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// So You Have Two Mommies. Which One Gets To Go Through Tartarus? 
// Story: Family Planning Center 
// by MythrilMoth 
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The Family Planning Center offers services beyond simply providing professional studs to sire foals. It also offers counseling services for prospective clients and new mothers.

One of the idiosyncracies of a society with a heavily unbalanced gender ratio is that bisexuality and outright homosexuality are extremely commonplace—moreso than is really spoken of in polite society. Equestria has no stigma against gay and lesbian couples, but at the same time, it's not something ponies talk about out in the open, even when towns such as Ponyville are lousy with same-sex couples who enjoy dates, outings, and sitting on benches together in broad daylight every day. They're there, nopony cares, but nopony talks about it—mostly because it's a depressing reminder to the population at large that there aren't enough stallions to go around.

Of course, like anypony else, same-sex couples are likely to want to start a family. For some couples, there is no hesitation: one partner wants to have a foal, the other agrees, and the services of the Family Planning Center are enlisted as per usual.

Sometimes, when a couple wants to have a foal, there are issues to iron out. And when those issues can't be worked out between the two mares in question, they turn to Fertile Plot for advice and counseling.

On a crisp autumn day, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon sat across from Fertile Plot in her living room—she always conducted counseling in her own home rather than at the clinic; it was more personable and more comforting to the client.

"So," Fertie said with a smile, "you two are considering having a foal."

"Yes," Bon Bon said. "We've talked it over, and...we'd like to have a foal of our own. We don't want to, y'know, adopt. Not that there's anything wrong with adopting! We just—"

"I understand completely," Fertie said with a raised hoof.

"The thing is," Lyra said hesitantly, "we...haven't really decided which one of us should be the mother."

"And there are other issues," Bon Bon said. "I mean..." She grimaced. "Neither of us really wanna be, y'know, mounted."

"That's not a problem," Fertie said. "Well...it's a problem for me, but it's not a problem in general. You'll have to go to Canterlot for that. I don't have the facilities for it here, my clinic is natural impregnation only."

"Oh," Bon Bon said, her ears wilting. "Umm...maybe we shouldn't take up any more of your time then, I mean..."

"Oh, I'm happy to help you with any counseling you need," Fertie said with a smile. "I mean, it is one of our services, and you wouldn't be the first mares I've sent to Canterlot for the actual moment of truth. I'm not offended in the least, honest. I completely understand how it is, some mares just don't want to be mounted."

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, then blushed faintly. "Well, not by a stallion anyway," Lyra said.

Fertie chuckled. "So, would the two of you like to talk about your concerns, your thoughts on motherhood, anything? I'm here to listen and to offer any advice that might be helpful."

"Well..." Lyra looked at Bon Bon, who shrugged and made a 'you go first' gesture. "I mean, we want a foal and we want one of us to be the real mother, but...I guess we're both a little scared of all the, y'know, stuff that goes along with it. And, well..." She glanced at Bon Bon.

Bon Bon sighed. "We can't agree on whether or not we'd like a unicorn or an earth pony foal," she said. "I mean, Lyra wants a unicorn baby, I kinda want an earth pony..."

"You realize there's no guarantee the foal will be the same tribe as the mother," Fertie pointed out. "I mean, the Cake Twins aren't earth ponies, Star Sweeper is a pegasus and her mother was a unicorn at the time of her birth..."

"Yeah, we know," Bon Bon said. "But the odds are still in favor of the foal being the same tribe as the mother, right?" At Fertie's nod, she continued, "And that's the thing. We don't know for sure."

"Well...does it really matter?" Fertie asked. "I mean, isn't the most important thing that you have a foal of your own to love and nurture?"

The two mares looked at each other. "Well...that's true," Lyra said.

"I guess," Bon Bon said. "But...we hate not being able to agree on something this important, you know? We've always been so in synch with each other, but this..."

"It's a big change in your lives," Fertie said soothingly. "A major change to your family dynamic. You'll no longer be just that couple that sits on every bench in town. You'll be parents, with a foal of your own. A real family."

Lyra and Bon Bon smiled at each other. "A family," they said dreamily.

"Of course, if it helps, there are some tests I can run," Fertie said. "Fertility, viability, likelihood of desired outcome. The science has advanced a lot in the last two years, ever since Princess Twilight took an active interest in genetics."

"I imagine Flurry Heart had a lot to do with that," Lyra said with a smirk.

Fertie winced. "Flurry Heart's birth...has been a nightmare for my business, frankly," she said. "A lot of mares want to shoot for that outside half percent chance of an alicorn, completely missing the fact that Princess Cadance is an alicorn and that massively changed the odds. And even then, I hear the other princesses were totally stunned when Flurry was born."

"Yeah, we heard that too," Lyra said.

"Anyway, there's another issue," Bon Bon said. "The two of us, well...we're kind of all over the place all the time, traveling back and forth between Ponyville and Canterlot, and even farther away places. Whichever one of us gets pregnant, she'll have to stay put in Ponyville."

"Yeah, and that's gonna be tough on me especially," Lyra said.

Fertie offered a sympathetic grimace. "I hate to tell you this," she said, "but it doesn't really matter which one of you gets pregnant. You're both going to be limited by this. After all, you'll need to be there for your partner at a moment's notice, right?"

Lyra and Bon Bon exchanged a glance. Their ears drooped. "We didn't even think of that," Bon Bon admitted.

Fertie smiled gently. "It's a big decision," she said. "If you'd rather take some time, think it over, maybe not rush into it?"

"Well, we'd like..." Lyra sighed. "We'd like to try for it before spring," she said. "I'm in heat right now, Bon Bon's due for a heat in a few weeks. Neither of us get heat in the winter."

Fertie nodded. "I understand." She stood up. "If you'd like to come over to the clinic for some fertility tests...?"


* * * * *


Two days later, Lyra and Bon Bon sat in Fertile Plot's living room again.

"So the good news is Lyra's in perfect reproductive health," Fertie said. "I can almost guarantee a normal, healthy pregnancy and a successful birth. According to the lab over at the Ponyville Clinic, you're almost guaranteed to foal a unicorn if you receive unicorn sperm in Canterlot."

"That's good to know," Lyra said.

Fertie looked at Bon Bon and sighed. "And now, the bad news."

Bon Bon's ears wilted.

Fertie adopted her most gentle, reassuring expression and tone. "I'm not going to say you can't get pregnant, carry a foal to term, and have a live birth." She shuffled some papers in Bon Bon's results. "It's just that, well...the lab found some problems..."

Bon Bon sighed. "Related to some old injuries, I'm sure."

Fertie nodded. "Your chance of a successful pregnancy is about sixty-five percent, and..." She frowned. "If you did get pregnant, your foal could have...birth defects."

"Stupid bugbear..." Bon Bon rubbed one arm with a hoof and looked away. Lyra put a hoof around her consolingly.

"I think," Fertie said slowly, "you two need to sit down, alone, at home, and really talk this over. And more than anything, be there for each other."

Lyra nodded. "Yeah, I think we'll do that. Thanks, Fertie."

"It's what I'm here for," Fertie said with a smile. "For what it's worth, I think you'll both be amazing mommies."


* * * * *


Lyra and Bon Bon watched the carnage unfolding in Ponyville's toy store as Princess Flurry Heart ran amok. "Umm...are you absolutely sure you want to have to deal with that?" Lyra asked quietly. "Because if this kid's a unicorn, it's gonna be like that for a while."

Bon Bon smiled. "As long as you're by my side, we can handle anything," she said.