A Rainbow Forms

by TheRainbowDashShow

Chapter 4

Applejack woke up confused as to where she was. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light, the fog in her eyes lifted, permitting her to recognize the surroundings. "Ah musta fell asleep in the barn again" she said aloud groggily. She stepped outside and looked towards the sun's position in the sky to gauge the time. She panicked when she had realized it was much later in the day then she expected.

Applejack located a bucket, grabbed it with her teeth and sprinted to the orchards. Once reaching a long row of apple trees that still carried the shining red fruit, she positioned her hind legs, and delivered a swift and powerful kick to the tree. A loud smack echoed through the orchards frightening away some of the birds in the nearby forest when the pony's strong legs impacted the bark.

As the tremors reverberated through the tree it caused the branches to shake violently. Shortly after the shaking started, the apples detached from the stems that clung to their branches. Satisfied with the result she gathered up the fallen fruits, placed them in the bucket, and moved on to the next tree.

As she worked she began to lose focus and her mind wandered, filling her head with thoughts of Rainbow Dash. A frown formed on her face, her eyes dampened and the corner of her eyes drooped down sadly. Her emotions disheartened her, causing her to work sluggishly. She walked slowly from tree to tree, and her kicks were soft and poorly aimed. Typically only one powerful buck was all that was required from her, but in her current mood, the task was taking three to kicks to shake down all the apples.

"Who could Rainbow Dash have possibly been talking to last night?" she wondered sadly as she continued her work. Applejack started to become angry, "I shouldn't be mad at Rainbow for having these feelings for somepony else."
The anger and jealousy drowned out her sadness and logic completely, "Why couldn't she love me?" She picked up her pace and approached the next tree pounding it with a ferocious kick. A deafening crack shot through the orchard, soon followed by the sound of wood snapping.

Applejack turned around to see she had unintentionally bucked the tree in half, "Ah horseshoes!" she grumbled aloud. "Now ah gotta put up a new tree." She kicked at the dirt, creating a small cloud of dust that hovered towards her snout obscuring her vision. A voice called out, startling Applejack causing her to inhale the dirt that floated near her face.

"Whatcha doing Applejack?" Pinkie Pie called out joyfully as she emerged from the newly made stump. "Is something wrong?
You don't look very Applejacky today. Would cupcakes help? cupcakes make everything better! Oh my gosh, I have an idea, we should go get cupcakes!" she shouted while bouncing up and down, waving her arms around excitedly.

Applejack stilled Pinkie Pie with a hoof while she spoke in a raspy voice as her throat cleared of the dust, "No sugarcube, cupcakes ain't gonna help solve any of mah problems. Now if mah problems were a rumbling stomach, than they might, but that ain't the case. Anyhow, Ah'm fine, Ah appreciate the offer though."

Pinkie Pie gasped, "Cupcakes can't solve your problems? Is that even possible? I can't think of a single problem that I've had that cupcakes couldn't help with." Pinkie Pie said swiftly, the mere notion of cupcakes not being a universal solution baffled her.

Applejack gawked at Pinkie Pie, wondering how a pony could possibly talk that fast, without pausing for breath and not pass out. But that didn't really matter at the moment. Right now she needed to think and that wouldn't be possible with her friend around.

"Anyway… Ah'm fine, Ah promise, ah just got a lot of work to do, so ah'd appreciate it if yah would be on yer way so ah can get back to applebucking" Applejack said with the most truthful sounding tone she could sustain.

Pinkie Pie placed her eye right next to Applejacks and stared into it hard, "Okey-Dokey-Lokey…" she said, bouncing backwards as she did.

"Whew" Applejack sighed.

A large gust of air carrying dirt blew into Applejack's face, "Did you say something?" Pinkie Pie shouted, having returned almost instantly when she heard her friend speak.

"Uh, no ah didn't now go on shoo!" Applejack waved her hooves. The pink pony vanishing again just as quickly as she had appeared, Applejack would love to know how her friend managed to do that.

Applejack returned to work, concentrating hard on any thoughts that weren't of Rainbow Dash. She focused on the next rodeo she would participate in, and who her competition could be this year. Confidence filled her, imagining herself standing on the podium receiving a blue ribbon, everyone cheering at her wildly as she accepted the award. Blushing at her absurd fantasy, she let out a chuckle as she realized how ridiculous she was being.

One last smack rang through the fields, causing the last of the nearby birds to scatter in fear. Applejack gathered up the remaining apples and dropped them in the bucket. Letting out a sigh of relief her work was done for the day she withdrew a handkerchief from her saddlebag and wiped off some of the sweat that covered her face.

Applejack backed up to get a better view of the trees, making sure she hadn't skipped any. Not seeing any apples clinging to the branches. Feeling satisfied with her inspection and the day's work, she dragged the last bucket back to the barn.

A little annoyed she finished her work later than usual due to her oversleeping; she decided to go for a run to let out her aggravation and anger she felt at herself, and a certain rainbow maned pony. Before heading out, Applejack took a quick break to recover some of her strength. She took out an apple from one of the buckets and chewed noisily on an apple. Once she had devoured as much of the fruit as she could, she discarded the core onto the ground beside her, and ran towards the gate of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack spotted a blue Pegasus flying straight towards the farm at a blazing speed. She recognized Rainbow Dash immediately as the pony flew closer, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. She didn't feel she was ready to confront Rainbow after what she had heard last night. Quickly, she ducked beneath the cover of the apple trees to avoid being seen by.

Comments

[Sylthsaber]

She took out an apple from one of the buckets and chewed noisily on an apple.

i think you mean "She took out an apple from one of the buckets and chewed noisily on it."