Loose Leaf had always hated the smell of hospitals. From when he was a young colt after contracting a severe case of bronchitis and had to be admitted for two weeks to now, he hated the smell.
That sterile, antiseptic smell that burns the nose, and nowhere was that more prevalent than in the recovery room where patients are moved after surgery.
Loose Leaf sat at his wife's bed, softly stroking her mane with his magic, careful to not wake her up. He continued to stare at her face, now no longer strained by the pain that led to this moment.
A week into their Honeymoon in Los Pegasus, Peachy Keen had collapsed after severe cramps and started to haemorrhage. Worry continued to fill his mind, as he didn't know what he would say when she awoke. They hadn't told anyone that they were expecting when they got married, they were going to surprise everyone when they got back.
Now he had to break the news to his wife that they had lost the baby.
Peachy's eyes began to move under her eyelids, and a moment later they slowly opened as she groggily turned to face her husband.
"Welcome back," he said, barely above a whisper. "How're you feeling?"
"It hurts, but not as bad as before..." She said after a few moments of fighting off the anaesthetic. "The baby, Louie, what about the baby?" She said quickly and full of worry.
He couldn't say anything, but the look on his face said it all. Loose Leaf's heart broke as he watched tears fall from his wife's eyes as her face contorted in grief. Getting up to sit on the side of the bed, he took his wife into an embrace as she sobbed into his chest.
"Ahem," Somepony from the door said. "I'm sorry to intrude." A Pegasus stallion in a white coat continued. "Please accept my condolences for your loss."
There was an awkward silence for a moment before he moved to take a seat next to the bed. "I'm Dr Starburst, I'm the surgeon who operated on you last night." He explained. Loose could see the lines and bags under his eyes, and the dishevelled nature of his blue and yellow mane bore testament to how long the surgery took. "I have more information to give you that I wasn't sure about until the lab results came back. Your blood work showed very low levels of progesterone, which is the hormone that ensures the healthy development of the embryo and helps build immunity so that your immune system doesn't attack the embryo. That is what triggered the miscarriage." The doctor explained, letting them digest the information before continuing. "When your body began to expel the embryo, which can cause severe cramps like those that you had, one of them caused a tear in your uterus which was the source of the haemorrhaging. I attempted to repair it but it was too severe and I was unable to stop the bleeding."
"What are you saying?" Peachy said with shock in her voice.
"I had to perform a hysterectomy. I'm sorry. But even if I had been able to stop the bleeding, the scar tissue would have made any future pregnancy impossible. It was the only option I had. Again, I truly am sorry."
Loose Leaf's eyes shot open at the sound of his alarm clock, which he promptly sent flying across the room and into the wall where it met its end. He would have to buy another, but that wasn't an issue, it was just something he picked up in Whinnypeg on his way to Ponyville.
He forced himself out of bed and started to get ready, today was a big day, after all, it was the Library's grand opening.
"The Masked Matter-Horn looked around, seeing her comrades unconscious on the floor of the warehouse they had tracked Mane-iac to. 'You won't get away with this, Mane-iac!' Matter-Horn said, her voice full of righteous fury." Loose Leaf said, reading from the novel adaptation of the famous graphic-novel 'The Unfunny Joke' to a group of foals and one dragon, all of which gave their undivided and rapt attention. "'Oh, I think I already have.' Mane-iac said quietly, with an icy edge to her voice as she walked out of the warehouse. When She had walked far enough down the deserted street in the industrial end of the city, Mane-iac smiled. There would be no miraculous escapes today. No, she thought, There wouldn't be.." Loose Leaf continued. "That smile only grew wider when she heard the warehouse explode." He read aloud, then snapped the book shut.
"What? That's it?" One foal yelled, which was quickly followed by a chorus of protests from the young ones, eager for more.
"You'll just have to come back next week and I'll read more!" Louie told them, holding the book aloft, out of reach of the children who were trying to grab it for themselves.
Looking around the library, Louie couldn't help but smile. There wasn't anything better than a busy, well-used Library. He wasn't looking forward to taking the decorations down though, but Pinkie had promised to help, and everyone seemed to love them.
Pinkie Pie... Louie thought. Hoo boy... She's a mare possessed.
Two days ago, Pinkie Pie came home from visiting family and quickly descended upon him like an arrow. She insisted that a 'Sorry I didn't throw a welcome party for you welcome party' be thrown. It took almost twenty minutes and Apple Jack's help to finally convince her that an Apple home cooked meal was enough, and that's how she wound up being the pony who decorated the library for the grand opening. She would not be denied.
Walking back towards the main desk, which was being taken care of by the capable hooves of Starlight Glimmer, who volunteered to help with anypony wanting a new library card and checking out any books they wanted, and set the book on the interior shelf. Just as he was about to ask Starlight if she wanted a break, he noticed the dirty blonde mane and a light grey horn of a tall unicorn poking out over the small line up.
Making his way through, his suspicions were confirmed.
"Mom!" He called out a little too loud, but he didn't care. He was the Librarian after all, who's going to tell him to quiet down, himself? "When did you get here?" He asked her while pulling her in for a hug.
"A couple minutes ago, just saw you reading to those children, you always had a way with kids." She said, giving her son a compliment. "Isn't The Unfunny Joke a little adult for foals?" She teased, already knowing her son's judgment when it came to age-appropriate books was solid.
"Ha ha, mom." He said laughing, but saw Rarity walk by and called out to her. "Oh, Rarity! I want you to meet my mom,"
"So, I finally get to meet the Rarity." Loose Leaf's mother said, shaking her hoof. "I'm a great admirer of your work, it's not every day you get to meet the 'Best Up and Coming Seamstress in Equestria'." She added with some emphasis.
"It's lovely to meet... you..." Rarity began to say, but something slowly started to dawn on her. "Wait, I read that phrase a little while ago... You're..." She said, attempting to continue as her voice failed her.
"Smooth Silk,"
"Editor-in-chief of Vanity Flair," Rarity said unnecessarily.
"One and only,"
"The same Smooth Silk who said my spring line was-"
"-'Simply Divine'? Yes, I know what I wrote, meant every word of it."
"That's enough Mom," Louie interjected.
"I... I think I need to sit down..." Rarity said with a shocked look on her face.
"Aww, but I'm having fun," Smooth said with a pouty lip.
"You break it, you fix it." Louie chastised as he watched Rarity walk off like she was in a stupor. "And you broke Rarity."
"Alright, I'll catch up with you later then," She said, leaning in to give her son a peck on the cheek. "Love you, Son, and I love what you did with the place."
"What you're mother did was just plain evil, and I know evil," Starlight said from behind the desk with a mirthful tone. "You told me Rarity would love to meet your mom, but I wasn't expecting that." She continued as she stamped another library withdrawal card with its return date.
"Need a break?" Louie asked.
"Yes please," Starlight said, rolling her chair away from the desk as Louie took her place, and started processing new card applications and withdrawals at a faster and frighteningly efficient pace. But when she saw his smile, she realized that he was having fun, and couldn't help but smile too. It was nice to see a pony in their element.
When he looked back to grab something he needed, she averted his gaze for a second, then felt her cheeks heat up slightly.
What the hay am I thinking, she thought, shocked at her minds involuntary reaction. I know I've been having fun this past week hanging out with Louie, but do I like him? Her mind continued as she took a drink from her now long gone cold coffee. I mean, seriously, what do we have in common? I fly kites, he reads books, not exactly a match made in heaven. Her mind reasoned. At the very least he's not a total dork like Sunburst, and he's got a nicer looking-
"Starlight?"
Great, now he's talking to you.
"Hmm?" Starlight said, hiding her unabashed smile behind her coffee mug.
"Twilight offered to take over here for an hour so we could grab lunch, do you want to come with my Mom and me? My treat."
"Oh, yeah, sure."
"So, Starlight, what do you do?" Smooth asked as she speared a grape tomato from her salad with a fork.
"Me? I'm a student of Princess Twilight, and I'm a guidance counsellor at her school, and I guess I'm a stagehand in a magic act?" Starlight responded after swallowing a bite from her hayburger.
"Starlight's been a massive help getting the library up and running," Louie mentioned in between chewing on his fries.
"Oh, I haven't been of that much help," Starlight said with a forced smile as she looked around the open air cafe
"Nonsense, after Twilight fell asleep grading papers she forgot about, we were able to get everything shelved properly. We wouldn't have gotten finished in time for today if I didn't have your help."
"Excuse me, Miss Glimmer?" a female voice behind Starlight interrupted. Turning to face the source, she found two of her students.
"Pizzelle, Sandbar, what's up?"
"We were wondering if we can talk to you for a moment," Sandbar answered.
"Sorry, this won't take long," Starlight apologised as she got up from the table.
"She's nice," Smooth said with a mischevious smile.
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, she's a nice mare, you're a nice, single stallion..."
"No, sorry. She's just a friend." Louie said a little too quickly. "Besides, I'm... I'm not ready."
"Look, son, I don't mean to push you, but when are you going to be ready? It's been two years, you can't be alone forever."
"You seem to be doing fine since Dad left."
"If you think I've been alone, you're sorely mistaken."
"No, no! I am not having a conversation with my mother about her sex life."
Smooth just smiled and ate another tomato. "So, what do you want for your birthday next week?" She asked, changing the subject.
Across the street, a pink ear twitched twice, a back left leg shivered, and an eye winked itself.
Then a Pinkie Pie smiled.