Silent Jade

by Wanderer D

Chapter 4: Apprenticeship

Rarity held Ardeur for a moment before stealing a glance at her dad and Gaius, who were talking quietly in the kitchen. She had been told to take only what she needed, but what would life be like without Ardeur?

No. She couldn't.

She stuffed him at the bottom of her saddlebag. She then looked around. Some winter clothes, since she was headed north. Her sewing kit. A picture of her mom and dad. A picture of Sweetie. A small bag with the last few gems she had found when she got her cutie mark.

That was it. She didn't really have anything else.

She trotted out of her room and up to the two adults. Her dad pulled her into a hug. It was warm and tight and it made her feel very loved. They stayed like that for a long time, before he let her go. Sniffling, she went over to Sweetie's cradle and looked in.

Big green irises looked right back at her and a little excited gurgle escaped Sweetie Belle's mouth. Rarity sniffed again and reached her hoof inside, letting her baby sister hold on to it with her hooves. "I'll miss you, Sweetie." Rarity leaned in a gave her sister a peck on the forehead. "Be good for daddy."

Sweetie Belle gargled a reply and Rarity giggled.

She trotted up to Level Spirit and gave him as tight a hug as she could. "I'm going to miss you, daddy."

Level Spirit's embrace was just as tight and firm. "I'm going to miss you sweetheart," Level Spirit confessed into her mane. He closed his eyes and leaned his muzzle onto her mane. "Come back soon and often."

"As often as I can," Rarity whispered onto his shoulder. "I promise, daddy."

Gaius watched from the sidelines, his face not betraying any emotion, and Rarity was thankful that he didn't press them for time. But eventually, she had to let go of her dad, who stepped away, blinking away some tears.

"I guess this is it," Rarity said, her smile trembling.

"I'm proud of you. I always will be," Level Spirit said, a smile forming on his mouth as well.

Rarity touched her hoof to his foreleg before turning and walking to Gaius. "I'm ready to go, grandpa."

Gaius nodded, looking up at Level Spirit. "I'll bring her back as soon as we can get a break in her training."

"Take care of her," Level Spirit said, meeting the old gryphon's eyes.

Gaius smirked. "As if she were my own daughter."

They didn't take the main road. As soon as her home was past waving-distance, Gaius led Rarity away from the usual routes. At first she was confused when they didn't get in a train, but as they marched past her now-former school, and then waded through the road that went down Sweet Apple Acres and neared the Everfree Forest, it slowly dawned on Rarity that they were not headed for any big cities.

"Um, Grandpa Gaius?" She asked, trotting after him. "Wouldn't it be faster to take the usual roads?"

Gaius chuckled but his smile soon faded away and he shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Rarity. We're going to have to work on your stamina and resilience as we go. I can't train you quite yet, but I can't stop you from learning."

Rarity frowned at the response. "What does that mean?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean," Gaius responded. "Now come, here's the road we're taking," he added, motioning with his claw at a large bush, almost as big as him, with tightly packed trees behind it, extending as far as she could see. But that wasn't the worst part.

Rarity stared at the bushes. "That's not a road," she stated. "That's a poisonous plant called leaf scald. Applejack told me about it."

"That's because you're only seeing what others want you to see," Gaius said, walking straight into the bush and through it as if it were nothing.

Rarity stood there, gaping at the place where her grandfather had simply vanished. She approached the bush, sniffing it, but not touching the leaves. It smelled like the plant her friend had carefully pointed her at: the triple-pointed leaves were a deep green with tiny red veins on them. It looked like it, and even smelled like it but.. there was something odd. Still, after studying it for a few minutes she was unable to figure out what it was. She just had a nagging feeling that she was missing something, and it really annoyed her.

She eventually realized she was just standing there at the edge of the Everfree looking straight at a possibly poisonous bush. Clearing her throat and glancing around to make sure nopony had witnessed her odd behaviour, she gathered her courage and, closing her eyes, jumped through.

She felt the leaves brush her for a split second, and then… nothing. She opened her eyes and realized she was standing on a thin path that wove between trees and underbrush. A few meters ahead, she could see her grandfather waiting for her.

"Did you figure it out?" he asked.

Rarity gulped. She didn't want to fail anypony so early in the start of her new life but…

"It's okay," Gaius interrupted her thoughts before she could say anything. "I didn't expect you to on the first try."

"I… I didn't," Rarity acknowledged. "I felt I knew something was wrong, but… I couldn't put my hoof on it. Was it magic?"

Gaius chuckled. "No. Not like unicorns understand it, I guess." He turned and motioned with his head. "Come on, we must make way a while longer before taking a break."

"But!" Rarity protested trotting behind him. "What's the secret?!"

"You'll have to figure it out yourself," Gaius said.

Rarity pouted and tried her most devastating puppy eyes on Gaius, who only raised an eyebrow.

"Tsk. Fine." Rarity stomped after him, trying to ignore the fact that she could have sworn she saw him smile as he turned.

The Everfree was as dark and gloomy as she had expected it to be, but even more surprising was how comfortable she felt in there, following her grandfather. She could hear creatures shuffling in the underbrush and even grows and howls in the distance, but their path never changed and no creature or monster stood in their way.

More than once she had seen something, a shadow or eyes, but it was almost as if the old gryphon had some sort of magical, invisible barrier that even the largest of monsters would somehow feel and stay away from.

The mystery of her mother's past deepened and Rarity let her thoughts wander as she followed in her grandfather's wake. A gryphon father. A secret past, full of dangers and, well even more secrets. She had travelled all over the world… what did the future hold for her, now that she was doing this… and more importantly, who was her mom? Really?

The idea that a seamstress would be fighting monsters was ludicrous. Had she been a secret agent? A spy for the princess? She glanced at her grandfather, trying to think. He moved silently, but with conviction. He had a strong build, but lean. She hadn't seen many gryphons before, and the few had been from a distance. They all looked dangerous to her, but thinking back… her grandfather had this, aura of sorts that made her think he was dangerous. Not to her, but to others.

Was that what the animals and monsters were feeling?

"It's part of your future training," Gaius said.

"W-what?"

"Presenting yourself as a threat… or not," Gaius replied, as if he had been reading her mind. But he couldn't, could he?

"I can't read your mind."

"Oh." She blinked. "Wait! How did you know I was thinking that?!"

Gaius laughed. "You're a very expressive filly."

"But how does that even help?"

Gaius shrugged. "As I said, it will be part of your training, so I can't teach you that quite yet, but I can't stop you from thinking about it."

Rarity pouted, but mulled his words as the pair went deeper and deeper into the forest.

It was several hours later that they walked into a small valley in the forest. Rarity panted and heaved, her mane was disheveled and covered in twigs, her hooves dirty with mud and grime. They felt heavy and itchy and worse, painful.

She had begged her grandfather to catch a break earlier, but he had denied her wish, arguing that they needed to reach a safer area.

She had begged him to carry her, and he had told her if she couldn't make it to the camping site, he'd be carrying her back home, because she would never survive what she needed to do otherwise.

Rarity had shut up after that: the idea of not finding out the truth about her mom was inconceivable. She wouldn't let her own weakness be the cause of her sister moving away from home, either. No. As Celestia was her witness, she would do it!

And thus it was that despite the pain, she still had a small smile in her mouth when she collapsed next to the old Gryphon. "I made it."

There was a hint of pride in his voice. "You did."

She watched with interest as he pulled out several items from the surrounding underbrush. "Wait, you had this place all set up?"

Gaius smirked. "Of course. Our job needs us to be prepared and plan in advance…" he trailed off and let out a heavy sigh. "Let me set up camp, you rest for now, Rarity."

She watched in silence as he set up the camp, quickly starting a small campfire and setting out some sleeping bags. Without waiting for her to say anything, he walked over, picking her up carefully and laying her on one.

He checked her hooves, mostly leaving them alone except for using his claws to take out a sharp stone that had jabbed into her right fore-hoof. She hadn't even noticed it, but she felt immediately better when the pressure was off even if it still throbbed a bit painfully now that she was aware of it.

Gaius took a small container from his bag and spread some of the contents on her hoof, where the rock had been. "It didn't pierce your skin, but this should help ease off the rest of the pain. You'll be fine tomorrow morning."

Rarity nodded, looking at him expectantly.

Gaius sighed. "So you really want to know now? Here," he passed her a canteen with water and a small bowl with some oatmeal in it.

Rarity accepted the food. A bit spartan but… well, they were camping. The thought made her giggle. She was camping with her grandad. Funny how life turned out.

"Rarity," Gaius spoke up again, and the tone of his voice—Rarity couldn't tell what it was exactly, it wasn't anger or fear. It was something she had heard in her dad's voice a few times when he'd had to not take a job to manage her and Sweetie. "It's a beautiful name, that encompasses so much of who and what you are." He closed his eyes and she could see him balling up his claws for a second before slowly releasing them. "It cannot be your name from now on."

Rarity's eyes went wide. "B-but that's my name!" She reared up, food forgotten; the illusion of a peaceful camping trip completely destroyed. "Why can't I have my name?"

Gaius looked at her and she quieted down. The look on his eye was dangerous, but it wasn't a threat… it was different. "Your name will be a secret, known only to us. You will change the color of your mane. We will hide your cutie mark with a special formula that I will teach you and you will have mastered before we arrive at our destination," he said, opening up another package.

"But why?"

Gaius continued, undeterred. "You will not reveal your mother's name, or your father's or your sister's. The picture you carry of your family must remain with me. Hidden from others. The life you have chosen is not easy. It's deadly. Overwhelming."

"But if I do that… why can't I—"

"Rarity. Revealing this to anyone but me would put you and them in mortal danger. I won't be able to protect you all again. Your mother left who she was behind to become Prench Press. Her name is forbidden from being spoken."

He closed his eyes. "What you love, you will pretend to dislike. Or at least be uninterested in." He smirked. "I will make sure you get taught in it regardless. You will have no parents. You are an orphan I rescued from a distant relative of yours. Drink this," he said, pulling out a slightly glowing vial and giving it to her.

"W-what is it?" she asked, levitating it off of his claws.

"The formula I will teach you to make," Gaius said. "The order has made sure nopony outside of it even knows about it. They will never suspect you of having taken it."

"I don't… I don't want to." Rarity whimpered. "Please grandpa Gaius…"

His eyes softened and he very carefully brushed her mane back. "I'm sorry, Rarity… for even offering this to you. But it was your mother's wish that you understand who she truly was… and had she not passed away, she would have trained you herself in what she knew.

"She would have taught you everything, probably dragged me into it too. Your mother was dangerous, Rarity. She made enemies of the deadliest, most efficient group ever to exist: her own family. There is no way to proceed further with this if you aren't willing to go the whole way."

He sighed. "You will die. All you love will die if you go forth with doubt in your heart and mind. You must never forget, that by drinking that, Rarity as we all know and love her, will die while the new you lives."

"Who was my mom?" Rarity asked in a small voice. "Who was she, really?"

Gaius remained quiet.

Rarity sniffled, looking down at the vial. Gaius hadn't said it, but she knew he was giving her a last chance to step away. To have a grumpy gryphon grandad who would help as he could to support them.

To somehow try to achieve her dreams in a small town…

To never find the truth… but live maybe happier.

Gulping and closing her eyes, she uncorked it and brought it to her lips, drinking the contents.

It tastes… like lime and banana?

She heard Gaius sigh and take hold of the empty vial.

She opened her eyes and looked down at her coat, not noticing anything new… until her mane caught her attention. From a blue violet, her mane's color slowly seemed to bleed out into a dark, rich emerald green.

Rarity gasped, remembering Gaius' words earlier and looked at her cutie mark, which had disappeared to be replaced by a single, green rock that reminded or gem. It wasn't polished, and looked more like what a miner would extract out of a bigger chunk of it.

"And so your daughter is truly born…" Gaius whispered as the last vestiges of blue and violet left Rarity's mane.

He carefully curled a claw under her chin to lift Rarity's face up to face him. Her eyes were watery and confused.

"Why?"

Gaius took a deep breath. "Because your mother was a legend."