does not come well, leading to her treating the bunnies like the cattle she herded earlier. The herd panics and stampedes into Ponyville where they eat most of the town's plants, ruining some gardens and making Fluttershy's task harder to finish. Twilight sees all this happening and decides to confront Applejack once and for all.

Confronting Applejack
Twilight arrives at the orchard and tells Applejack that her stubbornness caused as much problems with her friends as with her, and that she really needs help. Applejack thinks that she's finally finished, but Big McIntosh arrives to point out that she only gathered half of the harvest after this whole time. After fainting from shock and exhaustion, she wakes up to hear Twilight appreciate how reliable she normally is, but that she should set her pride aside. No longer in any condition to continue, Applejack finally gives in and accepts, or rather, begs for the help of her friends. Twilight's magical abilities and her friends' hard work make the harvesting go much quicker, and Applejack treats them to apple juice. She thanks them all for their help and apologizes for causing them so much trouble from her stubborn streak. Twilight realizes that it is just as okay to accept help from friends as it is to give help. Spike comes by in the end to offer the bad muffins he found in the garbage, which the ponies refuse to try, or even touch, and they leave in disgust.

Quotes

 * Applejack: "Are you sayin' my mouth is makin' promises my legs can't keep?"
 * Big McIntosh: "Eeyup."
 * Applejack: "Why of all the... This is your sister Applejack, remember? The loyalest of friends and the most dependable of ponies?"
 * Big McIntosh: "But still only one pony, and one pony plus hundreds o' apple trees just doesn't add up to..."
 * Applejack: "Don't you use your fancy mathematics to muddle the issue!"


 * Rainbow Dash: "Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete. This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome."


 * Twilight Sparkle: "Now, if I can just make a point without being inter--
 * Fluttershy: Twilight?"
 * Twilight Sparkle: "...--rupted!"


 * Twilight Sparkle: "Anyone else? Anyone? No? Well then, as I was trying to say... UGH! Never mind!"


 * Rainbow Dash: "Applejack, what the 'hay' is going on? I mean, I thought I was working with "Ponyville's best athlete"."


 * Applejack: "Heh heh... Here I go!"
 * Rainbow Dash: "Wait, Applejaaaaack!"
 * Applejack: "You're welcome!"


 * Twilight Sparkle: "Oh no! What happened?"
 * Nurse Redheart: "It was a mishap with some of the baked goods."
 * Pinkie Pie : "No... not baked goods. baked... bads..."


 * Twilight Sparkle: "AJ, I think you're beating a dead... tree."
 * Applejack: "I knew that."


 * Twilight Sparkle: "Ugh. That pony is as stubborn as a mule. No offense...
 * Mule: None taken."


 * Rose: "The horror, the horror."
 * Lily: "It was awful."
 * Daisy: "A disaster. A horrible, horrible disaster."


 * Twilight Sparkle: "All right, Applejack. Your apple-bucking hasn't just caused you problems. It's over-propelled Pegasus, practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand-new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say, you need help!"


 * Applejack: "I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help. How do you like them apples?"
 * Big McIntosh: "Um... How do you like them apples?"

Gallery

 * Applebuck Season image gallery