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If there had been one thing that Rainbow Dash had ever learned from Great Granny Smith, it had been how to hold things together in a crisis. And she certainly didn't mean through needlepoint either. If it had been, the pegasus never would have learned a thing from Applejack's grandmother. Earth ponies had a certain amount of dexterity with their hooves pegasi lacked.

No, when she learned to hold things together, it meant keeping tightly-knit as a family. It meant being strong for one another and leaning on one another through the bad times. That's what made family so great.

Wonderful, when it worked out that way.

As Rainbow sat alone in the waiting room of the ER, she couldn't help but ponder the value of Granny's advice. She rocked back and forth on her rump, hugging herself with her hooves and wings, a job normally reserved for her wife, whom she hadn't seen for the better part of an hour.

She had lost consciousness in her forehooves after they had rushed in through the front doors. Applejack had been swarmed by two doctors, four nurses, and strapped to a gurney before being rolled away.

It had been the last time she'd seen her. The pegasus's stomach clenched with worry. She hopped up from the bench she'd been sitting on.

She'd paced. She'd hovered back and forth, kicking off the walls. She eaten at least five candy bars from the stupid vending machine.

She wanted to go for a walk. The ER smelled like vomit and cleaning agents and death. It felt like it could suffocate her if she stayed too long. She needed to get away. She needed air. She needed to feel unconstrained. She needed to stretch her wings.

But she also didn't want to be missing in case a nurse came to give her news. Some things just naturally overwrote instinct.

One hour turned to two, turned to three, turned into lost time. At some point, the pegasus had stopped paying attention to the ticking clock on the wall. Her mind became preoccupied with worry. What had happened? What could make it take so long for somepony to come and give her some peace of mind? A doctor? A nurse? A greeter for pony's sake?!

Rainbow had never been known for her overbearing patience.

She would have stomped out of the waiting room and started screaming at the next hospital staff member she saw if a nurse in surgical garb hadn't come pacing up the hallway.

The pin on her lapel read "Warmheart, RN."

The alien appearance of the unicorn's attire and the air of silence about her as she silently glided across the floor dulled the blade of her fury like a grindstone.

"Mrs. Rainbow Dash, I take it?"

Nurse Warmheart's voice poured from her like it was made entirely out of cream.

Rainbow nodded, disarmed by her benevolent nature. The golden aura that untied the mask straps wrapped around her head seemed analogous to angels, holiness and deliverance. Yet none of it seemed to help the pegasus shake her feeling of despair.

Warmheart motioned to her to have a seat, and Rainbow obeyed, plopping her rump onto the cushion without care of grace.

"The baby is a few weeks premature," the nurse began softly, levitating the mask from around her face. She was aged and experienced, judging from the wrinkles around her muzzle. "It's a girl," she said.

Rainbow gulped and nodded, the bittersweetness of learning she'd had another daughter biting at her eyes.

"A-and? Will she be okay?"

The nurse's furrowed brow smoothed.

"Oh, I've seen foals born far earlier than this that make it through just fine," she said with a soothing smile. "Off the record, I don't think she's in any real danger. That being said, we have sent her to the NICU, just to be sure."

Rainbow's worry eased greatly. She heaved her chest, breathing in deeply. The hospital's vulgar smells seemed so distant when compared to the sweet feeling of relief.

Something still bothered her however, and it chilled her to the core.

As Warmheart gazed to her neutrally, the pegasus felt the icy chill of fear and the heavy weight of dread pull her back down from her euphoric sense of release.

She swallowed, but the painful lump in her throat wouldn't retreat. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes as stress and emotion ate away at the fortress surrounding her heart.

"W-... what about Applejack...?" she asked fearfully. Rainbow could have gone an eternity without asking it, because frankly, she didn't know for sure whether or not she wanted the answer. She wanted to live with the worry in that moment. She wanted to curl up inside that little spot in Eternity and inhabit it forever, and never know the answer.

Warmheart's expression softened, and her eyes shimmered in sympathy.

"Mrs. Applejack is out of surgery. The anesthesia will wear off soon." She paused.

Rainbow couldn't take it. She wanted to scream at the nurse to not tell her. She wanted her to leave her alone.

Yet she couldn't not know now.

"She lost a great deal of blood during the procedure and needed to be resuscitated once. We managed to fix the problem. Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to say at this point what her outcome might be."

She paused again as she considered her words.

Rainbow hated the pauses.

"She's... in a very fragile position," she explained. "We'll need to keep a very close eye on her until she's recovered. I'm sorry to say that she will not bear children again."

The pegasus bit her hoof and nodded. She clenched her eyes to try and stop the hated sensation of hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

As Warmheart wrapped her hooves around her, Rainbow caught a whiff of lilac that shattered her tough-guy front like glass. She leaned into the nurse's hold and squeezed her, crying as she had never known she could before. She felt like a little filly again, helpless against the cruelties of the world. The powerful ties that kept her strong unravelled, and she was made weak.

And she hated it.

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