Silent Jade

by Wanderer D

Chapter 1: Sweetie Belle

The clock kept ticking away, and Rarity couldn't take her eyes off of it. She tried to concentrate on her notes, or Ms. Belt's words, but her mind kept drifting back to her parents and the hospital. It had been seven hours already since they had woken up in the middle of the night, with her mother having the tell-tale pains of contractions.

Of course they had stayed all night together at the hospital waiting for her new little sister to be born, but she was taking so long! The doctors hadn't seemed very happy either, talking to her dad and asking her mom questions about when Rarity was born and some other things that Rarity didn't really understand.

Finally, her dad had asked her to go to school, promising to send somepony to let her know as soon as her mom was ready to bring her baby sister to the world.

"Rarity," Ms. Book Belt called out, drawing her attention. "You may leave now. I know you don't want to miss a minute today."

Rarity smiled gratefully and started getting up, but hesitated. "Um... are you sure you don't mind me missing class today?"

Her teacher shook her head. "Rarity, dear, I appreciate that you came to school today, but we would all have understood if you missed class for something so important."

Murmurs from the other students made her look around to her friends and neighbors nodding and smiling.

"Well, go on!" the farm filly in the last row called out. Applejack, if Rarity's memory served her. "You can't miss a new family member comin' along!"

Quickly gathering her books, she smiled at her schoolmates and nodded at her teacher, making her way out. "Thank you, Ms. Book Belt!" she called out as she headed for the door. "I'll let you all know how things went!"

She galloped out of school as fast as she could, past the playground and making her way into Ponyville soon after. She ran past her home, turning right onto the main street and not slowing down even as she ran through the central plaza's market.

Ponies left and right were almost a blur, but she wasn't thinking about them at all. 'I'm going to be a big sister!' she kept thinking to herself over and over as her smile grew. 'I'll get to teach my little sister how to dress up! And how to style her mane! I wonder if she'll model for me, and play tea party! We can play with Ardeur together! I'll introduce her to my friends at school, I'm sure she'll be such an adorable little filly!'

The hospital, in all it's concrete glory finally came into view, and soon Rarity was pushing the glass doors open and trotting up to the nurse behind the counter, while gasping for air.

The nurse raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "Can I help you?"

"Y-yes," Rarity gasped out and stopped to take a deep breath and calm down before speaking again. "Yes, sorry. I'm looking for Prench Seam's room?"

The nurse looked down at her clipboard and hummed. "That would be room 615, dear."

"615, got it!"

Rarity had barely gotten to the room when the door was pulled open, and a panicked stallion galloped out, barely avoiding her. She could hear shouts coming from within and the scrambling of several ponies.

Even before she even thought about looking inside, the pony that had galloped out was already rushing back in, a bag of equipment floating in with him.

Rarity quickly jumped into the room, trying to see her mother, but the bed was surrounded by several ponies moving about, frantically setting up equipment around it. She stared at the scene for a moment, and levitated Ardeur out of her backpack, holding the phoenix plush toy tight, trying to gather her courage.

She was about to take a step forward, when she felt somepony hold her back.

She looked up in shock at her dad, who was standing next to the door, looking down at her in surprise. His eyes were bloodshot and his teal coat matted, and rusty-red mane disheveled.

"Rarity?" He shook his head, eyes wide. "What are you doing here? Weren't you at school?"

"I—"

"Rarity," he said urgently, kneeling down to look at her in the eye. "You shouldn't be here, love. Go back to school."

"But Ms. Belt said I could come here to see my little sister!"

"Rarity, I—"

"Level!"

Immediately Rarity and her dad looked at the bed.

"Where are you, Level?"

"I'm right here!" Rarity's dad responded, standing up and making his way to the bed, with her in tow.

He took a deep breath as the medics and nurses stepped back to give them a better view. "Rarity is here as well, they let her out early."

Rarity stood on her hind legs, leaning on the bed, and looked up at her mom, who smiled tiredly at her. The beeping sound of the machine they had strapped to her kept going steadily, and Rarity could see several spells as they were cast on her mother.

"My little Rarity," Prench Seam whispered. "Her hoof raised delicately to brush down Rarity's mane.

"Honey..."

Prench Seam shook her head. "It's okay... I'm glad she's here so I could see her."

"Mommy?" Rarity asked, raising a hoof to hold her mother's against her cheek. "What's going on?"

Prench Seam cringed, closing her eyes and hissing in obvious pain, before forcing them open again. "Rarity, the doctors have to help mommy finish giving birth to your little sister, but it's going to be complicated... Can you be a dear and wait outside the room for your daddy?"

For some reason Rarity felt scared, but she forced herself to nod. "I-I will, mommy. Do you want Ardeur to stay with you?"

"Thank you, darling." Prench Seam smiled and stroked Rarity's mane again. "But I think Ardeur needs you right now. I love you, sweetheart. I love you very, very much."

Rarity gulped and nodded, sliding down and slowly making her way to the door. Outside the room, she leaned next to the door, trying to listen in.

"We don't know what's wrong..." one of the doctors was saying.

"It came out of nowhere... this complication is nothing like what we have on record from ten years ago." A female pony spoke up. "It might be the same cause, but it's much worse this time. If we knew how she contracted this—"

"Is it a disease?" Rarity heard her dad speak up.

"No it's... some sort of deterioration."

They were silent for a moment, and Rarity could barely make out the sound of her mother's voice, but she couldn't tell what she was saying.

"We may be able to stabilize you but not while you're giving birth! Your body is going into shock—"

The pause was longer this time, and Rarity risked a peek inside.

Her dad was leaning very close to her mom, nodding and shaking. He turned to say something to her, and she nodded back, then looked at the door, where she noticed Rarity looking in.

Prench Seam smiled and said something to her dad, and soon, after some hushed words to the doctors, and several nods from the staff, Level Spirit walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him as he picked up his daugher and sat down with her on one of the benches nearby.

Rarity didn't let go of Ardeur, squishing him tight so he wouldn't be scared. "Daddy?"

Level Spirit took a deep breath. "Yes, dear?"

"What's wrong with mommy?"

He gulped and pulled her close. "We don't know sweetheart."

Rarity lowered her head to rest on her dad's shoulder. She stared straight ahead, at the window far at the end of the corridor, where sunlight shone through. "But she's going to be okay, right?"

Level Spirit held her tighter and didn't answer.

"Right?"

"I hope so, Rarity. I really do."

Rarity sighed and hugged her dad as tight as she could.

It was the stirring of the warm body under her that woke her up. Rarity blinked and yawned, looking up at her dad who had shifted his position when a doctor had come up to him.

"The baby is safe," the doctor said.

Rarity rolled onto the floor and gazed at the pony in surprise, a big smile growing on her face. "I have a sister? I have a sister!" She picked up Ardeur and held him in front of her with that smile on her face. "Did you hear that Ardeur? I have a sister!"

"What about Prench Seam?" Level Spirit asked, slowly standing up.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry. She's with the foal right now but... there's not much time left."

Rarity's eyes widened. "Daddy, what does that mean?"

Level Spirit opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. His eyes centered on Rarity and she was surprised to see them shimmering with unshed tears.

"It-it means..." Level Spirit gulped, shaking his head. "It means we need to see your mommy right now, sweetheart. So we can say goodbye."

He levitated Ardeur out of her arms and put it inside her saddlebags.

Rarity followed her dad into the room, stumbling around trying to make him look down at her. "Why goodbye, daddy? Where's mommy going? Can't she stay? Is she going to another hospital?"

Level Spirit faltered as he walked, and stopped only to brush Rarity's mane with his hoof. "No, honey... mommy is very sick... I-we need to say goodbye, and be brave. She'll want us to smile and let her know that we'll think of her."

They had reached the bed by then, and Rarity jumped on a nearby chair to sit looking at what her mom had in her hooves while her dad walked around the bed to sit morosely on the other side, looking at his wife. Prench Seam was softly nuzzling a little bundle of white, pink and purple. The little foal had her eyes closed and was breathing calmly, with a content smile on her face.

Smiling, Rarity looked up to her mom’s face and her smile slowly faded away. She looked gaunt. Exhausted. Her breath was ragged, and although she was smiling at the foal and Rarity, she lacked something in that smile. "Rarity..." she whispered.

"M-mommy..."

Prench Seam stretched her foreleg, gently tracing her daughter's cheek. "I love you honey... I'm so sorry that we can't all be together much longer."

"But why?" Rarity cried, tears brimming in her eyes. "Mommy, I have a new sister and we—" she choked, sniffing loudly as the tears finally poured down her face.

"Be brave, little one," Prench Seam whispered. "Be good for your daddy, and take care of your sister and Ardeur for me, okay?"

Rarity shook her head, pushing away. "No. Please! Please don't go! I'll be good! I'll get better grades!" she sobbed. "Please stay! I promise I'll be the best daughter you could want! Don't go!"

A soft chuckle made her look up to her mother, who was looking at her with loving eyes. "My little Rarity... you couldn't be more perfect in my eyes, sweetheart."

Prench Seam wheezed and coughed, her body curling up. Gasping, she weakly levitated the foal away and to the waiting arms of Level Spirit. "I'm sorry..." she began to say, but her husband shushed her, bending down to kiss her.

Rarity watched with horrified eyes as her mom leaned forward for that last peck on the lips, then closed her eyes. Her breaths became stronger and faster before slowing down until they stopped.

She slowly reached to touch her mother's foreleg, shaking it for a bit. "Mommy? M-mommy?"

She hadn't noticed when her dad had left the other side of the bed, but when he levitated her and held her close, Rarity couldn't help it.

"Mommy!" she bawled, not caring about anypony else seeing her. She kicked and screamed and called out until she finally couldn't anymore and slumped, sobbing onto her dad's shoulder. "Mommy..."

Rarity didn't even raise her head when somepony knocked on the door. She lay on the sofa, head on the pillows, staring emotionless at the crib, where Sweetie Belle cried without pause.

More knocking. "Just a second!" Level Spirit called out, coming out of the kitchen and levitating a bottle of formula. He lowered it carefully, and let Sweetie hold it with her little hooves before shooting Rarity a short, worried glance and trotting to the door.

Rarity ignored the voices coming from the entrance, her concentration directly on the crib. She gritted her teeth. In there, sucking away happily at a bottle and without any care in the world was the one responsible for her mom dying.

She thought about the dinner they had before the contractions happened. How her mom was so happy, with a big belly, to tell Rarity how she would be a wonderful sister. Rarity closed her eyes, her mother's smile engraved in her mind until it was flushed away and replaced with a restful look devoid of life as she lay inside a coffin. 'She killed her!

She slowly pushed herself up and walked over to look over the edge of the crib at her sister. The little creature gurgled, big green eyes focusing on her as she used all four hooves to keep the bottle up and drink from it.

"You shouldn't be here," Rarity whispered. "Why did you have to be here and not mom?"

"Rarity?" Level Spirit asked, drawing her attention, making his way up to her as he levitated a cloth bag and some notes. "Is Sweetie okay?"

Rarity pushed herself away from the crib and snorted. "Of course she is."

Level Spirit shook his head, putting the bag and papers down. "What's wrong?"

"She's what's wrong!" Rarity snapped, startling Sweetie into letting go of her bottle. The little unicorn began crying again, which seemed only to make Rarity more and more angry. "Why is she here and not mommy?! Why did she have to come with us a-and we had to lose—"

She never finished her sentence. In a second, she was being held close by Level Spirit, who didn't let go of her as he levitated the bottle back onto the crib. "Shh. It's okay, Rarity."

Tears fell from her eyes and she buried her face on his shoulder as her body shook with frustrated sobs. "It's not fair..." she mumbled.

"Rarity," Level Spirit said softly. "Your mom wouldn't want you to hate your sister."

"I know," came the muffled reply. "But if Sweetie hadn't been born—"

"Your mom," her father interrupted. "Almost died as well when you were born."

Rarity's eyes opened wide and she became very still, holding on to her dad as he spoke.

"She never told me what had happened that affected her, but something did and... when she was pregnant with you, she was told her chances of surviving were very low." Level Spirit started brushing her mane down with his hoof. "She didn't care... she wasn't going to lose you. And so she pushed on and... she came very close, but when you were born after many hours of pain and a lot of scares, and she was holding you... she looked up at me and said: 'Look, Spirit. Our little Rarity. Isn't she worth fighting death for?' And," he added, nuzzling Rarity's cheek. "You were. And you still are."

He pushed her back a bit, so that they were still right in front of each other. "When she was in the hospital struggling to help Sweetie into this world, she told me she was not afraid, because our family was worth protecting and bringing together." He carefully levitated Sweetie Belle, still drinking her formula, out of the crib and lowered her gently onto Rarity's forelegs.

Rarity held her little sister in her arms, looking down at the warm, little furry bundle that looked right back at her with all the trust in the world.

"Don't you think..." her father spoke up, making her look at him. "That she's worth fighting death for?"

Rarity stared at him and felt Sweetie shift a little. She looked down and felt the tears come again. Maybe it was that Sweetie had the most adorable little hooves. Or maybe that cute little horn, or just how cuddly she was. Maybe it was that her eyes were the same shade of green as her mother's... but whatever the reason, there was only one answer she could give him.

"Yes." Rarity choked and sobbed and closed her eyes, pulling Sweetie a little closer, but careful not to crush her or make her drop the bottle. "Yes... yes she is! I'm sorry! I just want my mommy!"

Level Spirit smiled gently, and wiped the tears from under cheeks. "I know sweetheart, I miss her too."

After a reassuring shoulder-hug, Level Spirit stood up, taking Sweetie in his spell, and depositing her back inside her crib. "Would you like something to drink, Rarity?"

Rarity nodded, sniffling. "Tea, I think."

Level Spirit arched an eyebrow. "But I thought you didn't like it?"

"Mom liked it."

Rarity watched her dad set up a small table next to them, pouring some tea and then levitating an apple pie from the cloth bag he had come back with earlier.

"Where does that come from?" Rarity asked, mouth already watering.

"One of your schoolmates brought it," Level Spirit replied, cutting a wedge and serving it. "Applejack, I think she called herself. She also brought you school notes." He smiled, settling down the plate with apple pie in front of her. "She seems like a good friend."

Rarity shook her head. "I know her but... we're not friends, exactly. We never talked before."

Level Spirit bopped her nose with his hoof. "Well then, she seems like a nice pony to befriend."

Rarity nodded absently.

"Maybe... at school, right?"

Her father's words made her look up. "I—"

"Sweetheart, you need to go out again, it's been almost two weeks now," Level Spirit said evenly. "A filly your age needs to be in school, you need friends and some distractions, let me worry about the rest."

"Will you be able to take care of Sweetie Belle on your own?"

Level Spirit nodded, giving his daughter a hug. "I will. Now, let's eat this apple pie before it cools down completely, and then we can work on your homework."

Rarity nodded. "And then Ardeur and I can play with Sweetie?"

"Of course."