Butterfly in the Orchard

Ker-clop, Ker-clop, Ker-clop, the galloping of the large stallion penetrated through the thick rain. He rushed through the heavy storm with worry for the yellow mare. Earlier his sister and her friend talked about the frail mare’s fear of lightning, among other things. The stallion knew of her fears, and of her weak heart, and not until now did he feel it to be important. He has to protect her, maybe show that he takes her seriously, and not laugh at her timid ways like other ponies do. He has to show he is a good stallion, maybe a great coltfriend.

As he reached the entry way to the cottages he noticed a white fur-ball rushing past him. As he looked at the ball it looked back at him and stopped. He could get a clear look at the critter, his thin wet body and long white ears, it was Angel. The rabbit ran to him, and tugged on his hairs, the stallion knew something was wrong.

The rabbit led the way. Following him, the red stallion worried more and more for hat may have happened. The closer to the cottage he came, the clearer of an image he had gotten. He saw a yellow figure lying under a large branch. There was one word that came to mind, “no”.

The stallion stopped over the mare reaching down to lift the heavy branch. The lifting was hard, seeing as he caught something with the branch, a slight sliding noise, along with the smell of iron coming from the branch. The mare flinched, with a flick of the leg. He noticed a small red stream coming from a hole on the upper thigh. This cannot be good. Looking down he called her name, “Fluttershy,” again “Fluttershy”.

She moved her head up and looked him in the eyes. “Big Mac, is that you?” she said with the rain hazing her vision. Her voice was weak.

“Can you move your leg?” the stallion asked. She tried to move her rear leg, the trembling showed a great amount of pain surging through her body. The sight made the stallion shiver. He instinctively lifted her up with his neck, the neck accustomed to lifting barrels full of apples back at the farm. The lifting was easy, but the balancing of the mare was much more difficult, though being a Pegasus she is lighter than the regular earth pony.

They headed to the cottage, the heavy rain making each step difficult. With the guidance of Angel, they made it through. As he carried her he noticed a slight chill coming from her body. This worried him. Reaching inside he noticed the rabbit’s expression. It was different from his usual cynical look, it was a look of worry and fear.

“Help me light the heater”, he told the rabbit. Big Mac said to keep him busy.  One thing he learned from his foalhood was ‘a busy mind is a calm mind’, an expression his father taught him. He watched as Angel took the thickest log he could find and pulled it from the tinder stack. He pulled the log across the floor and dropped it at the base of the iron pot belly heater. Feeling sorry for the little critter, Big Mac gave him a hoof.

With the heater ready, Angel lit a match and the wood ignited. The three were ready to warm up. Big Mac headed to the bathroom to retrieve some towels to dry off themselves. Returning to Fluttershy he noticed some sneezing and coughing coming from her. He fears he took too long. The coughing was violent, strong like the snarls of a cougar. The sneezes shot out like a cannon. Symptoms he had seen before, usually caused by an infection. He remembered the wound on her leg.

“Miss shy are you feeling well?” asked the stallion, the tone of worry flooding his vocal chords.

She looked at him, her drenched face failing to show any other expression than pain. “Don’t worry about me,” she tried to hide it, “It’s just a cold, nothing to worry about.” She rubbed on a smile, one that still had the corner of her mouth going down as the pain shot through her.

“You’re not very good at hiding it” Big Mac scorned her slightly. He placed his pastern on her head, feeling a searing heat. “There’s no doubt about it,” he said with a frown, “you have a fever.” Those words came to him in a shunt to the belly, the only other fever this bad he could remember was that which… he doesn’t want to remember it, not even acknowledge that memory. The important thing was to get that fever down. “Do you have any fever suppressors?” he asked without haste.

“Check the bathroom,” she said, letting of a large cough afterwards. Angel upon hearing this ran upstairs. Big Mac slowly followed.

While entering the bathroom he heard some clanging and crashing. Angel used a trash bin to climb up to the cabinet. There he tossed out every pill bottle and lotion that was not useful to find the medicine he was looking for. The angry squeaking of the little critter showed his frustration.

“Need some help?” Big Mac asked trying not to trip on the bottles. The critter stopped, pulled out a bottle and jumped of the sink, looking at him with content. “is something wrong?” the rabbit shot right past him with the bottle in mouth.

Downstairs Angel reached Fluttershy and attempted to open the pill bottle. He gripped it with his little paws and turned with all his might. Urn as he could he couldn’t get the cap, designed for equestrian hooves, to budge. Big Mac arrived looking at the little bunny, gazing at his futile attempts. The bunny soon gave in, glaring at the stallion and handed him the bottle. The bottle was simple to open, just a push and turn with the base of the hoof. He handed the open bottle to Angel, as he ripped it out of his grip.

“Thank you, [cough] Angel” said Fluttershy as her little bunny gave her the pill. He looked over to him and stuck out his tongue.

‘Something is wrong with this bunny,’ Big Mac thought to himself. ‘I don’t even think he likes me’

Big Mac took some towels and began to dry off the fallen mare. “thank you Big Mac,” thanked Fluttershy, the bunny took notice. He rushed to the restroom, brought back a bandage and placed it on the wound. “Thank you so much angel.” Angel stood with pride.

He doesn’t know why, but Big Mac feels like the bunny doesn’t like him.

Crash, another lightning strike. Angel was startled and rushed under the couch. Fluttershy squealed rolled into a ball shivering in fear. Big Mac saw this and laid his neck over her speaking comforting things. The mare calmed down a bit, something Angel was never able to do. He started showing his green side.

An hour had passed and it seemed to be getting worse. The rain turned to hail, the lightning was more frequent. But worst of all the fever worsened. Fluttershy’s body had begun to show instances of convulsing, sometimes a kick or a flick of the neck, other times a shiver down her spine. The things she was seeing were not there, but she spoke as if they were.

She saw images of her friends laughing at her. Applejack looking down at her as she couldn’t even lift a basket of apples, “what a weak little filly this one turned out to be” she sang out to the world. Rainbow dash shunned her for not being able to keep up with her. Pinkie Pie refused to give her any good party favors. It was an awful sight, but worst came when her coltfriend saw her.

“Big Mac, come back,” she mumbled to herself.

“I’m right here, I haven’t gone anywhere” he replied, confused with her words.

“Come back, come back,” she repeated. “Why won’t you love me, nopony loves me”

“Wha…” he became even more confused. “What are you saying, of course we love you,”

“Please say you love me, Big Mac” she had begun to cry from the images in her head. “I love you, Why won’t you.”

“b-but I do, I do love you” he couldn’t get the words right, he had never felt this would last, not since what happened with Lyra. He had always said he liked her, but never thought it was love. He began to think of all the times he could have said it. The kiss, the start of their relationship, hearts and Hooves day, they were all missed opportunities. But he never felt the need to say it.

“Say it” she cried softly.

“I… I l-love you” saying it he felt a weight lifted off his back. He felt like he wasn’t just saying it to calm her down, now those three words felt meaning. “I love you, I love you” the more he said it the better he felt. He began to tear up, as he remembered the last time he had used those words. A time he does not want to relate to this moment.

Big Mac walked to the kitchen, to get a drink. Something about saying that phrase made him tired. As he opened the fridge he felt a figure watching him, judging his reason for being in the house. He turned his head, looking at that figure of judgment, the white long eared figure.

“Oh, hi angel” he said softly. The bunny looked at him coldly. “is something wrong?”

The bunny pointed at him and then kicked him on the hoof.

“Now that was uncalled for, what did I do wrong?”

The bunny acted out a scene in which he portrayed a hero coming in to save a princess, ending with him kissing the air.

“Now angel, it’s not like that, I just was worried.”

The bunny continued by adding himself as a harmless peasant boy being pushed around by the knight.

“I would never upstage you. I just felt I was more able to help her.”

The bunny looked at him still with contempt in his eyes.

“I am her colfriend, you will be seeing a lot more of me around here.”  Big Mac thought of what he could do to make this critter see that he is not taking his position. He gave him a juice bottle, “why don’t you make sure she has enough fluids in her,” he said with a warm smile. Angel took the juicebox and hopped on over to the living room.

The walk back to the downed mare he couldn’t help but think, the signs are becoming clearer, the loud coughing and the hallucinations, just like… “NO” he snapped at himself, he wouldn’t dare think of that, not now.

Fluttershy lay near the heater, groaning and coughing. Big Mac had done all he could do in this situation. He kept her warm, gave her medicine, treated her wounds and made sure she kept her fluids. Now all he had to do was waiting.

Fluttershy seemed to be out of it. Her cheeks were blushed, her nose red, and her mind still seeing things. The mare was coughing up mucus at this point, showing that her Fever had worsened further.  These things made him worry for her condition more and more, just like the last time a loved one d… “it won’t happen again” he told himself

“I’m cold,” those words triggered the memory. Big Mac’s ears perked up in alert as he rushed over to her aid.

“Angel, bring a blanket!” he shouted to the bunny. The stallion pressed his head over her stomach, it felt like a chilled bottle of cider. “No” he whispered to himself as the memory he had repressed so much flooded his mind.

_____________

The hospital hallways were as cold as ever. The smell of the sick filled the lungs of the trio being led by the nurse. It felt awkward to the foals, to just have been here months ago to see their father, and that didn’t end well either.

“Orange Marmalade is in this room,” said the nurse, “try to keep it short, she’s in tough condition, we don’t know how much longer she has.” The foals had heard this before, the younger filly had accepted it, but the older colt did not. The elderly green mare led them in.

Waiting for them was an orange mare with dark green mane on a bad hooked up to a sort of wires and IV drip. The mare was one they loved very much, for she was their mother.

“How you holding up, Orange.” The older mare started.

“I’m… not doing so well.” The sick mare, “the doctor said my liver is failing.” She turned her head to see her children. “So, how is my little Apple Bloom doing?”

“She’s doing fine” replied the green mare, “she’s the spitting image of her father.”

“She, will be my greatest asset to our family, I just hope she doesn’t obsess over her cutie mark like I did.” She then started coughing.

“Ma, are you alright,” said the colt.

“I’m fine Little Mac,” his mother lied, “my you aren’t so little anymore are you” he mind went to happy memories. “

“He’s big enough to plow the fields now” said the orange filly with a smile.

“Still being my little honest apple, as your father named you.” She said, hiding the tear coming from her eye. “Remember that the truth will keep you happy.” She turned her head forward, looking blindly at the wall, a weak smile across her face. On the wall an image of an open field lit up her mind. Memories began to return. Suddenly she was lost in them. Tears rolled down her check as she said, “Apple Smith, we raised such a beautiful family.”

“Ma, are you feeling well?” the colt placed his hoof on her foreleg and felt a great chill. “Ma?”

“It’s cold, my Big Apple, can I have a blanket?” she spoke to nonexistent stallion. “Is that your famous apple tea I smell?”

The family looked at her distraught. Granny knew what was coming. “Come along children, let your mother rest.” The filly followed the old mare, but the red colt stayed behind.

“I can see it, darling.” The mare rambled on.

“see what Ma?” the colt asked in worry.

“I can see it” she repeated, her body now shivering even though she had a thick blanket covering her. “I can see it” her eyes began to dilate and her mouth leaked drool, “I can see it.” She rambled on until her head turned to the left as she mumbled incoherently.

The room turned silent, as the only sound was the EKG, making three last slow beeps, “beep… beep…beep… Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…”

“Ma?” the colt said, just realizing what had happened. “MA?”

The crash cart was pushed into the room by the nurses and one of the doctors herself. They began to make preperations for an emergency revival. The doctor noticed the colt crying next to the patient, “get him out of here” she demanded.

One of the nurses pulled him away from the bed.

“Ma! MA!” he cried out to her as he saw the team doing their futile work. “Maaaaaaa!”

_____________

“NO!” he shouted at himself “I won’t let this happen again” he rushed to her side, keeping her warm with his body.  He began to cry. “Don’t leave me Miss Shy, I’ll do anything if you don’t go” he bargained, “I’ll come to your house more often. I’ll bring you a cupboard full if my apple jam every fall. I’ll… I’ll” he hesitated as he brought out the big one, “I’ll Marry you next spring.” His heart warmed up as he said those last few words, and it seemed hers did as well.

Angel hopped back down when he the stallion laid over her. he took the blanket and covered both of them. He looked pathetically at the crying stallion as he tucked them both in. But his silently judging eyes couldn’t get through to him, so he just took a spot between them and laid there to keep them accompanied.

The worst of the storm seemed to have passed. The lightning was striking now every ten minutes or more. The hail had long since gone. So they were finally able to get a good night’s sleep. Big Mac continued to think of his promise. She responded more to the offer of marriage than to the cupboard of jam. Should he do this? Spring is a year away; he could prepare everything before then. These thoughts rushed in his mind before he fell asleep from exhaustion.

The next morning the rain was light, and the lightning was not heard. Big Mac awoke first to see how the day was. It was perfect enough to get help. He gave a kiss on the cheek to the sleeping mare. She winced a bit, but couldn’t comprehend what happened.

He exited the cottage, looking back every once in a while worrying or her. He galloped through the damaged streets of the cottage district searching for the nearest help. He came across two figures in the rain, a striped tall mare and a shorter purple mare. He went down to get their attention.

“So the storm is magical, similar to that of the discords chocolate rain clouds?” said the purple mare.

“For years I have lived under these types of storm; their nature are that of a quite quizzical form” the striped mare replied.

“This will be a great addition for my report on non-equestrian powered weather.” The mare took notes before noticing the sloshy hoof steps rushing towards her. “Oh, hello Big Mac.” She said

“I need your help,” he said out of breath, “Miss Shy was injured, she’s got a bad fever, I’ve done all I could, but she needs somepony with more knowledge to help me, but the doctor’s office is closed.”

“Fear not for her fever, my Big Mac; for I carry helpful herbs in the bag on my back” said Zecora trying to calm him down.

“And I read some books on first aid; I might help her before we take her to a doctor.” Added Twilight.

They rushed to the cottage to find the mare finally awake from her sleep. The zebra began brewing her teas over the holes on the heater. The purple unicorn began to inspect the leg. Fluttershy was surprised to see her friends in her house.

“I’m confused,” she said, “Angel was the only one with me last night. How do you know what’s wrong?”

“Don’t you remember?” Asked Twilight, “Big Mac was here all night helping you in your time of need.”

“But all I remember was Angel giving me my medicine and some juice, I didn’t see Big Mac.”

“Hmmm, from the looks of things you were pretty out of it, maybe the fever made you hallucinate?”

“I did hear some voice calming me down as I slept, and some crying.” The two mares looked at Big Mac, he looked back at them with a flat look on his face.

As twilight finished up big mac walked up to her, “can I talk to you in private?” Twilight was confused, but she followed him outside. Big Mac opened up, “Since you planned that wedding in canterlot and all, I need your opinion on the cost of certain things…”