History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E4ApplebuckSeason

'''Twilight:''' Appleja... caeeah...?\\
'''Applejack:''' Can bees squawk? I don't think so!\\
'''Twilight:''' No, "can we talk?"\\
'''Applejack:''' Twenty stalks? Bean or celery?\\

'''Applejack:''' Ya need to walk to the ''zoo?'' Well, who's stoppin' ya?

'''Big Macintosh:''' [[MemeticMutation Eeyup.]]

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the ColdOpen, Big Macintosh has a perfectly two-sided conversation with Applejack. By Season 2, his blunt delivery of [[BluntYes "eeyup"]] had gone [[MemeticMutation memetic]], to the point that OOCIsSeriousBusiness can be invoked by him saying ''anything'' else.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Spike finds the "baked bads" perfectly edible. He even retrieves them from the trash. By comparison, Pinkie Pie, who has been set up as this in the first two episodes, is left sickened when she tries one and is grossed out to see Spike fishing them out of the trash to eat them.
** This is justified by his Draconian physiology. He swims in lava like it was water and gems are essentially rock candy to him so some horrible muffins aren’t going to cause him any sickness.
* FacePalm: Twilight applies her hoof to her face as Applejack struggles offscreen to tip herself and her cart back over.

''[From Applejack's POV:]''\\

'''Pinkie:''' (''weakly'') No; not baked goods... baked ''bads!''

* ADayInTheLimelight: The only episode in the first season centered on Applejack alone.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Applejack's injuries and discomforts are [[AmusingInjuries played for laughs]].

* {{Fainting}}:
** A few ponies faint during the rabbit stampede. The rabbits simply go around them.
** Applejack faints when Big Macintosh shows her the many apple trees left to harvest.

** The laws of conservation of mass and momentum are not heeded in Applejack's final attempt to launch Rainbow Dash: at best, Dash would have been sent up roughly the same height as Applejack launched herself from, accounting for mass differences. This, of course, assumes that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muVfidujxRg Applejack isn't made of dark matter]].
** In [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Biology]]: [[SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying real-life equines cannot throw up]]. If they ever got to the point where doing so would be beneficial, they could ''die'' because of it.

* IAteWhat: Subverted with Spike who enjoys the "baked bads" Applejack made.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Applejack's [[{{Mondegreen}} misinterpretation]] of Pinkie Pie's basic muffin recipe, with both "cup of sour" and "wheat worms" serving as squick InUniverse.

* ICantHearYou: Applejack's ears are [[ShellShockSilence left ringing after she hits her head on a low-hanging branch]], with unfortunate-yet-hilarious results:
-->'''Twilight:''' Applejack, can we talk?\\

'''Twilight:''' Appleja...caeeah...?\\

* {{Mondegreen}}:

** And earlier, when Twilight asks, "Can we talk?" Applejack misunderstands this as "Can bees squawk?" and "Twenty stalks", followed by mishearing "I need to talk to you!" as "You want to walk to the zoo?".

It's harvest time (a.k.a. "[[TitleDrop Applebuck Season]]") at Sweet Apple Acres. Unfortunately, Big Macintosh has injured his back, leaving Applejack as the only pony available to bring in the harvest. When Big Mac suggests that the job might be more than she can handle, she takes it as a challenge and vows to finish the job by herself... right after she saves the town of Ponyville from a stampede of panicked cattle.

The citizens of Ponyville organize a little celebration in honor of Applejack's heroism, and all the help she's given her friends and neighbors. After a week in the fields, the guest of honor arrives late and is clearly dazed from sleep deprivation and overwork. A concerned Twilight Sparkle offers her help, but Applejack is determined not to break her word and stubbornly refuses.

Twilight is right to be worried. As her friend struggles to keep her commitments ''and'' bring in the apple harvest, things quickly get out of hand. Applejack launches Rainbow Dash into Golden Oak Library when a stunt goes wrong, botches Pinkie Pie's muffin recipe so badly that the baked goods turn into "baked bads" and half the town falls ill from food poisoning, and stampedes Fluttershy's newborn rabbits through the center of Ponyville when the roundup goes awry. Throughout all this, an increasingly frustrated Twilight struggles to convince Applejack that she needs help:

Applejack remains stubborn as ever... up until she thinks she's finished, only for Big Macintosh to show up and point out that she's only harvested half the farm. Physically and mentally exhausted, she collapses. Upon regaining consciousness, Applejack finally unbends enough to ask for help, and the Mane Six pitch in to get all the apples harvested on time.

The citizens of Ponyville organize a little celebration in honor of Applejack's heroism, and all the help she's given her friends and neighbors. After a week of apple-bucking all by her lonesome, however, the guest of honor runs a little late, and is clearly out of it by the time she ''does'' get there. A concerned Twilight Sparkle offers to help but Applejack is determined not to break her word and stubbornly refuses the suggestion that she can't do the job on her own.

Unfortunately, Twilight is right to be worried. As her friend struggles to keep her commitments ''and'' bring in the apple harvest, things quickly get out of hand. It starts with Applejack helping Rainbow Dash with her new stunt-flying routine by operating a catapult. After a number of false starts, she launches Rainbow Dash across town, right onto Twilight's balcony.

Later, Applejack tries to help Pinkie Pie make some muffins over at Sugar Cube Corner, the bakery where Pinkie works. At that point Applejack is half-deaf from kicking trees, seeing double and slowly going insane from sleep deprivation. As a result, she fouls up the recipe so badly that the baked goods turn out to be "baked bads". Thus a fair number of townsfolk come down with food poisoning...with the exception of [[ExtremeOmnivore Spike, who finds them delicious.]]

Finally, Applejack tries to help Fluttershy round up the newborn rabbits for the annual bunny census. Applejack's lack of sleep leaves her short-tempered and irritable and she scares them off in a fit of pique, leaving Ponyville overrun by panicking rabbits. Through all this, an increasingly frustrated Twilight tries to convince Applejack that she needs help:

Applejack remains stubborn as ever... up until she thinks she's finished, only for Big Macintosh to show up and point out that she's only harvested half the trees on the farm. At this point, her body has taken all the abuse it can and she collapses. Upon regaining consciousness, Applejack has finally learned her lesson about not being afraid to ask for help. Indeed she literally begs for her friends' assistance, and all the apples are harvested on time with their help.

** Everyone needs help from time to time, and one shouldn't be too proud to ask for it if the work load is too much.

* YouAreNotAlone: The aesop of the episode is "ask your friends for help."

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: After seeing that she has not finished bucking all the apple trees, [=AJ=] finally cuts her losses and accepts help.

Unfortunately, Twilight is right to be worried. As her friend struggles to keep her commitments ''and'' bring in the apple harvest, things quickly get out of hand. It starts with Applejack helping Rainbow Dash with her new stunt-flying routine by operating a catapult. After a number of false starts, she launches Rainbow Dash across town.