//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - A Beautiful Tragedy // Story: The Lonely Prince // by Caladis //------------------------------// 6 Months Later Prince Blueblood was in the hospital wing of the castle, holding Twilight’s hoof. It had been a long 12 hours, but he had refused to rest or leave her side. The pain in his dearest’s eyes had nearly undone him more than once but he remained strong and steadfast for her sake. Twilight cried out in pain as another contraction rocked her body. Blueblood took his free hoof to wipe the sweat from her brow with a dry towel and he gave her a gentle smile. “You’re doing great, dearest. Just a little more.” Twilight gave him a mock glare. “Next time you can carry the foal. I… urgh!” Pain rocked her again as a stronger contraction hit her faster than she expected. The doctors rushed over. “Alright, your highness. It’s time. Big push. One, two, three… push!” Twilight closed her eyes tightly and yelled as she pushed, Blueblood holding her hoof the entire time. The doctors nodded. “Again… push!” Twilight leaned forward on the bed, spreading her legs a little wider as she let out the most animalist sound she had ever heard, let alone uttered. “Gah! Urgh! AHHHH!” Too loud to be a moan, Twilight was silently pleased that the noises leaving her sounded like ‘labor’ and not like ‘lovemaking’, as birthing sounds were sometimes described as. This was not pleasurable. One of the nurses called out. “I can see the head! Be careful with the horn. One more big push and it’ll be over.” Twilight clinched down and drew up the last of her will to push. With a grunt, she pushed again and felt the foal leave her, to be caught by the waiting doctor. She felt… empty. So empty. Twilight’s relief quickly turned to shock and worry as a hushed silence fell over the room. Twilight cried out. “My foal! Why can’t I hear my foal!” The Princess’ question shocked the doctors back into action as they cleared her airway and gave the filly a slap on the rump to jumpstart her breathing. The nurses cleaned up the filly quickly and gave her to Twilight. With a gentle clearing of her throat, the nurse said. “Congratulations… it’s an Alicorn filly.” Twilight’s eyes widened as the filly was placed in her hooves. The horn was much longer than normal for a newborn unicorn and the wings seemed fluffier than the typical pegasi. The filly had a lavender coat and a two-tone mane that was a mix of purple and golden blonde. She was a perfect mix of her two parents. Blueblood was smiling with the eager grin of a father already in love. Twilight leaned in and nuzzled the crying newborn. “Hi there, Velvet Dawn. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Blueblood felt a tear roll down his cheek. “Ah. A mix of both of our mother’s names, hmm?” Twilight nodded as she settled the filly onto a teat to suckle. “It feels appropriate.” One of the doctors came over and cleared his throat. “Your highness… if I may have a minute?” Twilight nodded. “Of course Doctor, is something wrong?” The Doctor nodded slowly. “There was a lot more magical backwash with this birth than is normal for any of the normal three pony races. We would like to examine you for any damage while it’s fresh so that we may quickly treat anything that is treatable if anything is indeed wrong. I wish I could say this was routine, but this is the first natural born Alicorn birth I’ve ever heard of.” Velvet unlatched from the teat she had been working on and Twilight moved the filly to her shoulder to burp her. The newborn almost immediately fell asleep on Twilight’s shoulder while being held. Twilight looked back up at the doctor expectantly. “If you want to do an examination, you should do it now before the next feeding time.” The Doctor conducted his magical scans, and then used the most modern technology they had available as well. Done with his part, he called over a second doctor who seemed to do the exact same thing, but perhaps it had been a little different? A third doctor tried his luck at an examination and then called over a Senior Nurse for a second opinion. After two hours of scans and having been examined by no less than four medical experts, Twilight had gotten the sense that something was horribly wrong. Unable to take it any longer, Blueblood stepped up to speak. “Doctors… we’ve been patient but now is the time to explain why such a thorough exam was needed. Having observed the process, it feels like my wife is one exam away from being a walking talking medical experiment and she is not to remain on display like a brothel whorse. I expect an explanation and I want it now.” The Doctor’s paled at the displeasure of the prince and quickly moved to cover up Princess Twilight to allow her to retain what was left of her modesty. Twilight gave a look of appreciation at finally being able to be covered up, given how cold it was in the hospital room. She may not have agreed with her husband’s methods but was secretly pleased with how quickly he moved to defend her honor, circumstances notwithstanding. The Chief of Medical staff cleared his throat. “We are sorry about how this appeared to look, but we are professionals and I swear that we weren’t simply ogling her. As to the need for such a thorough examination… we wanted to be absolutely sure about what we were detecting before we was forced to deliver bad news.” Blueblood walked back to his wife and held her hoof for comfort and support, their daughter still asleep on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight nodded. “Tell me.” The Doctor cleared his throat. “The magical backwash from the birthing seems to have short circuited your reproduction system. Barring it healing on its own, advances in medical science in general, or a miracle… I’m afraid… that there is a 99% chance that you will never be able to get pregnant again.” Twilight froze. The room seemed to completely stop. The ramifications of what the doctor said was too much for her. Blueblood exhaled first. “Very well, Doctor. You and your team are dismissed.” The Doctor hesitated for just a moment. “We could try…” Blueblood nearly sneered. “I SAID YOU ARE DISMISSED.” The doctor’s bowed quickly and mumbled… “You have our condolences, your highnesses.” Twilight burst into tears which in turn woke up Velvet Dawn who also burst into tears. Blueblood tried his best to calm down Twilight. “Shhh. It’ll be okay.” Twilight tried to get her crying under control if only to stop the filly from crying. Twilight placed Velvet on a teat, hoping that the filly would eat and then go back down for another nap. She looked up at her husband in despair. “I promised you twelve foals… and now… we only have one. Our only one… ever.” Blueblood placed a hoof under Twilight’s chin and got her to look up at him. He bent down and kissed her lightly. “They are wrong. They have to be. There simply isn’t any data on it. My Aunts never had foals and Cadence hasn’t had one yet either. It’s too early to lose hope, my dearest.” Twilight sniffled, mindful not to disturb the nursing filly. “And… what if they are not?” Blueblood nodded with grace. “You have a full lab space in our quarters, and you learned the scientific method at the School for Gifted Unicorns, and you have yourself as a test subject. If the doctors can’t fix this, I have confidence that you can fix it yourself. There is nothing stopping you from going to university and becoming a doctor yourself. I’ll support you in whatever decision you make.” Twilight looked deeply into her husband’s loving eyes and whispered. “…And if I can’t fix it?” Blueblood nuzzled her to hide his own tears. “Then we have a beautiful tragedy.” Twilight looked at her nursing filly, the joy of the birth mixing with the shock of bad news, making the day bittersweet. Twilight mumbled. “Which is which?” Blueblood, being hyper focused on his wife, heard her, and answered. “Tragic, that we may not ever have any more foals… but beautiful, that we have a daughter that we can love forever.” Twilight looked back up at him, biting her lip. “I promised you a colt. I even used magic.” Blueblood nodded. “And I wouldn’t trade our filly for anything. I love her, with all my heart. And I love you, with all my soul. If this is what fate has for me, I’ll take it, and I’ll be grateful.” Twilight silently cried as she kissed her husband sweetly. Velvet Dawn, oblivious to her parents’ pain, quietly fell back into slumber. ----------