The next six months passed by with incredible speed. Twilight got used to having both her Castle of Friendship in Ponyville as well as her family quarters in Canterlot Castle. The main difference was that Blueblood now had an office in the Castle of Friendship, almost identical to his office in Canterlot, so he could still perform his royal duties even while in Ponyville. This was great news because that meant that he and Velvet Dawn could now travel to Ponyville with Twilight and the family was never apart. As such, they spent half their time in Ponyville and the other half in Canterlot. This also allowed Twilight to start her unofficial research into her condition.
Twilight had quietly gathered volunteers from all three tribes for her ‘wellness study’ in reversing damage that prevented a mare from conceiving following a traumatic birth. Against all odds, even Twilight Velvet was excited volunteer to help her daughters research. All the mares involved in the study had been happy to help the newest Princess and none of them were told that it was to fix Twilight’s own problem, which was still a closely guarded secret.
The shock came when Twilight’s sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, announced that not only was she pregnant, but she was due. With her family in tow, Twilight rushed to the Crystal Empire. Although Twilight had wanted to get there before the birth, they arrived too late.
Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Blueblood were introduced to a three-day old alicorn Flurry Heart, who acted more like a toddler than a newborn, much like Velvet Dawn had acted at that age. Flurry Heart was immediately drawn to Velvet Dawn, and they settled down to play together, completely lost in their own little world, which prevented loud magical outbursts.
Celestia and Luna exchanged pleasantries with Cadence and Celestia remarked off handedly. “Two new alicorn fillies. I regret not having children sooner if every alicorn can bear alicorn offspring. What stayed my hoof was me not wanting to outlive my own children.”
Twilight winced. “It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. Velvet can be a hoofful when she’s upset. I’m glad that Flurry seems to like her or there might have been a magical war in here.”
Shining Armor laughed nervously. “Is that why you still only have one? I know that mom is expecting twelve out of you since you made those promises to Blueblood. But… in the meantime, maybe we should place the crystal heart in a safe place until things calm down? If anypony could break it, it would be an alicorn. Or two alicorns… in this case.”
Cadence quickly teleported the crystal heart to a safe place and then came back with a smile on her face. “I’m glad my husband knows how to tackle the really important problems… or has the paranoia to prevent them in the first place.”
Celestia and Luna were shown to guest quarters almost immediately to give the rest of the family time to catch up. Twilight asked the first question that popped into her mind. She tried to hide her nervousness but failed completely as her tone suggested more than mere curiosity.
“So… did the doctors examine you after you gave birth to Flurry? Were there any… complications?”
Cadence frowned. “I don’t remember getting any extra treatment or exams. It all seemed to correspond to what I knew about normal birthing practices. Should they have done extra tests?”
Twilight looked almost shocked. She deflected the question with a question if her own. “May I magically exam you? It might help with my side project…”
Cadence smiled widely. “Of course! I heard all about it from Celestia. It’s a wonderful study that you’re doing, and it’ll help a lot of mares.”
Twilight nodded. “I’m going to cast the spells. Hold still.”
Cadence held still while Twilight cast a series of spells on Cadence. The spells were very medical in nature and left Candence wondering how and when Twilight had learned them. When the last scan was finished, Twilight’s face became drawn and with a single tear escaping her eyes to roll down a cheek, she ran away.
Blueblood called to her. “Dearest!” Twilight didn’t even look back as she continued to escape.
Shining raised an eyebrow. “Okay… I’ll be the first pony to admit that my sister is weird but that goes beyond normal Twilight weirdness. Can you explain what’s going on, Blueblood?
He winced. “I could… but it’s not my secret to tell. I can say that I could hazard a guess as to why she ran off like that, but if I’m wrong, it would cause unnecessary pain and heartache. You’ll have to ask her yourself… in private.”
Blueblood moved to gather his daughter and rejoin his wife, but Cadence stopped him. “Wait. We’ve been cousins since Celestia made me her niece and I took care of Twilight as a foal long before she got her wings. Whatever this may be is clearly hurting her. I am her friend and sister-in-law. Her brother is also willing to help. Please tell us what’s going on!”
Blueblood sighed. “I will tell you… under one condition.”
Shining nodded. “Name it.”
Blueblood took in a deep breath and held it, slowly exhaling to release tension. “You can’t confront Twilight about the information. Let her come to you and then act surprised to hear it, as if it’s the first time. If she chooses not to say anything, you will let it rest, as if you never learned the information. Betray me on this and I will never trust you or even speak to you again.”
Cadence stiffened. “That’s… rather harsh. Is it that important?”
Blueblood narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “It’s that sensitive. Only I and the other five Elements of Harmony know, other than the medical staff present at the birth.”
Cadence nodded slowly and whispered with concern. “Tell me.”
Blueblood sighed and lowered his head. “The birth of Velvet Dawn damaged Twilight’s reproductive system. The amount of magic required to give birth to an alicorn short-circuits everything down there, other than still being able to experience pleasure. Giving birth to an alicorn might kill a non-alicorn… of course, that’s never happened in recorded history, so we’ll never know. The ‘wellness study’ that she’s doing is meant to fix her own reproductive system, although she doesn’t want the public to know. If I was to hazard a guess… the fact that she ran away crying probably means that your reproductive system is also messed up from the joy of giving birth to a naturally born alicorn. Love her. Cherish her. For she will be your only one. As to me and Twilight wanting twelve foals… that’s a dead dream. And as to Twilight Velvet wanting us to race to see which of her children can have more offspring… congratulations… we’re tied. If you’re upset to learn this from me… maybe you need to fire your medical staff. Me and Twilight were told within hours of Velvet Dawn being born that something was wrong. Now. If you will excuse me, I need to find my wife. I’ll see you at dinner. Good day, cousin.”
Blueblood picked up his daughter and kissed her cheek, placing the filly on his back to go in search of Twilight. The filly hugged him tight and seemed to enjoy the horseback ride.
Cadence turned to Shining. “I want to go to medical and have a full work up done. If Twilight and Blueblood are right… I can tell her at dinner that I can’t have more foals as an opening to let her confess that she has a problem that’s bothering her.”
Shining nodded. “And if she was crying because you can have more and she can’t, what then?”
Cadence winced. “Then we do as Blueblood instructed. We don’t say anything and let her come to us. If she doesn’t say anything, then we pretend like we don’t know what’s going on. For better or worse… there is no moral support here. Twilight loves Blueblood as much if not more than I love you. I don’t want to damage that with a betrayal of trust between spouses. I know that you would never tell anypony something like that about me without my permission. We must have the same courtesy and respect.”
Shining nodded and placed Flurry Heart on his back, following Cadence to the Crystal Palace Medical Wing. Once there… she requested a full examination.
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Dinner was quiet.
Celestia and Luna could feel that the mood was heavy. Twilight was stabbing her salad hard enough that it was possible that she was going to eventually break the plate.
Cadence was red eyed from recent crying and Shining was silent as well. The two fillies were at a kid’s table and were eating without paying attention to anything else around them. Blueblood broke the ice as delicately as he could.
“You seem upset, cousin. May I ask what is bothering you?”
Cadence sniffled. “After the odd experience of Twilight examining me and then running away, I went to medical for a full work up… and they told me that I can’t have any more foals! How can the Princess of Love only have one foal!!!”
Celestia and Luna gasped but didn’t say anything. Twilight dropped her fork and hung her head in shame. Blueblood kissed her cheek in an encouraging way and Twilight smiled at her husband, although a tear was trailing down her cheek.
Twilight looked at Cadence with regret. “I’m sorry, Cadence. I should have told you myself… but I couldn’t work past my own sorrow. I should have told you… I’m so sorry…”
Cadence gasped, as if surprised by the information. “Does that mean… that you can’t have any more foals either? Is that why you’re doing that wellness study?”
Twilight nodded and openly wept. “I’ve known since Velvet was born but I couldn’t bear to tell anypony! I want to fix this… but I don’t know how…”
Celestia cleared her throat. “You may exam me. I hope that having access to a healthy alicorn will help in your research.”
Luna spoke up also. “And you may exam me, as well. I would be happy to assist.”
Cadence left her chair to hug Twilight and they shared a healthy cry to shed their sorrows.
Dinner ended on a positive note, with decent conversation after the hard revelations had been revealed.
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In the privacy of their quarters, Blueblood asked Twilight a serious question. “What are you going to do now that it’s not just you?”
Twilight steeled herself. “I’m going back to university to become a doctor. I’ll specialize in OBGYN and Reproductive Health. I’ll fix this… I swear. You will have more than one foal.”
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