Chapter 2: Muchas Gracias
“Again?! Rainbow Dash! How many times have I told you to get back to work? You’re a slacker, Dash!”
Rainbow had fallen asleep in the middle of work yet again.
—“Sorry Cloudkicker. It’s just that I haven’t slept very well.”
—“Well, that’s no excuse. You know this day is supposed to be the day we start preparing ourselves for the Summer Sun Celebration!”
—“Yeah, I know. Last time that happens Cloudkicker.”
—“Well, I hope so” —said Cloudkicker with a worried look on her face and a stressed tone in her voice.
Rainbow Dash returned to moving clouds and grabbed a hoof-full of cloud as she sprayed water over herself. This was the fifth time she was scolded for sleeping, her dream obviously getting the better of her.
The cold water dripped from her face and she grabbed another hoof of cloud to drink a bit. Now that she was awake, she set to move the clouds over Ponyville for the rain season. The Summer Sun Celebration was not to be celebrated until about a month later, but there needed to be about three weeks of rain to irrigate the plants to ensure they were green by the time Princess Celestia came. After that, there was just a sunny week until the rains resumed. While trying to stay awake, Rainbow Dash moved the clouds around Ponyville until she and the rest of the weather team managed to block out the sun.
Tired, Rainbow lied down on a small puff and watched on the town below her.
___
Noon began to set in and the sky seemed blacker than ever. Even if there was still technically a bit of sunlight, the thickness of the clouds made what few rays of sun remained not pass through them. Applejack was tending the orchard as usual. The bags on her eyelids heavier than ever. She then heard an echo and turned around.
“Huh?” She said with a hint of a yawn in her voice.
Applebloom approached her with worried eyes.
—“Applejack!”
—“Nothin’ yet?”
— “Nope. An’ we done searchin’ everywhere!”
—“Geez. This is sure heavy. Ah’d help you out if ah wasn’t so back with mah duties.”
Applebloom sighed with defeated eyes.
“Don’t be sore sugracube. Ah’m sure she’s alright. ‘sides, if she went somewhere, someone would bring her back. Unless that is she went ta the Everfree Forest. An’ she knows better than anyone not ta go in there. She’s not stupid.”
—“Ah know. Ah just hope she gets back.”
—“Me too. Now, go get yer stuff and head home. It’s pretty far from here an’ you need ta make yer homework.”
—“Okay big sis.”
Applebloom turned around and headed back to the house. Since the past three days, Winona had been missing and had the whole of the Apple Family —that is, Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith and Big McIntosh— worried for her. They knew she’d return, since she knew the way back and had an excellent sense of smell, but that didn’t stop the ponies for searching.
Applejack was frustrated she couldn’t do anything but buck apples. In merrier circumstances she’d enjoy the days in the orchard, but it wasn’t the same without her pet partner around her. Aside from the occasional visit from her friends and Rainbow crashing into the orchard every now and then, Winona was the only company she really had. Applebloom and Big Mac were always there for her in the house, but when Applejack stepped out into the fields, Winona was the one who stood by her side and it saddened her that she was lost. That didn’t keep her head down, as she hoped the dog’s great sense of orientation brought her back home.
“Hey Applejack!”
A voice called out for her from the skies.
—“Rainbow!”
—“Hi” —said the rainbow-maned Pegasus—. “Just droppin’ by to say hello.”
—“That’s quite neighborly of ya sugarcube, but ah’m afraid ah got a lot of work ta be done” —said the orange earth pony with a hint of exhaustion in her voice.
—“Oh?”
—“Yeah. Ah got a lil’ back on mah duties at the farm, so ah gotta make up for it.”
—“How much?” —asked the cyan pegasus.
—“Um… Three weeks?” came the farmer’s embarrassed response.
—“Three weeks! What the hay were you doing!?” Asked Rainbow.
—“Ah haven’t slept very well.”
—“That’s funny.”
—“An’ why is that?”
—“Well, I could explain it to you, but I’ll just be a burden, and I don’t want to be the reason you need to keep working extra time. As soon as you have a spare time or when you finish this mess, then we can hang out again.”
—“Thank ya kindly Rainbow. Yer not mah best friend fer nothin’.”
Rainbow just smiled and tilted her head a bit.
—“Hey, it’s no biggie. You look really tired, but I understand if you’re really busy.”
—“Thanks Rainbow. Listen, normally mah day would’ve ended like three hours ago, but because of mah delay ah gotta work extra time.”
—“Thanks for the heads up” —came the pegasus’s snarky answer. “It’s not like you already said that a couple of seconds ago.”
—“Real funny, Rainbow. Anyway, what ah’m tryin’ ta say is that I get ta work for two more hours here, so come back by 8 o’clock an’ we can talk a bit.”
—“No prob. I’ll be there.”
—“Great, see ya near the barn.”
—“OK! Well, I better leave you before you get scolded.”
—“Bye then, Dash.”
With those last words, Rainbow flew away leaving her trademark rainbow streak behind her. Even in this darkness Applejack could still see the light spectrum left by her best friend. She turned her gaze and got to bucking. With a new goal in her mind (be still alive by 8 o’clock), she determined herself to buck as many apples as she could. She knew time could fly by when she was focused in her work.