Chapter 5
About a week had passed since our last get-together and we were sitting in practically the exact same spot as the week before. Six identical glasses sat at the table in front of each of us; Pinkie Pie and I had lemonades, Twilight had a Coke, Rarity had water with lemon, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both had tea. We usually changed up our orders from time to time, but I was a little confused at Rainbow’s choice this particular time. She never got tea.
Being a lazy Sunday afternoon, the six of us talked about nothing in particular— we actually weren’t even talking as a group really. Twilight seemed to be off in her own world, Fluttershy sat timidly before Pinkie Pie who was excitedly rambling on about who-knows-what, and Rarity was just kind of talking. Rarity sat between me and Rainbow Dash so we naturally tuned into what Rarity was saying, especially since tuning out Pinkie Pie was a habit of ours by now anyway.
I was probably going to fall asleep if I had to listen to another word from Rarity so I quickly interjected when I had the chance.
“Hey, Rainbow, I thought you hated tea?” I said, loud enough for Twilight to look up from her daze and Pinkie to stop her pointless rambling.
Rainbow Dash glanced up at me innocently. “Oh, yeah, I do.”
“Well then why are ‘ya drinking it?” I asked with a little chuckle.
Rainbow Dash sat up with a small sigh. “I had some manic sugar buzz the other day from God-knows-what and now I guess I’m trying to ‘detoxify’ by drinking tea instead of coffee or soda. It was probably when I drank a bunch of coffee the other night to have the energy to do my homework.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Already up ‘till midnight doing homework?”
Dash smiled and shrugged. “I guess I didn’t realize how much homework I had and I didn’t bother starting it until later. You can’t blame me entirely. I mean, why the hell did they give us so much homework the first week anyway? It’s blasphemy…” she muttered and took a sip of her tea.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong context of the word blasphemy…” I muttered as Rainbow Dash silently gagged on her tea.
“OH! Speaking of which,” Twilight exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table and eliciting a small jump from everyone else at the table, “What the hell was up with that essay Mr. Novella gave us like the third day of school?”
“It wasn’t worth a grade,” I interjected calmly. She was talking about the timed-essay we were given. No one was prepared for it, and Mr. Novella didn’t tell us until the next day that it wasn’t even worth a grade.
“I know,” Twilight grumbled. “But that seriously stressed me out. I mean, you know how I am. I like to prepare for things…”
“’Ya think?” I said, smirking.
Beside me, Rarity suddenly let out an ear-piercing gasp, completely scaring the shit out of me. Everyone looked at her in surprised confusion, all of our eyes wide.
“Oh my God, Twilight, you’ll never guess what I found in Sweetie Belle’s room earlier!” Rarity exclaimed.
Ugh, I swear if Rarity didn’t win an award for Most Dramatic Person Alive, I’d personally grant it to her myself.
Rainbow Dash leaned forward nonchalantly. “Well, you know, she is at that age when kids start to explore certain… things.”
Oh my God. Did she seriously just say that?
Twilight, who had been drinking, must have gasped and breathed in coke, spending the better half of a minute choking and coughing like some kind of dying person. Had I not still been in shock from what Rainbow Dash said, I probably would have been crying from laughter.
“Ew, Rainbow Dash, not like that!” Rarity screeched, shoving Rainbow Dash slightly who was now bawling in laughter. Pinkie joined her in her laughter, Twilight— after finally recovering— had her head bowed in embarrassment, and Fluttershy sat there with a blank look on her face.
Jeez, Fluttershy. You’re just way too innocent for your own good…
Rarity, now blushing furiously, quickly tried to save herself. “It was a picture she drew, for pity’s sake! Sweetie Belle drew a picture of her and Spike together.”
“Spike?” Twilight asked, the commotion finally down to the muffled laughter of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
“Yes!” Rarity answered with excitement. “I think Sweetie Belle has a crush on your little brother! It’s quite adorable really.”
Pulling herself up from practically underneath the table, Rainbow Dash interjected with an adorable snort from her previous bout of laughter. “What were you doing in Sweetie Belle’s room?”
Rarity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I wasn’t snooping, if that’s what you were wondering. I was just doing laundry and putting her pile of clothes in her room when I happened to see the picture.”
“Does Spike know?” Twilight asked, forcing her way back into the conversation.
“I don’t know really,” Rarity answered. “I mean, he’s kind of at that age where he thinks acting like a ‘bad boy’ is cool.”
“Ugh, you don’t have to remind me,” Twilight groaned.
“Aw, Sweetie Belle and Spike would be so cute together!” Pinkie cooed, clapping her hands together.
“For pity’s sake, Pinkie, Spike’s three years older than her!” Rarity said. “No way I’m letting my nine-year old sister go out with Twilight’s twelve-year old brother— no offense Twilight.”
“None taken,” Twi replied dryly.
“Speaking of dating and whatnot,” Rarity began, “I heard you’ve been going on some dates with a certain Armour-Clad, Rainbow Dash?”
Every one of us smiled and looked expectantly at Rainbow Dash who was now smiling nervously.
“Heh, yeah, Clad and I have gone on three dates already. We’re officially dating now,” she replied. “He asked me out after our date on Friday.”
Pinkie squealed and hugged her from the side, practically crushing the poor girl. The rest of us were happy for Rainbow— at least, I think I was. I still had mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, if Rainbow Dash was dating Clad then that means I had no chance with her. But then again, I didn’t have a chance anyway and if she was dating someone then I guess I felt less conflicted about my own feelings.
“Well, I’m very happy for you,” Rarity said cheerfully. “Does Nick know about him yet?”
Nick was Rainbow Dash’s uncle and legal guardian since the death of her parents. It was hard to describe Nick in just a few sentences. He was a lot like Rainbow Dash in some ways— cool, laid back, a jokester— and we all loved having him around. He had a great temperament and, being a tad younger than all of our parents, he connected well with us.
Nick was the kind of guy that could handle Rainbow Dash but he had a hard time keeping up with her. I don’t think it was a problem much of the time, though— Dash wasn’t the kind of kid who rebelled or lashed out after a life-changing tragedy and for the most part the two of them got along just fine.
“Yeah, but he hasn’t met him yet,” Rainbow Dash responded. “I should invite him over for dinner sometime so they can meet each other.”
“That’s a good idea,” Rarity responded. “Think Nick will approve of him?”
RD shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I can actually picture the two getting along great. Once Nick finds out Clad’s a sports guy, I bet he’ll be inviting him over all the time to watch some sort of game.” Rainbow smiled and rolled her eyes. “Nick would be ecstatic just to finally have someone to watch sports with. Ugh, maybe he’ll finally stop asking me to watch it with him.”
“I thought you loved sports?” Twilight said absentmindedly.
“Yeah, playing them— not watching them,” Dash responded. “The only reason I’d watch sports is to improve my own game.”
Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat a little bit, a sudden mix of emotions flashing in her eyes. She opened her mouth as if beginning to say something, but instead just brought her drink up to her mouth and took a small sip. I took a sip of mine as well, idly keeping my eyes upon Rainbow Dash.
The sound of a car door shutting nearby caught my attention and I looked to my right to see— in surprise— my brother getting out of the truck and glancing toward us. My brow furrowed and I knew by his distressed expression that something was wrong. Still inside the truck I could see Apple Bloom staring out worriedly.
I stood up hesitantly as Big Mac hurriedly walked over. I met him halfway there, my friends all watching with concerned expressions.
“What’s wrong?” I asked in a low voice.
“Granny Smith’s in the hospital,” he said quickly, his voice stressed. “She had a heart attack.”
My heart skipped a beat and I could barely even believe it for a brief moment. When had this happened? The short while I was here with my friends?
I wasted no time and walked quickly with Mac towards the truck. My friends followed, now just as worried as me. No words were spoken but as they walked towards their cars it was apparent that were going to follow us to the hospital.
As I was about to close the door, Rainbow Dash looked at me and our eyes met. In her eyes, I saw concern and comfort. Our eyes met for only a second, but in that second, looking into those pools of magenta, I found myself falling in love with her deeper than ever before. My heart throbbed and I closed the door quickly, swallowing hard to fight back the forming tears in my eyes.
Neither Big Mac nor Apple Bloom said anything during the car ride, but I knew Apple Bloom had noticed a few tears running down my cheek. She fidgeted in her seat and I had to turn my head toward the window to try and shield my emotions from her view.
I was able to calm down once we reached the hospital, determination thankfully taking over my other emotions. Once inside, Mac and I found the triage nurse, asking for Granny Smith. She’d only gotten here a short time before us, but I knew little about heart attacks and such so I didn’t know what to expect.
The nurse told us that the doctors were stabilizing her and checking her to make sure everything was okay. She told us that we should probably wait for a couple minutes before visiting her so, with slight disappointment and tension, Mac and I sat down where the others were waiting for us, Apple Bloom being with them.
“She’s gonna be fine,” I said, sighing as I sat down, “But I’m still worried about her. She’s probably scared…”
Big Mac put his hand on my back to comfort me. “Don’t worry. Granny’s got a lot of spirit. But I wish we could go in and see her.”
I turned to look back at the triage nurse who was focusing on a paper that she occasionally scribbled on. “I’m sure we’ll be able to go in soon.”
I turned back to Big Mac, my brow slightly furrowing. “Were you there when it happened?”
He nodded. “I was in the kitchen and she was sitting in her chair. She seemed really quiet and I kind of had this feeling that something was wrong, and when I looked at her she looked like she was in pain. When I asked her if she was okay, she was out of breath and in a lot of pain so I called an ambulance.”
I thought for a moment, then glanced slowly up at my friends. Rarity and Rainbow Dash both looked back at me, and I released a small sigh. “Thanks for coming here, you guys. But I don’t think this is anything too serious. If ya’ll got other things to do…”
“Nah, we wanna stay,” Rainbow Dash said. “They probably won’t let us in but we’ll stay here if it makes you feel better.”
Pinkie Pie turned her head and nodded enthusiastically, but remained quiet. None of them seemed impatient or anxious, except Apple Bloom, so it was obvious they were sincere in saying they wanted to stay. I beckoned Apple Bloom over and gave her a comforting half-hug.
“Don’t worry, ‘Bloom. I promise Granny will be just fine,” I assured her, knowing exactly what was going on in her head.
“Will she act differently? I’ve heard of people getting sick like this and never coming back the same, like they talk differently and walk all weird and stuff,” she said, trailing off into a mumble.
I gave her a comforting smile. “I think you’re thinking of a stroke. Heart attacks are different. Most people usually survive heart attacks, and they’re still the same people afterwards. She’ll probably just have to take some medicine every day.”
Apple Bloom looked up at me and stopped her fidgeting, seemingly calmed down now. “Can we visit her?”
I glanced back at the triage nurse. “We probably can now…”
I walked back up to her, followed by Big Mac and Apple Bloom, and asked about Granny Smith again. The triage nurse gave us permission to go see her, as she was stable now.
Granny Smith turned her head towards us as we entered the room and I smiled at her comfortingly, walking over to her.
“Hey, Granny. How ya’ feelin’?” I asked.
“A little tired,” she responded weakly.
We didn’t spend too much time talking to her. Big Mac said barely anything, and Apple Bloom told her that she was going to be alright and that there was nothing to worry about, eliciting a small chuckle from Granny.
“Well, we’ll let you get some sleep,” I told her. My head turned when the door opened and the doctor entered the room. I took Apple Bloom’s hand and led her out and Big Mac stayed to talk to the doctor who likely was telling him the prognosis and what would need to be done once Granny returned home. I figured Big Mac would repeat everything to me later.
Upon returning, my friends looked up at me. I told them she was fine and just needed some sleep.
“You guys should go back home. Big Mac is going to stay here for a while and I’m going to take Apple Bloom home. She’ll be bored out of her mind waiting here,” I said.
She looked up at me but said nothing. I figured she was still a little confused about the whole thing, and this was her first time in a hospital. My friends all nodded and we left the building together.
“Text us how she is when she gets back, ‘kay?” Rainbow Dash said before leaving. I nodded and we parted ways. I took Apple Bloom home and texted Big Mac— I hoped he had his phone with him— telling him that I’d taken Apple Bloom home and to let me know when he needed me to come back with the truck.
Once we were home, Apple Bloom watched TV quietly but I could tell she was still a little unsettled about everything. I took some Advil for a headache I’d had for the past forty-five minutes and sat down at the table to think. I thought about Granny Smith a little bit, and Rainbow Dash. My thoughts were pretty scattered, so I didn’t really have much of an internal dialogue.
I wanted to call Rainbow Dash, ask her to come over. Her presence calmed me in situations like these— funny, because it seemed to do the exact opposite during any other occasion. At some point Big Mac texted me back and I went to go pick him up.
“The doctors said they were going to keep her there for a couple more days,” he explained.
It was close to night and all of us were tired and in desperate need of some sleep. Once we got back home, Big Mac carried an exhausted Apple Bloom up to her room and we headed to our own rooms after saying goodnight.
Despite my exhaustion, my anxiety kept me awake. I stared out my window, gazing at the stars and the moonlit apple orchard. I began to feel really lonely and got to thinking about my parents. Both of them died very shortly after Apple Bloom’s birth, so I was still very young when they died. Memories of them are faint, but I would never forget them.
I’ve actually never really talked about it with Rainbow Dash, despite her situation having been similar— in the sense that we were both orphans. I guess maybe she didn’t consider it the same. Or maybe she just never felt like bringing up such a depressing subject.
I rolled over on my side, smiling slightly, and glanced at the phone on my nightstand. After staring at it for five minutes, I picked it up, enjoying the coolness of it on my fingers. I browsed through my messages, wishing someone would text me. I waited for it to buzz, followed by Rainbow Dash’s name showing up on the screen.
But I knew it never would. Even if she was doing the exact same thing as me, staring at her phone, she wouldn’t text me for fear of possibly waking me up. I knew her too well. So instead I texted her. I figured she might have been asleep, but I was feeling too lonely to even care.
-Hey. You awake?
I waited for a couple moments. My heart leapt when my phone buzzed softly and showed Dash’s name.
-Yep. Everything okay?
-Yeah. Just feeling kind of lonely I guess.
I hesitated before sending it. I didn’t like feeling vulnerable, but I had to tell her the truth. It was killing me, and I really just needed someone to vent to. Her reply came within a few minutes.
-Well, I know there’s not really much I can do over text but I’m here if you just need someone to talk to.
I smiled softly, contemplating a response.
-Heh, kind of wishing you were here right now.
I stared at my phone after it sent. Oh God, why did I send that? Jesus Christ, Applejack, might as well just confess all your feelings while you’re at it. I opened my phone again quickly to type out another text message, hoping to somehow save myself, but before I could type two letters I got a text back from her. I was afraid to open it.
-Want me to come over?
My heart leapt. It screamed yes, urging my fingers to type out the three-lettered word. I wanted her to come over more than anything right now… but I held back. I couldn’t do this to myself, or her for that matter. I bit my lip, a few tears forming in my eyes as I typed out the message.
-No, it’s fine :) I’m exhausted anyway. We should probably get to sleep.
I sighed after sending it. A nervous knot formed in my stomach. No, I wasn’t nervous. Disappointed maybe? Whatever it was, it made me feel sick. I laid my head down on my pillow, a tear falling from my eye and onto the pillow.
Too many nights ended like this. Too many nights strung up and distressed about the girl I was infatuated with.
-Alright AJ. Sleep well, ok? Love you :)
-Love you too RD :)
More than you know.