//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Love and Marriage // Story: The Lonely Prince // by Caladis //------------------------------// 5 Months Later Blueblood was wrapping up his work early today. He was largely caught up with his own work so it wouldn’t matter much. And today was the day that Twilight was due to be home from her latest set of adventures and he couldn’t wait to see his dearest again. The reform of Discord had been a shock, with Fluttershy getting him to reform faster than anypony had imagined. Once he was settled into his new reformed lifestyle and confronted with the fact that Twilight was pregnant, the Spirit of Chaos proclaimed that he wouldn’t meddle with that because pregnancy was chaotic enough on its own. Twilight was forced to silently agree. Having to return the Elements of Harmony to the Tree of Harmony was no less of a shock. The treasure chest with six locks was a fun mystery that became less fun as it became apparent that certain deeds earned a token of affection that would produce a key to open it. Blueblood couldn’t fathom what his dearest would have to do to earn a token of affection from somepony not her husband to open the chest. As for Blueblood, he was further worried about the strain that Twilight was putting on herself to learn more combat and defensive magic in the wake of losing the Elements of Harmony, not completely trusting what the chest from the tree would do for her or for Equestria as a whole. But no matter. She was coming home today and that was all that mattered. He was waiting in the common room when the main door opened and revealed his dearest Twilight Sparkle. At five months pregnant, she had doubled in size. The expression ‘heavy with foal’ definitely applied as anypony looking at her would assume that she was nearing full term as opposed to barely being halfway. The doctors had assured them that the pregnancy was healthy with a single foal, and not twins or triplets, but the rate of weight gain was troubling. After having talked about it together the last time she was home, they had concluded that it was some sort of bizarre side effect of using too much magic during the conception of their foal. Twilight was small for an alicorn, and he was starting to think that she might have been too young to get pregnant, despite being a legal adult. It was a worry that he kept to himself. He trotted up to her and embraced her. “Dearest. Welcome home.” Twilight returned the embrace but sighed. “I’m exhausted… may I rest?” Blueblood frowned. “Of course… please, come with me.” He led her to their shared bedroom and helped her get on the bed. She laid on her heavy stomach, spreading her wings outward as if to air them out. Blueblood frowned with greater concern as he circled the bed to stand in front of her. “Your wings look horrible. Have you preened them recently?” Twilight sighed. “No. I’m too fat to reach all of them so I stopped trying. I can’t even fly now, which bothers Rainbow Dash since she went through the trouble to teach me to fly. I’m too fat for anything.” Blueblood clicked his tongue. “There is a huge difference between being fat and being pregnant. I think you’re beautiful.” Twilight huffed. “I would expect you to say that. I’m a fat, ugly, useless Princess and I… Mmph!!!” Blueblood’s kiss cut off her scathing opinion of herself. He leaned in closer and whispered into her ear. “You are beautiful and I’m going to keep saying it until you believe it.” Twilight sighed, too tired to argue but retorted softly. “Beloved… please stop. I look as disgusting as I feel. I mean seriously, have you ever heard of a Pegasi too fat to fly, even while pregnant? Even that weird bodybuilder pegasi in Ponyville with the tiny wings can fly. Scootaloo can’t fly yet but I’m sure she’ll fly someday, despite being half Earth pony.” He decided not to argue with her and instead circled back around to her rear. He climbed up on the bed behind her and rubbed a hoof down her wings, smoothing out the good feathers and leaving the bad ones in disarray. Twilight sighed harder. “I’m sorry, beloved. I know that we haven’t made love since our wedding night but you’re going to have to wait a little longer. I’m too tired to enjoy it.” Blueblood nodded to himself, since she couldn’t see him. “That’s fine. I’ll keep myself entertained with something else.” Twilight’s brow furrowed as she tried to work out what he meant. “What do you…” Pluck. Twilight’s gasp filled the room and her wings stretched out further, as if subconsciously hoping for more attention. His hoof slid down her wings to the next feather in need of preening. Pluck. That time, Twilight moaned. A good preening done by another pony was very intimate. And Blueblood clearly knew what he was doing. For the next two hours, he preened her. He found and plucked every last bad feather with his teeth, just like a pegasi stallion would have. Twilight felt wonderful with the complete preening completed but silently cried herself to sleep. Blueblood is cheating on me. ---------- 3 hours later Blueblood woke Twilight up for dinner and escorted her to the dining room. Twilight normally would have relished the chance to nuzzle into her husband as they walked, but she kept her distance this time. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. The dining room doors opened with magic with Celestia and Luna already in attendance. Celestia beamed when she saw them. “Ah, my dear niece is back from her latest adventure. The chef made us a special meal to celebrate your return.” Twilight smiled a timid smile. “The staff shouldn’t work harder just for me.” Blueblood nuzzled her. “Everypony loves you, dearest. Now sit, I’m sure you’re starving now that you’ve rested.” Twilight took her chair and Blueblood sat beside her. He served her from the communal table plates with the main course and sides, making sure she got a little of everything and extra of her favorites. He even took the time to hoof feed her like it was a date or special occasion. Twilight didn’t stop him from all this extra attention but frowned a little. He certainly acts like he still loves me… Luna cleared her throat. “Twilight. Your wings look amazing. I had heard from the staff that they seemed a little unkempt earlier. Clearly, they were wrong.” Twilight cleared her throat. “They weren’t wrong. My wings were in bad shape when I got home but Blueblood preened me. I’ll need to thank his pegasi lover for teaching him how to preen so well.” The table froze. Her statement seemed to come out of nowhere. She turned to Blueblood. “So… do I get to meet her?” Blueblood’s eyes widened and he panted, trying to regain control of his emotions. Finally, he sighed and got up from the table. “Aunties’. If you will excuse me, I am no longer hungry. I’ll be in my office if anypony needs me. But please, don’t need me.” As he turned to leave, Luna spoke up. “Running away won’t fix this, nephew.” Blueblood turned to face her, with tears in his eyes. “I’m not running away. I’m making a strategic withdrawal. I love my wife. And I would never do or say anything to hurt her feelings. Clearly, something is on her mind that we need to discuss, but I won’t do it while I’m emotionally unstable. She deserves all my love, after all.” He left without further permission. Twilight sighed. “Did I ask the wrong question?” Celestia cleared her throat with force. “What makes you think your husband is cheating on you?” Twilight rubbed her tired eyes. “He preened me today, but I never taught him how. And I’ve been gone for over two months. If I’m being honest with our situation, we haven’t made love since our wedding night, and I’ve been gone more than I’ve been here for the last five months. I can’t blame him for seeking a lover and I’m not angry about it… I just want to know who she is. A pegasi lover makes the most sense given the evidence. What do Canterlot Nobles call them? Saltines? Blueblood has the wealth for a side mare.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “You can think of no other reason why or how he acquired these skills?” Twilight frowned. “I know he loves me, so he would have acquired the skills for me. But I still don’t know who could have taught him other than a pegasi. Most stallions won’t let another stallion preen them so that logically only leaves a mare. Unless I’m missing something?” Celestia drew attention to her wings. Her immaculacy preened wings. And cleared her throat gently. “Pegasi mothers often teach their sons how to preen a mate. When they aren’t available… Aunts may teach their nephews. Blueblood had his heart set on a unicorn, or perhaps you specifically. He never needed to know how to preen a pegasi or an alicorn… until you became one. He’s worked himself to the bone these last five months. Waking up before my dawn and working well into Luna’s night. He has done all his own royal duties and most of yours… giving you time to rest the few times you’ve been home since you married. And recently, he pushed himself further to learn how to preen so he could take better care of you. I swear that he hasn’t slept with me. He stayed faithful to the mere idea of marrying you someday for ten years… other than not being intimate for an extended period of time… what else makes you think he would cheat on you in the five months since you’ve been married? Especially since your pregnant?” Twilight’s face paled as she broke into flesh tears. “What have I done?” Luna cleared her throat. “You accused him of cheating without merit and brought it up during a family dinner. Pregnancy hormones may excuse the event, but you need to be mindful in the future. Blueblood was really hurt from the accusation… I’ve never seen him walk away like that to calm himself. Clearly, he has more self-control than you.” Twilight cried into her hooves while Celestia scolded Luna. “That wasn’t very nice, sister.” Luna retorted. “The truth can hurt. But it is the truth. For example, isn’t it true that most ponies bring up an allegation of cheating to cover up the fact that they themselves are cheating? Does that foal you’re carrying even belong to my nephew?” Twilight’s eyes widened at the accusation, but she physically couldn’t speak to retort it. Luna nodded curtly. “See? It hurts to be baselessly accused. And the worse the accusation, the worse it feels. I swear… this is exactly why I invented the contraceptive spell in the first place. I’d like to be able to enjoy some fun with a stallion without becoming an emotional, overweight wreak.” Twilight’s wailing grew louder under the harsh criticism as the truth of the words sank in and Celestia gave her sister a rare glare. “Is that what you would say about me, dear sister?” Luna snorted as she got up to leave the room. “Dear sister… with your weight… I hardly think anypony would notice if you got pregnant. However… with my athletic figure, still primed for battle… ponies would notice.” Luna stuck out her tongue at Celestia, lessening the sting of the less than playful, but still joking retort. Celestia snorted silently, opting to continue this back-and-forth banter in private once the sun was lowered for the day. She turned back to her niece. “Twilight. While I don’t agree with everything that Luna said… some of her points have merit. You jumped to the worst possible conclusion and asked him about it in front of the only family he has. If you love him as much as he loves you… then you need to talk about this, in private, and work it out.” Twilight nodded as she tried to dry her tears. “What if the damage is too great? What if he can’t get over this?” Celestia shook her head. “You’re jumping to the worst possible conclusion again, which is almost like steering yourself towards that possibility. Work. It. Out. I can’t afford a royal divorce on the front page of the Canterlot Star Newspaper.” As Celestia left the room, Twilight found herself heartbroken and no longer hungry. ---------- Blueblood was at his desk, signing ten more documents that could wait until tomorrow but could just as easily be finished now while he had time. Maybe finishing this extra work now would help in the long run. At the very least it would give him more time to talk to Twilight and work out their newest problem without falling behind in their royal duties. After all… most of this paperwork was technically hers. A gentle knock on his office door caused him to look up. “Enter.” Twilight walked into the office with a tea service. “Good evening, beloved. I brought us some tea. Do you have time to talk?” He nodded and used his magic to put away the paperwork back into ‘Still needs to be signed’ pile. He crossed his hooves across his chest while Twilight poured two cups of tea and added milk and sugar to both cups in accordance to how she knew they both liked their tea. She used her magic to place the cup on a saucer in front of him. She shifted in her own seat nervously, unable to look him in the eyes. She didn’t know where to start. The silence dragged on, punctuated with the sounds of breathing. Blueblood sighed and broke the silence first. “You think I’m cheating on you because you see yourself in such a negative light that you can’t fathom how I still love you. Me learning how to preen a pegasus’ wings reenforced that because only a mare could have taught me. And since you don’t believe me when I say that I still think you’re beautiful, we have an impasse. Does that sum it up?” Twilight nodded. “Yes. Celestia explained to me that she taught you how to preen, and I am overjoyed that you loved me enough to learn extra skills to be able to take better care of me. I was also informed that you’ve been working even harder by taking care of most of my royal duties in addition to your own, so I have more time to rest while I’m home. I’m more than pleased with your efforts but I’m also concerned about you overworking yourself. I know… that being pregnant has made me extra emotional and my mood swings are unpredictable, but I want you to know that I’m sorry for accusing you of cheating. It wasn’t fair of me.” Blueblood shook his head. “I went ten years without dating or making love. You think that eleven months makes a difference just because I’m married now? I can see how hard this pregnancy is on you. I want to support you better, but you’re always going on some adventure that I can’t follow you on. My heart breaks knowing that I’m failing you as a husband. Knowing that I’m not making things easier for you. I told you before we got married that I wasn’t expecting to be loved in whatever arranged marriage I ended up with and that even the smallest amount of your love would be better than nothing. That hasn’t changed.” Twilight teared up as she got up and walked around the desk to embrace her husband. “But it has changed. I’m supposed to love you. I’m supposed to be here for you too. I’m supposed to give you the benefit of trust. I’m not supposed to make you feel bad. I’m not supposed to accuse you of random crass actions. I’m really sorry that I took the evidence and ran towards the worst possible outcome. Can you forgive me?” He kissed her. “Of course. But… you know… this is just the first foal. We got to do this eleven more times.” He raised his eyebrows a couple of times in a suggestive manner. Twilight laughed with released tension as she kissed him passionately. “Eleven more times. Let’s get through the first one first.” Blueblood kissed her back. “Of course, dearest, one day at a time.” ----------