//------------------------------// // Visitor // Story: Simple Love // by Nickel Alloy //------------------------------// When Rarity woke up, she was greeted by a small white filly in the face. "Rarity! You're up!" shrieked Sweetie Belle. She hopped down from the stool which she had been standing on, and stood grinning at Rarity. "You're up!" Rarity winced. "Sweetie Belle...not so loud." "Oh, sorry," said Sweetie Belle in a very loud stage whisper. "Is this better?" Rolling her eyes, Rarity scooted up on her pillow. Her head throbbed, and her leg screamed at her to not move, but she managed to wiggle into what resembled a sitting position. "Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?" "I came to visit you! Duh!" "No," Rarity said patiently, "shouldn't you be at school?" "Oh, that," Sweetie Belle said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Miss Cheerilee said I could take a couple days of because of a--" she made air quotes "--'family emergency'. Oh, and I tried to work on that dress for you, but it didn't turn out so good." At least I finished the theater costumes. "Are you referring to the dress I'm working on for Photo Finish?" "Yup! I thought maybe some sequins would be good, but then the glue exploded, and the sleeve wouldn't come undone from the skirt. So I got some scissors, and while I was at it I thought, 'Hey, maybe some fringe at the bottom?' and that turned out cool, but then I had to re-do the embroidery, and I couldn't find a needle--" "Stop. Just stop right there. Sweetie Belle, maybe you should--" Rarity tried to say it politely "--refrain from working on my dresses. Why don't you instead spend your time doing Crusaders escapades? Maybe....not in my shop?" Sweetie Belle got it. "Oh, right....OK." At that moment, Applejack stuck her head in the door. "Hey, sugarcube, maybe ya should let Rarity rest." "No need, Applejack, I'm feeling much better." Rarity plastered a sweet smile on her face. Applejack raised her eyebrow. "Really." Rarity grumbled and let her facade fall. It was time to admit it. She felt like she'd been trampled by a herd of yaks. "Okay, no, no, I'm not." She stopped Applejack, who was about to say I told you so. "But I'm going to go crazy in this place without anyone to talk to, my head isn't good enough for me to read, and I'm not tiiiiired!" "Ya sound like a filly who doesn't wanna go ta bed," Applejack sighed. "But fine. Big Mac can come in, since he's not much of a talker. BUT ya need ta rest, ya hear me?" "Yes, yes, yes, I hear you." Big Mac! Now, Rarity, you're sounding like a little filly with a schoolyard crush. Get it together. Rarity was collecting herself as Big Mac loped into the room. He sat down clumsily on the chair next to her bed. It was too small for him. She giggled. "Uh...hi, Miss Rarity," Mac said awkwardly. "Uh...Ah'm sorry about your...acc-si-dent." Rarity immediately felt bad. He wasn't used to being places where he had to be delicate, or talk. "Thank you, Big Mac. You don't have to be so formal, so please, call me Rarity." They sat in silence for a few minutes, each waiting for the other to strike up a conversation. "Rarity...have Ah ever told ya what happened ta mah parents?" Rarity was taken aback. She'd wanted to ask; but the subject had seemed so personal she hadn't brought it up. Surprised by the fact that he was choosing to tell her, she gave her head the tiniest shake and motioned for him to go on, flinching as her horn pounded. "Well, AJ was about ten, eleven when she got her mark, same age as Bloom is now. But this happened about a year earlier. Ah was twelve, and Bloom wasn't even born yet. Ah'd just gotten mah cutie mark haulin' an entire load of apples down ta the market." It seemed like a happy time for them. So...no prolonged illnesses or anything like that. "We were all together as a family one day, makin' Zap Apple pie together. Ma went upstairs ta rest, 'cause she was jus' a month away from havin' her third foal. The rest of us all went outside ta get some fresh air." But.....? "But somepony, nopony knows who, left one o' the stoves on. The towels hangin' above it caught on fire, and then the rack they were hangin' on, and then the roof. Our backs were turned ta the house, and Ah know that's a pretty poor excuse for not realizin' it, but none o' us did until we heard somethin' collapse -- probably a table. Pa freaked out, 'cause Ma was in there, and he ran inside ta get her." Big Mac's voice wavers. "Ma barely got out the door before the roof collapsed. Pa was still inside. " I can imagine the scene. The Apples' mother, in shock. Little Applejack, bawling and in denial too, with her brother and granny trying to console her, but there's nothing they can say to help. The house is probably up in flames, and the grown-ups know there's nothing they can do. The only question is what eventually happened to the mom. "We all stayed in the barn for a few days. Nothin' around the house burned, and three days afterward we got a team ta cart out the junk and bury Pa's body. Then we got another team ta help construct a new one. Granny was helpin' Ma out the best she could with sales and stuff, but Ma was panicked about how the farm was goin' ta keep itself goin' without its star apple bucker. She was under so much stress that the foal decided ta come early." Despite the depressing story, I smile to myself. Apple Bloom is never patient. "We rushed her ta the hospital, but all her stress and panic had taken its toll, and no one could save her. She got ta name her little filly, though, and Apple Bloom survived. By now, the news had spread about Pa's death, and the rest of the town came ta help us out. They got us through until Granny and Ah figured out how ta keep the farm steadily goin'." He lets out a breath, and I realize he's finished. "Thank you, Big Mac...for telling me." He nods. "Thanks, Miss Rarity, for listening. Ah'll leave ya ta your rest now, ok?" I nod, and he stands up and leaves with a backwards glance. "See ya later, Miss Rarity." I want to tell him, "Call me Rarity," but my tiredness catches up to me and I flop back onto my pillows, staring at the ceiling.