I know we've had this day marked on the calendar
for quite a while, but it's finally here.
Eeyup.
Sure is.
What?
The Confluence.
A harvest a hundred moons in the makin'.
When every apple comes ripe at the same time.
Big Mac's been up late workin' on this schedule
so we can be sure not to miss a single tree.
All it'll take now is a few days o' hard work.
Who's with me?
That looks like a lot of work.
Aw, don't you worry, chick-a-bidee.
We got this Confluence under control.
I got us some help.
That's great, Granny!
Twilight and the others are too busy at the school to lend a hoof.
We could sure use some more muscle.
Who'd you get?
Braeburn?
Honeycrisp?
Even better.
Howdy, y'all!
Now, that's how you wake a pony up.
Goldie Delicious!
Granny told me y'all could use a helpin' hoof
with this here Confluence, so I came a-runnin'.
Well, with a harvest this big,
we're grateful for all the help we can get.
I guess.
Eeyup.
It's too bad y'all ain't ever caught the Great Seedling.
He'd have granted you a perpetual harvest, Confluence or no.
The Great Seedlin'?
Well now.
I haven't thought about that old mare's tale for years.
The Great Seedlin' ain't no mare's tale!
He's a magical Earth spirit...
All the colors of the harvest that travels
from farm to farm daring ponies to catch him.
And those that have the ingenuity are rewarded
with crops that are always in bloom.
And he's as real as you and me!
As I'm up to recall, Apple Bloom used to love settin' traps
for the Great Seedlin' when she was a young'un.
Well, I'm pretty sure she's outgrown the whole thing by now.
Right, Apple Bloom?
Or maybe I'm big enough now to finally catch him!
Who's with me?!
Apple Bloom, you haven't hunted
for the Great Seedlin' since you were little.
Why would you want to start again now?
The Confluence is so big!
He's bound to show up!
And if we catch him, he'll make all the apples ripe all the time!
Right, Goldie?
That's right, young filly.
Just imagine.
Sweet Apple Acres would be the busiest orchard in Equestria!
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do!
Don't forget we have actual work to do, too!
Nothin' like a little filly enjoyin' the harvest.
I don't mind Apple Bloom havin' fun.
But there's honest-to-goodness work to do
that doesn't have a thing to do with an old legend.
Aw, quit worryin', sugar booger.
Apple Bloom can hunt for the Seedlin' all she wants.
If you're so fret-a-fied about work,
why don't you and your brother get to buckin' your own selves?
Granny's right.
Come on, sleepyhead.
Let's get to work.
Eeyup...
...and if you had two o' them,
it would've been a "pair o' pears"!
As much as I appreciate her volunteerin',
I'm not sure how much help Goldie's gonna be.
Oh, now, that reminds me of the time Dottie – that's my cheetah,
you understand – she found out where I keep the catnip.
I love hearin' her and Granny spinnin' yarns,
but it looks like the harvestin's up to us.
You're gonna have to redo that schedule.
Eeyup.
And as much as I'd rather Apple Bloom were helpin',
I guess there's no harm in her huntin' the Great Seedlin' for a day.
Right?
Big Mac!
Gotcha!
You ain't the Great Seedlin'.
Nope.
We fell behind a bit yesterday, so we need everypony at their best.
If that's your brother's best, we might be done for.
He was just up late workin' out
a new schedule so we can stay on track.
I didn't sleep either!
I was too excited!
I can't wait to see if I caught the Great Seedlin'!
I hope you're ready to cheer Apple Bloom up
when her traps come up empty.
Everypony!
Come quick!
You got to see!
What in blazes is all the excitement about?
Look!
The Great Seedlin' did this!
Didn't he?!
Well, braid my mane!
These sure look like Great Seedlin' tracks to me!
I knew it!
He was here!
The Great Seedlin' was here!
Ain't that amazin', Applejack?!
Yeah...
Amazin'...
Isn't it beautiful?
I just can't believe the Great Seedlin' was really here!
Neither can I.
What do you think this means?
Well, it looks to me like a challenge.
The Seedling wants you to know that he was here,
and he's daring you to catch him.
You think I still have a chance?
You're an Apple, ain't ya?
Why, if you set enough traps, you're bound to catch him.
You're right!
And that's just what I'm gonna do!
Look out, Great Seedlin'!
Here I come!
Now, why would you go and do a thing like that?
A thing like what?
You know what I mean.
We got enough work to do without you distractin' Apple Bloom
by makin' some apple tracks and pretendin' the Great Seedlin' did it.
I did no such thing!
What in the tater tarnation would make you say a thing like that?!
Well, somepony did it.
And she sure seems to be enjoyin' this quite a lot.
I'm enjoyin' it because Apple Bloom's enjoyin' it!
And I suppose you two didn't do it either?
Nnnope.
O' course not.
But I suppose it could've been Goldie's cats!
Why don't you ask them?
Have you considered that maybe
it was the Great Seedlin' after all?
Very funny.
I swear, sometimes I think she's part mule.
Apple Bloom?
You know where there's more rope?
I've got a lot of traps to make if I'm gonna catch the Great Seedlin'.
That's what I wanted to talk to you about.
I know you're excited, but we sure could use your help today.
Are you sure you want to spend time tryin' to catch somethin' that...
might not even be real?
What?
But the Great Seedlin' is real.
You saw the tracks.
You think those appeared all by themselves?
I don't know who made the tracks.
But I don't think it was the Great Seedlin'.
Why not?
Because the Great Seedlin' is just somethin'
to make the harvest fun for young'uns.
And you're old enough now to know that there's a time
for fun and there's a time for work.
But catchin' the Great Seedlin' is helpin'!
He can make the trees blossom all the time!
All right.
How about this?
If you help me with the harvest today,
I'll help you set traps for the Great Seedlin' tonight.
Deal?
Yes!
It's a deal!
Kinda looks like those Seedlin' tracks, huh?
Sure.
If there were hundreds of apples in a bunch of different lines.
Well, if enough apples fell or got knocked down by the wind maybe.
Or animals.
I'm just sayin' there's a lot of possible explanations.
And one o' them is the Great Seedlin'!
And the rest of 'em ain't!
That ain't what you thought when you was a foal.
What does that mean?
Your sister was plumb loco about catchin'
the Great Seedlin' when she was your age.
Same as you are now.
Worse, even.
Oh, is that so?
Do tell, Granny?
Well, it must've been the last Conflu-inky, I reckon.
I was supposed to keep an eye on your sister, but...
...she was slipperier than an apple seed.
Applejack!
Get your flank back here!
You're supposed to be sortin' in the barn!
Sorry, Granny!
I got to check my traps, or the Great Seedlin' might get away!
Now, where'd I put that trap?
Bust my buds.
Where's that young'un get to?
She spent the better half of the day stuck in that trap!
And missed out on helpin' with the harvest
because I was chasin' somethin' for little foals.
I felt guilty everypony else had to work harder because of me.
So I decided right then and there I was too old
to waste any more time on Great Seedlin'.
Oh, we finished the harvest just fine.
But we laughed about that story for years!
I'm still laughin'!
I'm sorry that happened, Applejack,
but it won't if you and me set traps together like you promised.
Plus, we'll get 'em done twice as fast
and won't miss out on any of the harvest!
Then let's get to work.
It sure was fun settin' up all those traps together.
I forgot what a good time it could be.
If any two ponies can catch the Great Seedlin', it's us.
I can't wait to check in the mornin'.
Now, there's still plenty of harvestin' to do.
So promise me you'll help, even if all our traps are empty.
I promise.
So long as you're ready for the bountiful harvest the Great Seedlin's
gonna give us when one of our traps nab him!
Deal.
Come on, Applejack!
If we hurry, we can check every trap and still stay on schedule!
Now that's what I like to hea—
I don't believe it!
This must've taken all night.
Eeyup.
Nothin'!
Huh?
I checked all the traps near the tracks!
Every one was sprung, but they're all empty!
Every trap sprung?
No way critters did this.
Or the wind.
I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but...
maybe the Great Seedlin' really was here!
So, you're finally ready to admit
the Great Seedling might be real?
I can't think of anything else that could've laid out
these tracks and sprung all our traps.
And if he left this many tracks behind,
he's practically beggin' us to catch him!
I ain't never seen anything like this before.
Well, tell us what you have seen!
Goldie, you too!
We need to know it all if we're really gonna catch him!
Sure, Goldie and I'll tell you all about the Great Seedling all day.
While we work.
Work?
Apple Bloom and I don't have time to work today!
We've got to set up traps in every row!
Even the carrots!
Just to be sure!
Yesterday you said the Great Seedlin'
was just somethin' to make the harvest fun for young'uns.
That was before I thought we could actually catch him!
Besides...
...Big Mac can make time in the schedule for us to set traps, right?
Uh...
eeyup?
Great!
Get to it!
Apple Bloom and I are gonna capture us the Great Seedlin'!
All right!
Just one more hill to go!
What's wrong, Big Mac?
Is this right?
Eeyup.
But that doesn't make any sense.
How can all these trees be bare if we haven't bucked 'em yet?
Seems like more work of the Great Seedlin' to me.
How do you mean?
The closer you get to catchin' the critter,
the more mischievous he gets.
You're sayin' the Great Seedlin' is takin' our apples?
Yes.
Sounds like he's fixin' to throw you off the scent.
Have you ever heard of anypony actually catchin' him?
Oh, there are stories.
But it's hard to say for sure.
He's quite a trickster.
Guess that's why the reward is so great if you can trap him.
Well, his tricks have given me an idea.
Settin' traps is one thing.
But I reckon if we keep watch over
the trees that haven't been bucked,
the Seedlin' won't know what hit him!
That's a great idea!
Anypony else want to stay up with us?
Ah, no.
A pony like me needs her beauty rest.
But you young'uns have a good time.
My kitties can't sleep
unless they're curled up on my haunches.
But I can't wait to see the Great Seedlin'
with my own eyes once you catch him.
Guess it's just you and me.
Too bad nopony else wanted to come out.
But I'm glad we're doin' this together.
Me, too.
It's been a long time since I was on a real Seedlin' hunt.
And this is the first time doin' it with my little sister.
When did you start tryin' to catch the Great Seedlin'?
I couldn't have been much more than a foal.
I remember our parents tuckin' Big Mac and me
in and tellin' us all about the Great Seedlin'.
And I got so excited, I could barely sleep.
So I—
Don't you worry, sugarcube.
I won't let him get away.
Applejack, wake up!
W-What is it?
I think a trap went off!
Well, let's go check it out!
See anything?
Don't scare him off.
We got to lead him into one of the traps.
I'm not worried about scarin' him.
I think the Great Seedlin's huntin' us!
Apple Bloom!
Wait!
Applejack!
Big Mac?!
He's been harvestin' in his sleep this whole time!
Big Mac is the Great Seedlin'?!
Y-You okay, Big Mac?
Nnnope.
...And thanks to all of Big Mac's late-night work,
we brought in the whole harvest with time to spare.
No wonder you were so tired all the time.
Eeyup.
I'm glad we solved the mystery,
but I really wanted to catch the Great Seedlin'
before I get too old to try.
You know what, sugarcube?
You're never too old to be a filly.
There will always be work to do, but havin' fun together
is somethin' you never grow out of.
Well, looks like you don't need me anymore.
Time to get home before Dottie gets in the catnip again.
I have stories about that, I'll tell you what.
We're real glad you came, Goldie.
Sure are!
Come back next year!
Looks like you forgot to clean up the carrots.
Big Mac wasn't harvestin' the carrots.
Just the apples.
You know what this means?
Time for another hunt!
Look out, Great Seedlin'!
Here we come!
Subtitles: MLPSubtitles
http://mlpsubtitles.org/
Transcript: OmegaBowser
Sync: OmegaBowser