Overdrive

by Crimson Mist

Chapter 4

It was the final period of the first Friday of the school year, and the hands of the clock were moving agonizingly slowly. I tried to concentrate on reading my dull History textbook, but my mind had other ideas. Operation Applejack would be entering phase two over the weekend, and I was anticipating it with every second that ticked by.

Suddenly, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to look at the kid in the desk behind me. He waved a piece of folded up paper in front of my face. “It’s from them.”

Leaning out of my desk, I glanced over to see Lightning Dust and a group of her new friends at the back of the classroom, all looking at me and giggling maliciously. I scowled at them as I opened the paper. [Got a partner yet?] It read.

“Working on it,” I mouthed to her.

“I’m one step ahead of you already, RD,” she mouthed back. “You might as well just give up.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll never quit!” I said, a little too loudly.

“Quiet down, Rainbow Dash,” the teacher reminded me.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

The weekend rolled in without any other talk of the volleyball thing. I was glad to be away from school and Lightning Dust for a few days. Even if she was only in one of my classes, it made things a lot worse than they had to be. Besides, I didn’t have any classes with Applejack, and that just downright sucked.

Saturday morning was the only time that both of my parents were home, so my mom cooked a decent pancake breakfast before heading off to work for the afternoon. My dad had a little longer, since he wasn’t due in a meeting until 2:00.

“Uh oh, looks like we’re out of fresh fruit,” Dad said as he closed the fridge. “Too bad. I was planning on bringing one of your mother’s lovely fruit salads to a luncheon tomorrow.”

“That sucks,” I commiserated.

“Do you think you can stop by that new supermarket and grab a couple apples or something?”

I thought for a moment before a sudden, brilliant idea dawned on me. “I could always go to, say, a nice organic farm or something instead. I heard that there’s a good one around here that sells apples.”

Dad looked surprised. “Wow, Rainbow. I never thought you were the type to worry about organic produce.”

“Yeah, well, I’m an athlete. I have to stay in top form. Anyways, do you think you could drop me off there on the way to work?”

“Alrighty, then. I suppose that organic apples will impress my boss, too. I think that there’s that Sweet Apple Acres place down the road a little ways. Do you want to stop there?”

“Is that the only farm around?”

“As far as I’m aware, yes.”

“Then that has to be the place!” I cried out triumphantly.

“Uh... okay, then,” Dad said, sounding totally confused by the outburst. “We’ll leave in an hour or so. Is that okay for you, Miss Apple Expert?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t make me wait too long,” I said, yawning.

True to his words, my dad was ready to go within an hour. We piled into our SUV and drove down into the rural area of Ponyville. I rolled down the windows, the last of the warm summer air rushing through the car.

“Look! There it is!” I said, pointing to a driveway that had a sign hanging over with a large apple on it.

“Good eyes,” Dad said approvingly as he turned onto the bumpy road.

Within mere minutes, I caught sight of a big red barn and a few other smaller buildings next to it. Apple trees were everywhere all over the property as well as covering the surrounding fields.

{Wow}, I thought. {This is one serious apple farm. Shut up. Her name’s APPLE jack, isn’t it?}

Getting out of the car, I waved goodbye to my dad as he drove off. Pushing open the gate to the main building, a nice, large house that was typical for a farm, I looked around to see if anyone was nearby. The apple stand in front of the house was temporarily abandoned, even though the “open” sign still flashed.

“Hello? Anyone home?” I called out.

A young, pink-haired girl with a large bow in her hair stuck her head out the door. “Howdy, miss. Anythin’ we can do fer ya today? The Apple family has the best apples in the whole world!” she announced.

“Yeah, I’d like to buy some of your apples,” I told her. She grinned at me and hopped over to the apple stand. Gesturing to a row of neatly labeled buckets, all filled with different varieties of the fruit, she asked, “So, what kind do ya want?”

“Well...” I took a closer look.

“We have Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Spartan, Macintosh, Pink Ladies, Granny Smith, Braeburn, basically, if it’s an apple, we have it!”

“I’ll take a dozen of those red apples, please,” I said. The little girl nodded and handed me a bag, letting me select the ones I liked.

“Thank ya kindly very much,” she said as I paid for them.

“So, where’s Applejack?” I asked.

The little girl looked confused. “Mah sister? She’s workin’ in the fields harvestin’ apples right now.”

“Oh. Can I talk to her for a minute?”

“Sure, Ah guess. This way.” The little girl led me through another gate and down into one of the apple groves. I spotted Applejack and a tall, rather muscular guy with ginger hair picking apples off the trees.

“Hi, Applejack!” I called out, waving. She waved back and dropped the basket she was holding to come greet me.

“Howdy, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “Ah never expected tah see y’all ‘round here today.”

I shrugged casually. “Well, I was out of fresh fruit, so instead of going to that new superstore in downtown Ponyville, I came here hoping to talk to you as well as buy some apples.”

Applejack’s expression darkened at the mention of the new supermarket. “Those darn no-good big business Flim Flam fakers! Y’all made the right decision tah come here instead.” Then she brightened up. “Ah’m glad tah have yer business. We could really use the profits fer when winter comes.”

“Well, that’s what friends do, right? They support each other,” I said, causing Applejack to smile.

“Ah’m honestly lucky, then, tah have such a loyal friend.”

We were silent for a moment. Then, finally, she said, “Hey, RD. Have ya met the rest o’ mah family yet?”

I shook my head. “No, not officially, but I did talk to your grandma on the phone and buy apples from your sister.”

“Well, then, Ah’ll jus’ hafta introduce y’all. This is mah sister, Apple Bloom, mah brother, Big Macintosh, an’ Granny Smith is still inside the house. Oh, an’ this is Winona, mah dog. Everyone else, this is mah friend from school, Rainbow Dash.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” I said, shaking hands with Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom before petting Winona on the head.

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac.

Applejack laughed. “He’s sorta shy. He doesn’t really talk much, that’s fer sure.”

“Nope,” her brother confirmed.

“Anyways, Ah hafta get back tah work, now. Apples don’t pluck themselves from trees, well, not the good ‘uns, anyways. You can stay if ya like, Rainbow Dash. Ah wouldn’t mind havin’ some company while Ah work,” Applejack said.

“Sure,” I agreed. I still had to talk to her about the volleyball thing, and besides, I didn’t have anything to do today, anyways.

She picked up a large basket and we headed over to a different field. Setting up by one of the apple trees, I was surprised by her diligence as she shook a few of the apples off the branches with a large amount of force.

“So, about the whole volleyball thing...” I started. “Have you made up your mind yet?”

Applejack stopped and let out a sigh. “Ah tried, Rainbow. Ah really did. But winter will be here in a few months, an’ there’s still plenty of work tah be done. Plus there’s that fancy-shmancy new Flim Flam supermarket that specializes in producin’ a lot o’ food in a very short time. With their business lastin’ through the winter, if we don’t have enough food tah keep our sales afloat, we could be in some serious trouble.”

My heart sank as I took in what she was saying. “So... you can’t play?”

“That’s not what Ah said. Granny Smith sure ain’t too keen on the idea, but Ah think that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ah want to play, Ah’m jus’ doubtful ‘bout whether Ah’ll get to or not.”

“It’s okay. If it’s too much, I’ll just find someone else.” I couldn’t help but sound immensely disappointed.

“Ah’m sorry, RD. Ah really, truly, honestly am.” Applejack bit her lip. She looked as sincere as she sounded.

“Heh heh, don’t worry about it,” I told her, pretending to laugh in order to disguise my hurt. “I’ll be fine without you. Heck, there are lots of people who can play volleyball at our school. I don’t need to rely on one person.”

I checked my watch. If I walked home now, I could probably make it back before dinner. “I should probably go now. My mom will freak out if she gets home and I’m not there.”

“Okay, then. Ah hope you enjoy yer apples,” Applejack said, sounding strangely unenthusiastic.

“I will,” I promised. “I’ll catch you later, I guess.”

“Yeah, later.” The farm girl went back to picking apples, though this time with much less energy than before.

I let my shoulders sag as I began my walk home, thinking about the conversation Applejack and I had just had. Sure, it was true what I said about there being lots of other people who could easily become my volleyball partner, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I wanted Applejack. There was something, buried deep inside me that wouldn’t accept anyone else but her. I couldn’t explain it, and I didn’t think I ever would be able to, but it was there, and it certainly wouldn’t leave me alone.

Author's Note:

Don't be fooled by this chapter, I actually really like Lightning Dust. But I needed a good antagonist, and she definitely fits the bill. I'll try to continue with this story more than I have been since I have so many ideas for it... Mwahahaha!!! (insert crazy Pinkie face) *Clears throat* Ahem. Anyways, enjoy. Or don't. It's up to you, after all.

Comments

[nullaccount]

I like Lightning Dust too :3 I love all the antagonists... Except for the Flim Flam brothers. God, they're so annoying.

Dakdkavkrbakrbakrbe I need to know what happens wih Dashie now!

[Lammen_Gorthaur]

Everytime you update I breath in relief, I really enjoy how this story is going. I was surprised by the way you described the Apple siblings hair color though, shouldn't Apple Bloom be red and Mac blonde?
I hope to see more interaction between these two in the next chapter, and hopefully to see all the Main 6 reunited at some point.
Great work so far.

[Princess Cassandra]

When are you posting a new chapter? I love this story