Despite being immensely happy for the real birth of her second daughter, Apple Bloom soon feared for a fact: After a few years of insisting and asking for Spike and her to be allowed to be foster parents to an orphaned baby dragon, the request was reluctantly granted.
The reason was clear: No one in the dragon realm's authority, even Ember, believed that a pony could be a suitable mother for a dragon, after all, not everyone was like Spike, who easily adapted to life in Equestria.
They were allowed to pass an assessment, if Apple Bloom proved to be a good mother for the baby, she could stay with them, otherwise she'd be taken back to the dragon realm.
But she had already become so attached to that little one, that they'd only take her away over her corpse.
"She's so beautiful. Just like her mother." Spike said, looking sweetly at his wife.
The yellow mare smiled looking back at him lovingly and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Looking back at her, Apple Bloom thought of a name. There was no better name for her.
"Lumina." She murmured.
"What?" Rocky asked.
"Her name is Lumina." She said again.
"It's perfect." He murmured sweetly
"It's a beautiful name, Aunt AB." Apple Belle said, while having fun turning the mobile from the crib.
"Thank you honey."
"We can't wait for them to be my size so we can all play together." Buttercup said, immediately getting excited when she saw that she'd have two more friends/cousins to play with.
"I can already see us running around the farm." Apple Belle said between soft laughs.
"And we can't wait to see it all happen." Spike said, as he gently took Holly Dash in his arms.
Suddenly, everyone turned to the door when they heard a knock, soon it opened, revealing to be one of the royal guards.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something here, but- aww what a beautiful baby."
"Thank you." Apple Bloom thanked him with joy.
"Anyway, the princess arrived from the store and she's looking for the five of you."
"Well, wish us luck." Andi murmured.
"Good luck." Spike winked.
"Pray that she has mercy for y'all." Apple Bloom joked, but the girls could have taken it seriously.
The Equestria's ruler had called them there to give them a little biology class, specifically on genetics.
They laughed, quietly so as not to wake their babies who were sleeping peacefully in her arms. For so long that they dreamed of starting a family, seeing those two little angels there, they felt that waiting had been worth it.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, without her daughter there to keep her company, Marble hugged her pet pig, as a way of trying to lessen the feeling of loneliness that filled her chest and sometimes made her short of breath.
Yeah, it didn't work out, probably because she couldn't vent with the pig and he couldn't console or give her advice. Her marriage was going very badly and she knew it but she didn't know that she'd suffer so much from that divorce.
She missed Sugar Belle every day of her life, but at times like that, Marble missed her even more. Missing her company, sweetness, kindness, comfort and advices.
Whenever Marble felt sad, Sugar Belle seemed to feel it, because she gave her a big hug even without her saying anything, because her best friend knew she needed it. They always supported each other in the most difficult times.
A smile formed on her lips and tears of emotion welled up in her eyes with all those sweet memories.
Caramel was the one who made her believe in love again when Big Mac broke her heart, she was sure that after they were married, they'd be together forever. A sweet illusion, which now left an extremely bitter taste in her mouth.
Rocky was also suffering from the separation of her parents, but she learned too soon that it'd be better that way if they were both unhappy and didn't love each other anymore.
The gray pony looked up when she heard a noise coming from the direction of the door. She forced a smile that didn't last, when she saw that it was all of her sisters. Her heart warmed when she saw that Limestone had left her home in Manehattan just to see her.
"Guess who came just to cheer you up?" Pinkie Pie hummed happily, entering the room with a somersault.
"Or at least try." Limestone said.
"Hey, you're not helping." Maud warned her older sister.
"The Colttles?" Marble joked, which made them laugh.
"Look, Pinkie Pie's mood is already transforming you, I said, I'm the best." Pinkie bragged.
"Yeah, but not much. Almost nothing to be honest."
"Don't be that way Marble, you were unhappy in that wedding and you wanted to get a divorce."
"We're here for you, sis." Maud said.
"Yeah, we're not gonna leave you alone in a situation like this." Limestone added, winking at her.
Marble gave a genuine smile, she loved her sisters so much. She opened her arms and they immediately jumped in her direction, falling in bed together.
"I love you all so much."
"We love you too." Maud said, in the usual monotonous way, but they could feel it was true.
Meanwhile, the girls were surprised when the guard accompanied them to a room and it looked a lot like their classroom.
"Would you like to sit down so we can start?" The princess said, as she held up a chalk with her magical aura.
Although confused, they sat at the 5 little desks.
"Welcome to our first and only biology class on heredity!" She announced happily.
"Excuse me, did you say 'biology class'?" Honey B asked.
"Exactly." She replied, before making 2 ponies' drawings on the board in front of her.
The five little fillies just looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to no longer question and accept her class.
"Well, suppose that these two pony drawings, are someone's ancestors, or even of yours, as great-great-great grandparents. They got married and had a foal ..."
"But what...?"
"Calm down, we'll be right there." She said, interrupting Buttercup.
During the lesson, she taught them that the more generations of ponies are born, the blood ties are lost more and more due to new ponies forming the family tree. They understood everything she taught, even Buttercup, who despite the complex subject, managed to understand.
"And what does that mean?" Buttercup asked.
"It means that because they're almost unrelated by blood ties, ponies from several generations below who already had a common ancestor, they have no problem getting married. Besides the love they feel, which is the biggest reason."
"Ohhhh." They all said in unison. But they were soon discouraged in a fraction of a second.
"What's the matter, little ones?" Twilight asked, noticing their sad little faces.
"It's just that we did all this searching and we worried our families for nothing. Because they said they were nothing but friends." Andi commented.
Despite what they said, their younger sisters found that story really strange, as they looked so sad. There was some piece in that puzzle that didn't fit.
"But either way, we appreciate that you explained it to us, even after everything that happened." Apple Belle said, approaching and giving her a hug.
"It's okay, you didn't want to see your older siblings unhappy, you had the best intentions." She said sweetly. "Would you like to stay a little longer?"
Andi soon got excited, spending the afternoon in Canterlot, she could admire the windows with beautiful dresses and imagine herself on a catwalk, it wasn't even close to what was her biggest dream, but it served for now.
"Definitely y-"
"No thanks, I think we better get back, we are still grounded." Honey B said.
"Branchina!"
"Andesite! We cannot abuse our parents' trust." She said firmly.
"Since you want it that way, I'll ask the driver to take you back to Ponyville."
Andi had to reluctantly agree with her friends. They said bye to their aunt, uncle and newborn cousins and went back to Ponyville. When they got home, everyone, especially Chee Chee and Bright Mac were immensely curious about what Princess Twilight had talked to them about.
When Apple Belle and Buttercup explained to the family about heredity and that it was okay if fourth or fifth cousins started a romantic relationship, because although they were still related, they were very distant relatives.
The two young ponies were overwhelmed with happiness when they discovered that they could show the world how much they loved each other.
Buttercup found it strange when her sister wrapped her in a tight hug and soon after, she went upstairs, leaving both her younger sister and their parents confused.
"Honey, you know your mom and I are in favor of spontaneity, but can you explain to us what's going on?"
"It's nothing, Dad, you'll soon understand, I promise." She assured them, carrying a purple purse with her. Soon she ran up to them and gave them a big hug. "I love you all so much."
Although still confused, they hugged her back and let her go wherever she went.
At the Sweet Apple farm, things were no different. Big Mac and Apple Belle were also puzzled by Bright Mac's sudden happiness on learning about what their younger sister had learned from the princess.
But she already had her suspicions.
Bright Mac ran to the place where, despite the barriers they now knew were invisible, they both promised to live their inevitable love despite everything.
When they met at the same time, they did not hesitate to run towards each other and embraced as tightly as ever.
"My love, did you find out? Did you find out too?" He asked with total enthusiasm, as he passed one of his hooves through the pink curls of her mane.
"Yes, I never imagined I could be so happy!" She exclaimed, just after she attacked his face with kisses.
"And all of this was thanks to our little ones." Bright Mac said between laughs.
"Yes, we owe them so much. Now I have no doubt what I am about to do."
The young purple stallion smiled, closed his eyes and leaned over, expecting a kiss from her. But his eyes opened again when he felt her hoof pressed against his lips.
"No. Yet." She murmured.
He was confused, especially when Chee Chee knelt in front of him. She rummaged through the purse and he was surprised, but at the same time completely astonished when she took out a green ring, with a small pink flower as a jewel.
"Bright Mac the Second, will you marry me?"
Tears of emotion welled up in his eyes, ever since he was a little foal, he dreamed of the day when he united with his first and only love in sacred marriage.
"... I don't even know what to say." He said, after recovering from the wave of emotions that washed over him.
"How about 'yes'?"
"... Yes, yes, a million times yes, I love you so much my dear!" He exclaimed happily, wrapping her in another hug.
"Nothing and no one can separate us, my love." She murmured sweetly, leaning her forehead against his.
"Not even death." He added.
Without waiting any longer, they both kissed lovingly, happy for the beginning of their life together.