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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Thanks for the update! Are the unicorns going to make contact with the earth ponies soon?
7915802 You'd be surprised at how soon and how it happens.
I was going to say that they shouldn’t be in anywhere near as much pain as that — the reason women suffer so during childbirth is due to the absurd girth of a human child’s fat head — childbirth isn’t… comfortable for horses, but it isn’t agony like that. Not for a fully grown horse, at least. Then I remembered just how fat a pony’s head is in MLP and was left wondering just how high the mortality rate for foaling mares is and how ponies sustained population growth at all. Then the blood came and I realised things were going to end in tragedy for Brilliant Dawn. Bit of unintended emotional whiplash there.
Dawn’s inner dialogue said something about not having thought she was ready for foals yet. Was that because she wasn’t physically mature or because she merely didn’t feel ready for it? If the former then her mother’s disregard for her well being is not only callous but reckless as well; there are a mere dozen unicorns capable of acting as a focusing array. With that few, any loss of the prerequisite genes endangers their long term survival.
Chapters like this make me wonder if I can really be a writer.
Because I don't think I could do that to one of my characters. Dove has wanted something for a long time and the fact it's been denied to her again. I hate it. I hate when stories do this. I read them to get away with how unfair life can be. Not be reminded of it. :/
I'm also trying to figure out exactly what happened with Dawn there. I think I know, but I'm not certain.
Did the foals horn tear something on the way out? Or was she technically still too young for this? Or was it because of the magic thing they were doing the moment before?
Also if you dare do something like this to Sky, I'm going to find you and hit you with a rolled up newspaper while shouting "No" and "Bad" several times.
7915834
Agreed, she's a terrible mother.
I imagine the other unicorns in positions of high power will punish her for this, even if their rationale is only that her neglect led to a waste of precious resources.
Gotta say dove just can't get a break can she? Loses all her foals, attacked by wolves, and now this. At least she has meadowlark and strongbuck.
7915834
Her mother forced her to get pregnant during her very first heat. A study in the 1970s showed that mares suffered a 46% miscarriage rate on first heat pregnancies. Of course that study was in a domestic environment where the mother could receive treatment for any complications... not alone on top of a ziggurat where they were abandoned by their own shit mothers.
Heats come regularly once they start so 'finally come' only fits for the first heat.
EDIT-
Because I know someone will object to real world parallels being referenced in magical horse land... in chapter thirteen Bell gave us this canon explanation of first heat breeding:
7915834
A few things, back in more primitive times the onset of puberty was considered "of age" this was due to the short life expectancy. You werent expected to live past 30. So things needed to happen early so you could start preparing the next generation while the current one does the work. They didnt understand that the body is still developing and child birth posed a grater risk to the young. They just considered it the risk of child birth, couple that with high infant mortality rates and some places couldn't wait for a woman to fully mature.
Secondly this sort of forced breeding by societal standards was the means of keeping a bloodline in power. I'd imagine in a preformance based society like the Unicorns bloodline and breeding was paramount for their leadership. It may seem selfish but in primitive time power ment security. You followed the ass hole king because he had an army to protect you. So in this case I feel Dawn's mother wasnt particularly bad. Just doing what she needed to do to make things work.
7915943
Ah. I remembered Sky getting talked to about that, but when I was reading this chapter I missed the implication that it was Dawn’s first heat.
7915962
The earth ponies knew about the risk of foaling too early. I will admit that assuming the unicorns did too is a mistake on my part since there’s nothing to indicate that that was the case.
There is no indication that the mother has any other foals of comparable ability which is part of why I considered it so damn reckless; if she were aware of the risk then it’s a choice between delaying a few years to better the odds her legacy is secured or having Dawn reproduce early and risk losing dam and foal both.
7916039
If child birth is a hazardous endevor a powerful leader risks alot doing it more than once. Any time she would invest in bareing children would be time her rivals would use to gain influence over her. But Dawn does mention she is the eldest daughter so its likely her mother still has a sucessor. But it is likely the blind child will be abandond if she is power obsessed as we have seen. Mostlikely Dawns death will be blamed on the weak child or some other factor that can be spun in her favor.
7915855 I think you mean Bell Flower and Strongbuck
Just to clarify it to readers. When I said her heat had finally come, I was meaning her second heat. After she had her first heat, her mother started looking through and choosing the right stallion for her, when her heat finally came back again she then forced the breeding.
Brilliant Dawn was the eldest daughter of 4. Her sisters are Radiant Sunset, Dazzling Evening, and the youngest is Vivid Midnight. They are in the next chapter, which I am already writing.
7916273 oops. Yay I meant bell flower.
7915843
I feel the author telegraphed upcoming events a bit too blatantly because I'm not feeling too sorry for Dove at the moment. Maybe if I turn out wrong I'll feel retroactively bad for her but we'll see.
50
s says Dove adopts the blind unicorn
7915843
I'm gonna say its not a birth related injury. I suspect the infant was instead stillborn, which would be why she's crying and needs emotional support.
7917676 Not sure what you mean by birth related injury. But yes, Dove Song miscarried.
A very somber chapter.
I appreciate the warming that you gave about this chapter and even though it was a sad chapter, I think it adds a lot to the world building. Most of us that live in first world countries forget how dangerous child bearing can be. My ex had a miscarriage and almost died with are first daughter so all lot of these events hit close to home for me.
Even though this chapter made me sad it was well done and I am very glad you wrote it.
Can't wait for next chapter. ![:pinkiehappy:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/pinkiehappy.png)
This... was not as bad as I feared, yet it was still pretty terrible.
Didn't start too bad - a spark (hue hue) of more hope, a father being proud of his daughter.
Aaaaaand from then it went downhill.
Brilliant Dawn... a character who appeared as quickly as she left. Poor thing, she was in such a bad position. Forced into so many things by her own mother who, from the description, cared for nothing else but power.
She died during foaling...
You sneaky thing, just a few chapters ago you had different ponies speaking about first head pregnancy risks, and now you have shown us the 2nd worst case scenario of it (the worst would be if the filly didn't survive either).
I wonder what will become of the little thing, especially since she's so blind.
I wonder how will Astral react.
Probably something along the lines of "pitiful", which will cement her appearance of being a power-hungry monster. We'll see.
Is it me or do the unicorns appear much more advanced than the earth ponies? Or they're just feeling entitled because of their magic.
Either way, they seem to have quite understood the concepts the others are only just learning about.
Time will tell.
Poor Dove, her fears have come true.
While she's not barren as she said (that would imply she's completely infertile), these miscarriages are pretty crushing. Poor thing. She'll need all the support she can get now.
Her womb or something must be damaged, since this is three for three in miscarriages. She'll need every little bit of support she can get now. But at least she will see that this is not something Strongbuck will leave her for.
And also Celestia, having to find out for herself how easily a young life can be snuffed out... and not being able to do anything about it.
That and Dove might in her anguish lashed out, but we won't know for sure yet.
Ash certainly has his job cut out for him.
Well, not everything can be going well all the time, and this chapter proved it a few times.
Let's see what lies in store for more! From your journal you said that this mood will last a few chapters, which is making me worried about what will come next... but still can't wait to read it because of your excellent writing.
well.. i wasn't entirely wrong i guess. xD
i feel as tho astral has let that power go to her head.
Brightstar'S
moveD
The whole fire discovery scene was excellently paced and engaging.
felt like they WERE
feelingS
Wow. Unicorns are such jackasses.
Period at the end.
7919512 Got them thanks.![:twilightsmile:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/twilightsmile.png)
Good chapter!
Such an cliffhanger! So many open questions!
I can't wait to see what happens next!
7938692 I most certainly will! And sorry about the whole... Not noticing your gender thing... That was embarrassing
Great, they've got a pyromaniac and no FD. This can't end well.
7942282 LOL!![:rainbowlaugh:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/rainbowlaugh.png)
I wonder if dove well have the unicorn foal?
I know ware this is going.![:pinkiehappy:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/pinkiehappy.png)
if i am wright no spoilers from me.