The Wonders of a Rainbow

Chapter 4: Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Four?...Oh Wait, I Did

“Hey, honey.” You hear a very familiar voice.

“Mom? Is that you?” You say as you try to make out the figure in the distance.

“Don’t worry baby. Everything is going to be okay,” she says as she starts fading towards the light.

“Mom, where are you going? Don’t leave me! I want to go with you. I…I…I love you,” you say frantically.

“I love you,” her voice becoming distant.

“Mom!”

You jump up. Your heart pounding against your chest. You look around to see that you’re still in the same bedroom that Fluttershy showed you last night. “It was just a dream, but yet it felt so real,” you say to yourself. You look at the time, which read 4:00 AM. You lie awake for a few minutes trying to gather your thoughts. You figure it’s best to get back to sleep if you’re ever going to wake up in the morning. You try going back to sleep, but it’s hard when you have something so mesmerizing going through the the brain. You finally rest your eyes.

Then, what seem to be the next minute was actually a couple of hours, you hear a slight knock on the door. When you return with nothing in response wanting to get some more sleep, you hear the door creek open. Then you hear a quiet voice, “Uhm, Loman, it’s time to get up. We got a big day today.”

“Mmmm…” You mutter something incoherently.

“John, you want to make a good impression on Applejack, right?” Fluttershy says.

“But I don’t wanna go to work. I want to stay home and bake cookies with you,” you say still half asleep. She starts to pull the covers off and that’s when you say, “Hey! Hey! Hey! I’m up.! I’m up!” Slightly embarrassed because you normally sleep with only your underwear on.

“I made breakfast and after breakfast, I figured we could feed the chickens. Then, go to Applejack’s,” says Fluttershy.

“Sounds good. Now, can I have the room to myself so I can get dress,” you say with a raised voice.

“Oops, yeah, sorry,” says Fluttershy who then turns to walk out.

“Is it me, or is she like mothering me?” You say to yourself.

You get dressed and then head down to the breakfast nook. Fluttershy is there with pancakes and eggs. The delightful smell reminds you of grandma’s house when she would fix you breakfast in the mornings. You take a seat and Fluttershy sits the plate of pancakes and eggs down. You thank her for the meal. She sits down with you as you begin to eat. She keeps staring at you with her big blue-green eyes. “What?”

“Oh, I don’t mean to stare. I just think how fascinating it is to finally meet what my parents told me was all a myth,” says Fluttershy.

“Same here. I mean, I always thought that unicorns and pegasi were not only a myth, but also they couldn’t speak,” you say.

“Huh, so your parents told you about us as mythical creatures as well?” Says Fluttershy.

“Well, mostly in books. My parents would never talk about them. Mythology is not their cup of tea,” you reply.

“Oh, why is that?” She asks.

“Oh, I don’t know,” you lie not really wanting to get into your parent’s religious ways.

You polish off your breakfast and Fluttershy picks up your dishes. You thank her for the meal and she shows you to the hen house. “You have to feed them corn twice a day. When you run out, just let me know. Okay?”

“Alright.” You finish up feeding the chickens and when you’re done, you go with Fluttershy over to Applejack’s farm.

The farm is full of apple trees with ripe red apples looking ready to be picked. You smell the delicious warm apple pie being cooled off on the window sill. You see an elder green pony with a white mane sitting on the front porch. “This is Granny Smith, she runs the farm,” says Fluttershy.

“Nice to meet ya,” says Granny.

“Nice to meet you, too. Name’s John,” you say as you gesture for a handshake.

Three other ponies walk up to you as you talk with Granny Smith. One is orange with light yellow mane, another is smaller orange with red mane, and the other is a massive tall red pony with orange mane. “This here is Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac,” she points to them respectively, “They’ll show ya around the farm and help ya out while I bake my pies.”

“I couldn’t help, but notice the delicious smell coming from your house,” you say.

“Well, thank ya,” says Granny.

“While that’s sweet of ya’ll to chit chat and all, but we got work to do. So, come on and I’ll show ya around,” says Applejack as she leads you over to the barn. “Here’s the bucket we use to pick the apples. We have to pick ‘em all before the harvest goes bad. I don’t know how fast ya are at pickin’, but we can use all the help we can get.”

“Uhm, John, I gotta run some errands. Here’s a copy of the key to the house in case you get done working before I get home,” says Fluttershy as she reaches in her saddlebag and gives you a key. You reply with a thanks as you turn around to follow Applejack.

“Can’t ya just get Twilight to help ya out like she did that one time. Remember how she could pick several trees at a time with her magic,” says Apple Bloom.

"We can’t use her all the time. Besides, we like doin’ things the traditional ways, ain’t that right Big Mac?” Says Applejack.

“Yep,” says Big Mac.

“So, by traditional, ya mean the hard way,” says Apple Bloom.

“Ya know what I mean. We like doin’ this as a family, right?” Says Applejack.

“Yep,” says Big Mac.

“But, I thought Twilight was family,” says Apple Bloom.

Applejack groans, “I meant our blood related family. We can’t go around askin’ for our friend’s help all the time, cause they got other things to do. Ya got me. Now, quit arguin’ with me in front of John here.”

“Sorry AJ,” says Apple Bloom.

“So, I want ya to go over yonder to ‘em trees and start pickin’ apples and drop ‘em in this here bucket, a’ight?” Says Applejack to you.

“Alright.” You start to go over to one the trees with a bucket in one hand and a ladder in the other. You set the ladder up and start to climb up realizing that you are afraid of heights and can’t go another step without the feeling of falling over. You try to reach the apples from the height you are comfortable with only to realize that you can’t reach.

“What’s the hold up? Get your ass up there and pick some dern apples!” Says Applejack yelling at you from the barn. “God dammit, what’s taking him so long?” She says to herself.

“Lemme handle this,” says Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom starts walking over to you. “It’s okay, I was afraid of heights, too, my first time. You’ll get the hang of it when ya do it over and over again. I’ll hold the ladder for ya.”

“Thanks,” you say to her realizing this is going to be a long day. You start picking apples and before you know it, you are done with the first tree.

“Ya see, it’s not that bad,” Apple Bloom says.

“You’re right, it’s not that bad when you get the hang of it,” you say.

“’Nuff chit chat, more work,” says Applejack.

When Applejack is far enough away you whisper, “Say, what’s up with your sister?”

“Oh, it’s nothin’. I have to deal with it all the time,” Apple Bloom says. She starts to whisper, “Thing is, it’s that time of the month. She gets a real attitude. Plus, she just broke up with her boyfriend.”

“Oh yeah,” you say with curiosity.

“Yeah, he was a Pegasus named Thunderlane who was a recruit for the Wonderbolts. He was home most of the time ‘cause they only used him when they needed him as a last resort. When they finally did needed him to help save the Wonderbolts from an evil villain, it took a toll on the relationship. Applejack was worried a lot and when he came back home, he wasn’t the same stallion he used to be,” says Apple Bloom.

“How so and also, help me out here, who are the Wonderbolts?” You ask.

“He started havin’ episodes where he thought he was in war, somethin’ ‘bout post traumatic stress disorder, I think they called it. Anyways, the Wonderbolts are our self-defenses when trouble comes,” says Apple Bloom.

“Oh, so you all do have like a military,” you say

“Yeah, I guess,” says Apple Bloom.

“That’s good to know,” you say. “Your brother doesn’t seem to be the talker.”

“Yeah, sometimes I think all he knows is the word, yep, until the occasional sentence ya get out of him,” she says.

"SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!" Yells out Granny Smith while ringing a bell.

You walk with Apple Bloom back towards the house realizing all the trees you already picked. Apple Bloom shows you to the table and and you take a seat. Granny gives you a plate of apple fritters. You all start eating in silence and you feel awkward because of it. You try to break the silence, “So how was your day? Did you have a good day today or bad day today? Let’s talk about your day,” you say in a quick goofy fashion.

“It was a’ight I guess,” says Applejack.

You look towards Apple Bloom and she just shrugs. “Well, what all did you do?” You ask.

“Just stayed here helping most of the time. All it seems like I do is work, work, work,” she says as she stares into her bowl swiveling the spoon around with her hoof.

“Well, what about the rest of the day?” You ask.

“We’re suppose ta go to Rarity’s for a get together. Apparently, she’s hostin’ her new clothin’ line for the next Gala,” she says.

“You don’t sound amused,” you say.

“I’m not big on fashion stuff. I’m more of a simple gal. Just give me my hat and boots and Imma rarin’ to go,” she says.

“Just give me my cane, social security, food stamps, Medicare, and Medicaid and I don’t need no help from nobody,” Granny interrupts and quickly tilts her head back to sleep.

A sudden thought pops in your head, ‘Livin’ in the PJ’s, low rent, high rise y’all.’ “So, why go?” You ask.

“Well, she’s my friend and I support her, even if I do find it rather borin’,” she says.

“Plus, it will take your mind off Thunderlane,” Apple Bloom adds.

“What?” Apple Jack asks with a stern look.

“Nothin’, Nothin’,” she quickly replies.

“Anyways, I think I’ll go back to work,” you say heading out.

“Listen, why don’t ya take the rest of the day off. We can handle it from ‘ere,” Applejack says.

“Really? Are you sure?” You say suprisingly.

“Yeah, really, you did a good job out there today and I like a stallion who works hard,” she says.

“Yeah, thanks, except I’m a man, not a stallion,” you say.

“Stallion, man, whatever. Now, get on over to Rarity’s and we’ll meet you over there. You could use a good sprucin’ up. Now get, before I change my mind,” she says.

“Yes ma’am,” you say strolling out the door.

"He has no idea what’s comin’ to him does he,” says Applejack.

“Nope,” says Big Mac.