Chapter 39
“Amazing, I didn’t know you could burn juice,” Rick couldn’t help but chuckle at the smoking glass as he helped Rarity clean the mess. Sweetie Belle had been perched on his back again, this time to keep her above the water that coated the kitchen floor. Somehow, Sweetie had managed to practically blow up the kitchen while attempting to make a DLT, daisy, lettuce and tomato, sandwich.
“I’m really sorry,” Sweetie was wearing an award winning sorrowful look that, even though he couldn’t see it, made rick ready to forgive of any offense imaginable.
“Oh, it’s alright, Sweetie,” Rarity said through gritted teeth, “we’ll just have to hone your cooking skills a little more, that’s all.”
“That’s right, heck, my first attempt at cooking, I nearly blew up our microwave by putting a metal lid in it,” Rick confirmed.
“What’s a ‘microwave’?” the precious little unicorn on his back asked.
“A machine on Earth that cooks food much quicker than a stove or oven. The science to make it work is very complicated and I don’t fully understand it, so I’ll just say it’s magic and leave it at that.”
“Well in either case, and as with everything else, practice makes perfect,” Rarity confirmed.
“Exactly, why, I bet the first outfit your big sister made wasn’t even half as pretty as the things she makes now.”
Rarity looked honestly pained by this statement and held a soggy hoof to her barrel. “I beg your pardon. I’m not so sure I like where you’re going with this.”
“Well since your current work is so absolutely gorgeous, I didn’t think it was an insult.” Rick was playing it cool but inside, he was panicking. He either stepped in it big time, or he successfully complimented her. She seemed to be considering it, that might not be a good thing.
“Hmm, yes,” still could be bad, “well, I must got fresh cloths to continue cleaning.” Rarity walked towards the door with a pile of rags magically floating ahead of her. Ricks fears were put to rest when she planted a quick kiss on his cheek. This reaction caused a relieved grin on Rick’s part and a cute, drawn out, little ‘eww’ from Sweetie.
“Aww, do you want a kiss too?” Rick joked as he formed his hands and picked Sweetie Belle up off her perch. She fruitlessly tried to escape by running. He moved her in front of himself and threatened to kiss her cheeks and making loud ‘smooching’ sounds. He couldn’t keep it up long though, her squirming and cries for help made him laugh just too much so he placed her on the stairs to avoid the water and she galloped up to her stairs as quickly as her tiny legs allowed.
Rarity came back down the hall giggling. “You certainly have a way with the fillies, don’t you?”
“I must if I managed to get the interest of four of the most beautiful mares in Equestria.”
“My, my, aren’t you Mr. Smooth today?”
“It must be something in the air, I’m not usually like this.”
“Well, be careful or I may have to simply whisk you away from everypony else.”
“That would not be very generous of you, my dear.”
“No, perhaps not. Then I suppose I’ll simply have to settle for having you to myself these next few days.”
“I suppose so,” He smiled at her, “so you better make the most of it.” “Where is all this coming from?”
“Indeed, I certainly intend to utilize your services to the fullest.” Both seemed to realize the implications of their conversation at the same time. “I-I-I mean in the boutique, of course,” her face was starting turn a beautiful shade of pink.
Rick’s face was quickly catching up, “of course, the boutique, right.”
“Yes, I have lots of costumes to make, many, many orders to fill.” Rarity trotted into her workshop still blushing slightly.
“Right, how can I help?” Rick asked while still standing in a puddle.
“For now, I might simply ask you to finish cleaning the kitchen for me,” she called back from the other room.
“Certainly, do you want anything to eat when I’m done?”
“That would be lovely, Darling, whatever you make will be splendid.” And with that, Rick got to work. He finished cleaning in a few minutes and started on lunch for the three ponies present. Three DLT’s and a round of apple juice, courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres. Each was gladly accepted and happily devoured. After lunch, it was time to get to work.
“I have a question, Rarity. Why are there no super-hero costumes?”
“What is a ‘super-hero’?”
“Well, as you know, humans can’t fly or use magic, so we created fictional characters who can. We made up stories about people who can run faster than sound, lift giant boulders and even shoot heat rays from their eyes,” Rick explained. “But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when we have friends who can nearly fell a tree with a single kick, teleport miles away, talk to animals and even break the sound barrier, which I still haven’t gotten to see yet by the way.”
“True, with all the things ponies can do, I suppose it wouldn’t make sense to come up with imaginary ponies to do those things as well.”
“True,” Rick looked around the shop at all the different costumes displayed wondering which one would suit him best. In years past, he had dressed up a knight for his daughter, as a child, he dressed up as everything from a soldier to a ghoul. Dressing up as an adult may be frowned upon on Earth, except certain circumstances, but in Ponyville, everypony dressed up. Suddenly, an idea came to him, how often would a man get this opportunity? “Hey, Rarity, I was wondering if you could make a special order for me.”
Chapter 40
After days of work in the boutique, though admittedly Rick’s main job seemed to be to keep Sweetie Belle and the other Crusaders from interrupting Rarity, it was Nightmare Night. The whole town had been decorated in fashion common to Earth’s Halloween. There were skulls, pony skulls, bats, weird cat eyes and what seemed to be an image of a unicorn merged with a crescent moon everywhere. There was a surprising lack of witches, but when there are four extremely powerful alicorns ruling the country benevolently, a witch wouldn’t do much to scare anyone. Still, Rick was loving it; it reminded him of home and dressing up with Annie.
Rick had made his way through the town proper to Rarity’s shop. Upon opening the door, he was quickly greeted by the beautiful seamstress. “Rick Dear, I have finished your costume,” Rarity informed, “I made it the way you asked, but I don’t quite know what exactly it’s supposed to be. Oh, I do hope I made correctly.” Rarity was scrutinizing her work as Rick approached.
“It’s perfect!”
“Oh, I am so glad to hear you say that, though I still don’t know what it is.”
The mannequin was adorned with a mask of sorts that has spikes going down the center and a semi-shiny black saddle lined with sharp studs. Seated on the saddle was a figure of a man completely dressed in black. It wore a cape that matched the saddle, the arms ended in the same semi-shiny material and the cuffs were bordered with the studs that also decorated the saddle. In one hand was an axe, the other was raised, open and empty.
“It’s the Headless Horseman.”
“You mean the Headless Horse?”
“No, the Headless Horseman. There’s a legend on Earth of a soldier who so monstrous on the battlefield that he specifically was hunted down and executed. His head was removed but he was so wicked, he could not rest. He would roam the woods near where he was killed searching for his lost head. He would attack anyone unlucky enough to cross his path while he was on the prowl.” Rick concentrated hard and a force field appeared and slowly changed into a jack-o-lantern which was placed in the open hand. “He would use a jack-o-lantern as a projectile so he could take down his victims before collecting their heads.”
Rarity was disgusted, “how positively horrid.”
“I suppose, but it was meant to scare and therefore, horrid is the name of the game.” Rick looked back up at the saddle and figure in admiration. “I just love it though. Your work is second to none, Rarity.” The compliment was rewarded with another kiss on his cheek.
He was surprised but very happy. The combination of the festival and the presence of this beauty was overwhelming and he was soaring on the breeze. Rick looked deep into those huge sapphire eyes; they were drawing him in, literally. The two closed their eyes and began to purse their lips…
“RARITY!! Look at my costume!” Sweetie Belle yelled from the doorway.
The frustration was hidden in her voice, but Rick could see it in her eyes and found it too cute to be angry at Sweetie, especially when he saw said costume. Besides, Rick had gotten used to being interrupted during random romantic moments; he had had a young daughter once. She turned to address her little sister and gave a small gasp.
“Oh… Sweetie, you look absolutely splendid,” Rarity cooed over her little sister.
For his part, Rick did what every good father or big brother should do. “Princess Luna! It’s such an honor to see you here. I only wish we had more time to prepare for your visit.” He trotted up to the tiny foal and bowed deeply to her then took her hoof and kissed it gently. Sweetie Belle was giggling herself sick.
Rarity had managed to make a suit for Sweetie that covered all but her mane, tail, snout, eyes and horn. The suit was the exact color of Luna’s fur, complete with moon-in-the-sky cutie mark. There was even duplicate regalia that perfectly matched what Luna wore.
The most difficult detail, the hair, was painstakingly matched to the Night Princess. The flowing effect obviously couldn’t be copied, but the mares at the spa Rarity frequented had managed to make it appear as though it was blowing in the breeze while they had also matched the color and sprinkled glittering stars throughout. The costume was a work of art to say the least.
“You look great, Sweetie Belle,” Rick complemented, “you excited for tonight?”
“You bet!” the tiny unicorn squeaked. “I’ve always loved Nightmare Night. Where’s your costume, Rick?”
“Right over there,” he turned and indicated with a hoof to the Horseman costume.
“It looks like you used to, but, where’s its head?” Rick explained the legend in a way that wouldn’t be nightmare inducing for the foal. “That’s really scary, Rick.”
“I know, just remember who it is under that costume. You’re not afraid of me are you?”
Sweetie jumped up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck as best she could, “not even a little.”
The comment caused Rarity to coo once more and Rick’s heart to verge on exploding. Shortly, the embrace was released and his pulse returned to normal. “Well then, shall we get ready?”
Rarity assisted Rick in donning his saddle then his mask. She then went behind a changing curtain and put her own costume on. When she came out from behind said curtain, Rick was stunned. The black dress and large beehive reminded him of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, an Image that was aided by her snow-white fur.
Even though she could already tell by the wide-eyed, slack-jawed stare, but she asked anyway. “Well, Dear, what do you think?”
“I, buh, erm, yeah.” Rick was nodding dumbly with an extremely vacant glare in his eyes. The effect was not lost on Rarity who blushed deeply and grinned hugely.
Once again, Sweetie Belle interrupted, “you look great, Rarity!” Once again, her extreme cuteness was her saving grace, preventing anyone present from getting too upset.
Rick chuckled, “that she does, now ladies, the festival awaits.”
Sweetie Belle rushed for the door barely able to contain her excitement, she was going to go trick-or-treating with her friends and all that candy wasn’t going to collect itself. Rick started to follow her but he was stopped at the door to the showroom.
“I just wanted to say I appreciated what you said about my outfit.”
“But, I didn’t really say anything. I was… speechless.”
Rarity held his face in her hooves and kissed him deeply. She wrapped a hoof behind his head pulling him deeper. After a few moments, they had to either separate or suffocate. She pulled back and slowly opened her eyes looking deeply into his, “exactly.”
Rick stood motionless as Rarity walked toward the door. A few seconds later, his brain rebooted and huge smile formed and tried its best to separate the two halves of his head. Rick trotted after the retreating fillies, he was so bubbly at this point that his hooves barely touched the tiled floor.
“Damn I love Halloween.”