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// 13 For Better or For Worse 
// Story: Aria 
// by SprocketProductions 
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I rode in the passenger side seat of my McClarintosh as Flare fired it down the road on the way to the hospital. The foal was coming, and there was no stopping it from happening, so the best thing to do was have medical professionals make the process as easy as possible. We had already alerted the authorities to our reasoning for such haste and a police car was running behind us making sure to keep the siren on so other ponies knew to move out of the way. When we arrived at the hospital, I was rushed out of the car and was quickly on my way inside. I was swiftly taken to a room where the baby was delivered. At the end of the procedure, I was worried to not hear any noise from my foal, and even more so to see the forlorn expressions of the doctors and nurses as they rushed the filly out, presumably to save her.

After a few minutes, my heart skipped a beat as Flare burst in the door.

"How did it go?" He asked.

I replied, "Well, delivery seemed to go smoothly, but I'm not sure about our kid."

"What? Why not?" His eyes widened.

I held back tears, "She didn't make a sound when she came out and the doctors didn't look optimistic in the least..."

Flare teared up as he hugged me tightly. He comforted me greatly. I knew that if our child didn't make it, we would try again, but it didn't make the possibility of the loss hurt any less. Soon, we were sitting in anticipation of what could come next. We waited there for what seemed like hours. We occasionally had some small talk as well as reminders of love as we waited. It got into the evening before a nurse walked in with a dark expression, obviously bearing bad news.

She cleared our throat, "Y-your filly didn't survive. The cause of death was due to blunt force trauma. D-did you by any chance do anything that may have caused that?"

I put my hoof over my mouth as tears streamed down my face. I remembered the shed falling down on me. I thought I had been completely fine, but obviously something went wrong. I didn't think it could've happened to me and Flare. I had new found sympathy for those it had happened to before.

It was a long while before I was released from the hospital, not with a newborn foal, but with grief. I road in the passenger side of my car, looking out the window as the scenery drifted behind us. Everything seemed darker. How could life let this happen? How were ponies put into a reality that would do this to us. I waited nine whole months in anticipation to be disappointed due to a mistake that effectively killed the baby. I felt tears stream down my face as we got closer to the house.

We both got inside silently. I climbed up the stairs and into bed, curling up and crying. I let it all out until it faded off into a dark void of nothingness. I had fallen asleep. It had been years since I had a dreamless night, and I distinctly remembered that they usually seemed rather short. This one was not one such slumber. I felt like I was somberly staring at an abyss for what seemed like days. I awoke to white light pouring in through the window. Flare wasn't in the bed with me.

I stumbled down the steps and went out back to see my special somepony asleep in one of the patio chairs with dark circles under his eyes. I went back inside to find a blanket and gently covered him with it. Going back inside, I didn't make coffee, I simply pulled out a Ditzy Cola from the fridge for my caffeine. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I wiped off my smeared makeup but didn't bother to redo it. Wandering into the living room, I plopped myself down on the couch and turned on the PonyStation, playing the most violent games we had for hours, just to try and get my mind momentarily distracted.

At around noon, I looked out back to see that Flare was still sound asleep, so I went to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee for him. Going back out, I set the cup on the small table next to the chair he was sleeping in. I glanced over at where I had set up the wood plank as a magic target and saw several more thoroughly broken planks. I also saw were Flare had begun to set up a new one.

"Did you do that all night?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

Still not awake, Flare drowsily groaned. He then slightly squirmed under the blanket. The chair was long enough for another pony, so I carefully got under the blanket and cuddled up next to him, watching Red play in the tree. I doubted that Red knew what happened. I still didn't hold it against him. He was a bird, after all.

After a few minutes, Flare started to stir. He yawned and stretched a bit, opening his eyes and looking around. He took a few sips of his coffee and looked at me. We both stayed silent, neither of us knew what to say. I thought about calling my friends and/or my parents, but I didn't want to break the news to them quite yet. Though I couldn't really say I particularly wanted to do anything at that moment.

Flare and I spent the rest of the day sitting together, watching Red play in the tree, unknowing of what would be to come.