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// Chapter Two: Old Blood 
// Story: "Pure" Blood 
// by Wolftamer54 
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Shock, surprise, even disgust or anger. Twilight expected to see these emotions on Cadance’s face at the reveal, but found none. Instead, her small, tired smile reflected understanding and acceptance. In fact, she looked nothing short of relieved, as though pleased by this turn of events. Shining, too, seemed happy. Even Spike had an almost smug look of satisfaction on his face. 

“Congratulations Twilight. I’m sure you’ll make a great mother,” Cadance said, drawing Twilight into a hug. 
Still surprised by this sort of positive reaction, Twilight did not immediately return it. She merely continued to look bewildered, only dimly registering that Shining had got up from his seat and joined them. She soon felt his hooves wrap around them both. 

“Let me guess, I’m the father?” he whispered in her ear, to which she nodded. 

“You aren’t surprised?” Twilight asked. “I thought you’d be shocked.”  

Cadance briefly pulled out of the hug to look at her, a sort of sheepish smile on her face. “We figured it out months ago. No offense Twilight, but you weren’t exactly making it hard to guess. You kept mentioning getting sick and having weird cravings in your letters, and constantly asking stuff about child raising and care. It wasn’t that hard to piece together. Not to mention, I also ran a heartbeat spell on you when you weren’t looking. There’s a tiny little one in there, not just your own.” 

Twilight, now feeling distinctly disgruntled and with a mulish look on her face inquired, “So then why didn’t you say anything? You just let me stew in my own nerves for months? I’ve been stressed out over this meeting for so long!” She said, with an accusatory tone to her speech. 
By this point, Cadance and Shining had returned to their seats, the more comfortable for any extended conversations. 

“And that’s exactly why we didn’t let on that we knew,” Cadance explained calmly. “You needed to come to your own decision on your own terms. Take your time, go at your own pace, and not have your plans derailed by somepony else. Better for you to overcome your anxieties and tell us outright.” 

Twilight sighed and acquiesced “Oh fine. But bear in mind that I’ll remember this down the road.” With all the tension and anxiety that had kept her up and moving draining away, she sunk back into her own seat, weak with relief. 
“That goes for you too Spike,” she managed to sigh. The dragon perked up at the mention of his name, having been quiet all through the reveal. 

“Now let’s be fair, I think you already owe me for not having told me for months.” Spike countered with a small grin, causing Twilight to blush sheepishly. 

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that. I just didn’t want anyone to know about it before them,” she explained. 
Spike set down the gem he had been nibbling on and came over to where the others were sitting. “It’s okay. I understand why you didn’t say anything, like Cadance said, you needed to tell everyone at your own pace. And if you wanted the father and aunt to know first, that’s fine by me. Just remember, I’m gonna be here with you through all of this, and don’t you forget it.” 
Twilight smiled at her assistant-no, that was too outdated. Her brother. While she may have a stronger connection to Shining, Spike was still a part of their family. She felt a bit guilty for having left him out of the loop for so long, especially given that he was the only being other than herself, Shining, and Cadance who knew about her incestuos relationship in the first place. But now wasn’t a time for regretting past actions, for Spike’s words had reminded her of an even more important task. 
Turning back to the ponies seated across from her, she once again began to talk. “Okay, so now that everything's out in the open, there’s a simple question: what now?” She looked expectantly at Shining and Cadance. 

“Well, that’s a question for you more than us. Only you can judge how much bearing and raising a child will affect you. You do still have a whole country to watch over after all. It may be difficult to divide your attention.” Cadance reasoned. “Better to remain focused on one thing than constantly switch between two.” As she paused in her speech, she levitated her teacup up to her lips and took a sip, frowning upon discovering that it had become chilled. 

With his wife distracted, Shining entered the conversation with a low chuckle.  “Reminds me of the time my drill sergeant chewed me out for daydreaming about Cadance during training.” 
Twilight did not share his amusement, and narrowed her eyes slightly. “Well this is a lot more than just some boot camp squabbles. And it’s not just me, this affects you too, Shiny. I need to know how much you want to, or can be involved. Obviously, I want you to be as much of a father to our child as you can. But it’s not up to me.” 
Shining’s good humor disappeared, reminded of his own responsibility in the current situation. Well, it’s a good thing I’m not one to shy away from responsibility, he thought, and despite losing his smile, straightened up more and tried to appear ready for anything. 
“You know me Twilight, I’ll do anything to help my family. I’ll be there for you both, no matter what. Although,” he tilted his head, pondering, “will we ever tell them the truth? Am I gonna be daddy, or just uncle Shiny?” 

Twilight shook her head and admitted “I’m not sure. We’re going to have to come up with excuses at some point, it’s not like Equestria will just brush over it’s ruler becoming pregnant out of nowhere. And I’ll have to come up with something better than ‘I don’t know who the father is,’ that’d be just as much of a scandal as the truth. But I’m not sure I could lie to my own foal like that. I feel like they deserve the truth.” Once again, as the many conflicts and problems that she would have to confront began to overwhelm her, Twilight started to shrink down. Tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes. 
At this point, Cadance stopped fiddling with her tea and decided to rejoin the conversation. She leaned over, and used a soft wingtip to gently raise Twilight’s tear streaked face to hers. 
“Hey, look at me. You can handle this. You’re one of the best ponies I know, and one of the most responsible. If there’s anyone who can handle a child it’s you. Don’t think of this as a problem, an obstacle to avoid, but a new chapter in your life. Just like when you became princess, now you have a new responsibility. But this time, it’s to your child.” 
Twilight, though at first taken aback by the initial intensity, soon found solace and comfort in Cadance’s words. She found the strength to look Cadance directly in the eye as the princess of love continued. 
“And don’t forget, you’re never alone. Me, Shiny, Spike, your friends, we’re all here for you. If ever you need a bit of assistance or guidance, we’ll be there to help any way we can.” 


Despite this reassurance, Twilight grimaced as Cadance’s words reminded her of yet another complication. “There’s just one unfortunate snag in that plan. I still haven’t told the girls the news, and they’re bound to have questions. And again, having to admit to years of incestuos relations isn’t exactly something I want to happen. But if I don’t tell them, they’ll think I don’t trust them.” Twilight sniffled. 

But Cadance remained undeterred. “Well, think of it this way. What are your friends going to care about more? Who you chose to be with, or that you and your foal are happy and healthy? True friends will stick with you, whatever you tell them. If you’re uncomfortable with telling the truth, you don’t have to. But it’s entirely up to you. Admit it outright, reveal it down the road, or take the secret to your grave, it doesn’t really matter. And they should be able to respect that.” Having spoken her piece, the pink alicorn withdrew slightly and out of Twilight’s personal space. 
Twilight, for her part, only needed a brief time to consider Cadance’s words. Soon enough, as the logic replaced the fears of the worst possible scenarios, she began to feel guilty for having doubted her friends. The tears finally stopped, her breathing slowed to a more reasonable pace, and she sat up as straight as possible, trying to reflect her readiness to confront any task she would be faced with. 

“You’re right. There’s no half-plotting this. I’ll take all the help I can get.” 

Now both Shining and Cadance were sporting wide grins. 
“That’s the spirit Twilight!” Shining encouraged, also leaning forward and performing a “go get em” gesture with an arm. 

“Yes, that’s the Twilight I know and love.” Cadance agreed. “Raising a child will be one of your greatest challenges, but also one of the greatest rewards. There is nothing like raising a foal of your own. You will bring another pony into the world, and it’s up to you to shape their life as best you can. And if you do your best, your effort will be repaid a hundredfold.” 

Twilight nodded her head with a confident smile. “Well then, I’d better get some advice from ponies who have first-hoof experience.” 

“Absolutely. We’ll help out any way we can.” And so the three put their heads together and talked, moving past stress and anxiety, and towards a simple determination to raise a foal as best as possible.