Despite her fatigue from the night prior's activities, Twilight made sure to wake up early. She put on a pot of coffee, reminiscing about how much she missed Spike's assistance now that he was 'away' so often. All her friends understood his visits for what they were. Even Spike could be naive for only so long.
Twilight wrote, and re-wrote lists. It was her form of meditation. So much was happening. So much had changed so quickly. It was too much for her to process and adapt to. She tried and tried again to formulate solutions to the problems. But every eventuality she reach was disastrous.
Trixie roused to the smell of the coffee. It was only just barely dawn. She didn't like waking alone. "Twilight!" She called out.
"I'm downstairs!" She yelled up. Twilight put down her quill and brought the cups of coffee up to the bedroom. Twilight sat on the edge of the bed and hovered a mug over to her marefriend. "Trixie, I'm worried. Are you sure that it was my brother that night at the club?" Trixie nodded solemnly, "What if my brother recognized you yesterday?"
Trixie looked up from her coffee, "He didn't." She lied, with an immediate surety.
"How do you know?"
"I could just tell, looking at his eyes." Trixie lied again, "He didn't recognize me. He must have been blacked-out drunk that night. He won't be telling anyone about it." She added. "Besides, it would only endanger his own marriage wouldn't it?"
"That makes sense." Twilight agreed. Suddenly things were looking up. Their secret would be safe after all, she believed.
Their secret would be safe. Trixie had seen to that alright. Only three ponies knew what happened that night in Canterlot. Trixie ensured that none of them would speak of it again. And the only two ponies who knew the truth about Trixie's foal were there in that bedroom. And that's how it would stay. Beyond that, to the question of how two mares could biologically breed, the simple answer of 'Magic!' would have to suffice. Because it was the only explanation anypony was going to get from the pair. And that was that.
"OK. So, Shining Armor is coming back over this morning after my parents get here. And as far as you've told him we're just roommates..." Twilight recapped.
"Yes, I felt that more time was required before we announce our relationship to anypony in your family... if that's alright with you." Trixie added, trying to be diplomatic.
"I understand if you're uncomfortable. We can wait until another date to fill them in, I suppose." Twilight nuzzled against Trixie's neck, running her snout through her silky mane before sitting back upright with her quill and pad. "We have lots of time for that later." Twilight jotted a few notes, "So, let's get our stories straight: You are my roommate. We're not going to tell them that we're... romantically involved..."
"And we're certainly not going to tell them about..." Trixie motioned to her tummy.
"No, I suppose not." Twilight frowned. She did not like the idea of lying to her family. Or rather, withholding the truth. Especially such exciting news as this. Her marefriend Trixie was going to have a foal. They were going to get married, and raise their child together. They loved each other so deeply. Twilight just wanted to stand on her balcony and shout it out for all of Equestria to hear. But it would have to wait, she resigned.
"Come on, don't feel so bad about it." Trixie begged, "I promise I'll make it up to you..." Trixie cooed seductively, running a hoof down Twilight's belly, between her legs.
"Ohh, come on, I already have to change the sheets..."
"Then it won't matter if they get just a bit little more dirty." Trixie whispered in a naughty tone, nibbling on Twilight's ear, her known weakness.
"Errrrr FINE, just make it quick!" Twilight huffed diving back under the covers, giggling.
___________________________________________________
-Later-
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"Twilight, I don't know about this. Maybe I should just stay up here. They don't need to meet me today." Trixie rambled, panicking at the top of the stairs.
"Trixie, please just get down here. I've already been through a lot, and I am not facing today alone." Twilight said sternly, before melting back into a saccharine smile. "Beside's it'll be fun. It's just a picnic, not formal night in some Canterlot five star restaurant."
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"I'm com- I'm on my way!" Twilight called out, catching herself that time. She whipped her head back around, "TrixieYouGetDownHereRightThisMinute!" Twilight growled.
Trixie moved to her side in a flash, smiles for miles. Twilight smiled back. Together they opened the door.
"Twilight!"
"Mom! Dad!" Twilight hugged her mom. She moved to her dad. He was locked in a dead stare with Trixie. Trixie felt very uncomfortable under his gaze. She did not recognize this stallion, and she prayed to every deity she could remember that he did not frequent Canterlot gentlecolt's clubs. "Dad?" Twilight asked, harking for his attention.
"Oh, yes." Mr. Sparkle broke from his trance, hugging Twilight back. "I was just admiring your... friend's outfit."
"Right, um. Mom, dad, this is Trixie, my... roommate." Twilight introduced. "Um, Trixie, my parents." The three exchanged pleasant nods, and then just stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. Twilight chimed in, "SO! A picnic today, yes?" Her parents nodded, smiling. They were minus a picnic basket. "Well, we can't have a picnic without a picnic basket, now can we?" Twilight said, feeling very foolish. "Please." Twilight waved her parents inside her tree home.
"Mom, why don't you help me in the kitchen putting some food together for later. Um, Trixie, why don't you get to know my dad a little?"
Trixie flashed Twilight a look of 'I'd rather swallow razors',
"I'd love to!" Trixie said with a smile.
Twilight mouthed back, 'Thank you.'.
Trixie sat on the couch, opposite Twilight's dad. She felt like a colt waiting to pick up his date for the foal spring dance, being scrutinized by her overbearing parents. Her every flaw came rushing to the forefront of her consciousness. The pads of her hooves quickly became cold and clammy.
"So..." Trixie tried, before trailing off. Mr. Sparkle just kept looking over her cape and hat as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. She was getting seriously creeped out. She just wanted to run upstairs and hide under the covers until it was all over. "So..." She tried again. Anything to get him to respond and stop staring.
"Tell me, Ms. Trixie," He spoke suddenly, startling her. "May I call you Trixie?" he asked. She nodded. "Tell me, where did you get your outfit, if you don't mind me asking?"
Trixie was surprised at the question. She had rehearsed several conversations in her head this morning for Twilight's parents. Everything from the weather to sports to politics. She was caught off guard by this however. "Um... my hat and cape, you mean?"
Mr. Sparkle nodded, "Mm hmm."
"Well, um, it's kind of a long story..." Trixie stammered.
Mr. Sparkle looked past Trixie toward the kitchen, listening to his wife and daughter chat up a storm as they made a mess of the room, preparing food. "It's sounds to me that we have the time for a long story."
"Oh," Trixie could see, "Well I suppose the long and short of it is... my father left it to me when he gave me up for adoption. It was as the monks found me, wrapped in this hat and cape as a foal on the doorstep of the Lulamoon Monastery. That was where I got my surname. 'Trixie Lulamoon'." Trixie took off her hat running a practiced hoof over it's seams. "These were all they found with me. Just these and a simple note-"
"You'll be Great and Powerful one day, Trixie." Mr. Sparkle said.
Trixie's face went stark white. The words from the note. THE EXACT WORDS. She had lost that note, along with everything else in her caravan to the Ursa Minor, long ago, but she NEVER forgot those words.
You'll be Great and Powerful one day, Trixie.
Love, your Dad.
Trixie's eyes watered, "How could you know..." Trixie's mind flashed back to every fragment of a dream she had ever had from her memories as a foal. Her father's blue coat, his dark blue mane, his deep amber eyes. He looked... just. like. him...
Mr. Sparkle reached into his pocket and took an old, weathered photo from his wallet. One he hadn't looked at in ages. Slowly he turned it around to show her.
Trixie looked at it for a long moment and barely whispered, "Daddy?"
Twilight and her mother walked back into the living room with a basket, a stack of stoneware, and a couple of glass flasks of fruit juices. Twilight also brought a jar of pickles for Trixie's cravings. Twilight didn't give an explanation for them to her mother, and her mother didn't ask for one.
Twilight looked to Trixie. Tears were running down her cheeks. Damn it Trixie, why now, of all times, to have a weird, pregnant mood swing? She looked at her father, who was tearing up as well. Twilight was puzzled. She asked of them, "What's going on in here?"
Mr. Sparkle stood up and put a hoof around Trixie, turning her toward Twilight and her mother. "Twilight, this is Trixie..."
"your sister."
The room was filled with the sound of plates and bottles shattering against the floor, and the thud of Twilight's fainting form, followed by her mother.
___________________________________________________________
Twilight never paid much attention to her ceiling. It was so practical and plain. She had given it a cursory glance when she first moved into her new home, and then decided to ignore it from then on. What it needed, she realized, was some kind of texture other than the plain wood grain.
Perhaps some grand painting like the ceilings of the Canterlot Chapel. She would have to try a hoof at that in the future. The Princess was always telling her to expand her studies into practical art, and not just it's histories and theory. It's just that, Twilight never had the time to really consider her ceiling. But at the moment she had a great view of it from the floor. That is, until Shining Armor appeared over her.
"Hey, I think Twilie is coming to." He announced to the others out of her squinted view. Soon they all huddled around her, even her mother, who seemed to have already recovered from her own impromptu power-nap. Twilight opened her eyes the rest of the way and sat up slowly, before losing her balance again.
"Whoa, easy kiddo," Shining said laying her back down. "Mom, Dad, go to the kitchen and fix Twilight some soup and some moist towels okay? I'm going to bring Twilight up to her bed." They nodded and vanished from the room. "Trixie, help me?"
"Of course." Trixie said, following Shining as he levitated Twilight, bringing her upstairs.
From her bed, Twilight could just barely make out her brother and... well, her sister, arguing in hushed tones.
~~~
If you're her sister, then that means your my sister, and that means-
I know what that means, you dolt. You don't even know the half of it! I told you, you need to forget that that night EVER happened.
But it did happen and that means-
I told you to forget it. Don't you think I'm trying to?
And you said you loved her. Like, you LOVE HER, love her.
I did. I mean I do. I mean- this isn't the time or the place.
~~~
"Soup and towels!" Twilight's mother called out, ascending the stairs. Her husband was right behind her, levitating each item.
Twilight just wanted to close her eyes and wish all this away. "Twilight," Trixie whispered by her side. "Twilight, do you think you can sit up?"
Twilight peeked at her through her cracked eyelids, before opening them partially. She leaned in close to Trixie's ear with the faintest of whispers.
"make them go away"
It was as simple as a request could be. It was punctuated by the tiniest of pecks on her ear, invisible to everyone else. It said more than words ever could.
Trixie turned to the room. "I- I think she just needs some rest." she said as she ushered the group out, closing the door. She looked back to Twilight.
"You too, Trixie." Twilight said softly. She could see her heart ripping in half on her face. "I love you. I just need some time to sort this out." Trixie nodded, understanding. She turned to leave. "Oh, and Trixie," She looked back in the bedroom, hopeful. "Do get Spike here as soon as you can. He should still be a Rarity's house... It's urgent." Trixie nodded and left quickly to fulfill the request.
Twilight rolled her body out of bed. She was feeling much better now. Physically. But whether it was the concussion or the situation spinning out of control around her, she felt like she wanted to throw up. She was in over her head. Twilight took a seat at her desk and placed a quill and inkwell on the surface from their designated and properly marked drawer. She took a sheet of paper from the parchment roll and laid it flat in front of her.
Dear Princess Celestia,
...
...
...
Twilight stared at the three words on the paper.
All the problems surrounding her life now were so huge, so insurmountable, the small piece of paper seemed woefully inadequate to contain them.
She struggled in her mind to find a solution. She couldn't.
She tried to find with words to relay the problems to her trusted mentor. They failed her.
.
.
Dear Princess Celestia,
.
.
The three words just stared back at her.
Endless minutes fell off the wall clock.
The paper became dotted with her tears.
She felt the walls closing in around her. She had swam so far out she could no longer see the shore. She was sinking, drowning.
"Uh oh," Spike said, walking in the room, "Did you and Trixie have a tiff?"
The very corner of Twilight's mouth curled up into the slightest hint of a smile.
"Spike... when did life get so complicated?" Twilight asked.
"When you stopped having me around to help you." Spike said immediately. "You can't do everything on your own, Twilight. You need help sometimes." Spike added, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
maybe it was
"Spike, have I ever told you that you're very wise for your age?"
"It's not the years," he said, running his claws through his green spines, "it's the mileage."
Twilight turned back to her letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
HELP
She rolled it up and handed it to Spike. "Send it."
In a burst of green flame it vanished, express delivered directly to the Princess.
"What now?" Spike asked.
"Well-"
*FLASH*
Twilight vanished from the room.
______________________________________________________________
Twilight reappeared beside Princess Celestia, who was sitting on her thrown. All around them were dignitaries from distant lands and nations. Also, there were representatives from Equestria's many districts, cities, towns and hamlets, including the whole of Canterlot Parliament. It was the height of Celestia's Day Court, and Twilight had just been teleported right into the middle of it, interrupting everything.
Twilight looked around her. Everypony was staring at her, some shaking their heads in disapproval, others giving her dirty looks. Twilight finished her pan of the room with looking up at Celestia who was right beside her. Celestia looked at her poor Twilight who was shaking next to her. Her violet eyes were running with terrified tears, her pouted lips trembling. She was on the verge of breaking down right there.
Celestia had never seen her faithful student so distraught. But then, she didn't know what to expect when the simple letter appeared in front of her in the middle of her day court. A simple cry, 'HELP'. Celestia did the only thing she could and teleported Twilight away from whatever danger could have forced her letter. And here she was, about to break down in front of everyone in the middle of her Day Court, as embarrassed as a little filly who just wet herself at her own birthday party.
The Princess acted instantly, wrapping a protective wing around Twilight, shielding her from the world. Twilight whimpered inside her embrace. "Shh,." Celestia whispered into her wing, before turning back to the room full of very important ponies.
"EVERYPONY GET OUT!" She yelled.
One of the dignitaries in a very expensive looking suit took exception, "But your Highness, there is still the matter of-"
.
"NOW!" The Princess roared. Her eyes were ablaze with the fury of a thousand suns pouring into her full, unbridled, Royal Canterlot Voice. It shook the very walls, breaking several stained glass windows.
.
The room cleared immediately. Not even her personal guards remained.
Celestia turned back to her faithful student, still trembling in her wing. Twilight looked up at the Princess, who was smiling her same soft, motherly smile that just made Twilight feel like everything would be okay. Twilight looked behind her. The room was vacant. The grand doors were closed and locked. The Princess had just thrown out her entire Day Court with extreme prejudice.
Just for her.
"Twilight, my faithful student. What troubles you?" Her soothing voice was honey in Twilight's ears.
"I- I need help." was all she could get out.
Celestia held up her letter. "Yes, I gathered that." she smiled. It bathed Twilight in the warmth of a summers afternoon, lying in a soft, grassy field. "How can I help?"
Twilight looked up at her. Celestia's face was ageless, but her eyes held the wisdom of ages. Twilight knew that there was nothing she couldn't tell her mentor. "Well..." Twilight started, trying to sum up the last five weeks, trying to prioritize her biggest issue. But her mind kept coming back to a single solitary fact that was unshakable.
"I'm in love." Twilight said flatly.
"Ahh." Celestia responded with a sort of half sigh, as though that were all Twilight needed to say as explanation for all her trouble, and for warranting putting Equestria at uneasy relations with the entire rest of the world for one day.
"It's just-" Twilight continued, "It's complicated..."
"Love always is."
That gave Twilight pause. She decided to just start from the beginning. She took a deep breath, "This unicorn, Trixie, came to Ponyville a few weeks ago. And long story short, we fell in love."
"Aww. That's sweet." Celestia cooed with her tall frame craned down as she listened intently.
Twilight continued, "We fell in love, but it turned out she was already pregnant from... a one night stand, more or less." Twilight tried to keep the facts simple. "So she's pregnant, but I don't mind. I'm happy actually. I'm looking forward to it." She looked up at her, "A little scared, but you know." she smiled. "Anyway, it turns out that she's pregnant with my brother's foal-"
"Shining Armor had an affair?" Celestia asked, without even a hint of shock. Just a simple question. In the same tone as 'would you like hay fries with that.'
"Not exactly, it was his.. er... bachelor party."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So Trixie, the mare I love, is pregnant with my brother's foal, who doesn't know she's pregnant. But that's not even the worst of it!" Twilight cried.
"No?"
"This morning, my parents came to visit us and meet Trixie. And my father revealed that Trixie, the mare I love, I really, really love, is my estranged sister that was given up for adoption."
"Why was she given up for adoption?"
"You know what? I didn't even get a chance to ask. It seemed like such a small issue in light of everything else. I don't really care now. It was all too much. That's why I wrote to you."
"I see." Celestia said, placing her hooves together in front of her muzzle as she mulled it over. "You are in a romantic relationship with a mare, who has turned out to be your biological sister, who is pregnant as the result of accidental incest with your/ her, brother. Yes?"
"Uh, yeah, that sums up the problem." Twilight said, a little taken aback at the princess's clinical reduction of her life's turmoil.
The Princess sat and thought a few moments more, considering the facts presented.
"Does your family know about your relationship with Trixie?"
"I think my brother might suspect, but my parents think we're just roommates."
"And do they know of the foal?"
"No. Nopony knows but Trixie and I. And you now, I guess."
"You should tell them, Twilight."
"About the foal? Who?"
"All of them. Tell them everything. Keeping secrets from family, especially when it comes to important matters of the heart, has never come to anything good, Twilight. Take it from me." Celestia said, motioning the the cracked stained glass window of Nightmare Moon.
"So that's it? Just tell them all about everything?"
"Mm hmm." Celestia nodded.
Twilight looked lost, "And... and then what?"
"Rejoice, Twilight!" Celestia said, smiling brightly, "You are young and in love. You will soon have a beautiful foal to bring into the world, and to fill with love and caring, preparing them for a whole life of their own! What could be more beautiful than that?"
"But... she's my sister."
"Rejoice, Twilight! Have you not always wanted a sister? A sister with which to share your hopes and dreams and adventures? A sister to share your life with? Now you do!"
"But... what about the foal? What if there are... complications?"
Celestia looked to the door, "GUARD!" she shouted.
A timid guard just barely peeked inside, "Yes, your Highness?"
"SUMMON THE CASTLE MAGE!"
"At once, your Highness." he said as he vanished behind the door, closing it.
A few moments later a pale pony in a black robe appeared through the door. "You beckoned, your Highness?"
"Bring me a flask of potion 34." She commanded.
"Potion 34? But whatever for?" He asked, eyeing Twilight.
That teared it for the Princess.
Her wings billowed as they unfurled. She took to the air in the throne room, her eyes ablaze once more!
Twilight covered her ears.
"THAT IS NOT YOUR CONCERN MAGE!
I HAVE DEMANDED A POTION, NOT QUESTIONS.
SPEAK NO MORE, AND BRING THE POTION! QUICKLY!"
Several more pieces of glass tumbled from the ancient frames as the terrified mage fled the room. Celestia returned to her calm poise upon the throne.
"You've got a bit of a mean streak." Twilight smirked.
"The benevolent ruler image is good for approval ratings from the populace. But you do not get to stay as the divine monarch of Equestria for millenia by taking any sass from the underlings." Celestia smirked back.
Several moments later the castle mage burst through the door. He sprinted to the Throne, bowing deeply as he lay the potion at the Princess's gold-clad hooves. Backing away quickly while still bowed, he turned and scurried back out the door, closing it behind him.
Celestia levitated the potion to Twilight. "Simply have Trixie drink this. It will prevent any possible birth defects that may arise as a result of the accidental breeding." Twilight looked at the flask. "You are royally guaranteed a healthy, baby foal." Twilight smiled at that.
"Ooh, a Royal guarantee."
"So, is everything all better?"
"I suppose. It's just that... Trixie and I, being in love. Isn't that wrong? I mean, aren't there rules against that?"
"I have made no such decree against loving one's sister." Celestia said, grinning. "In fact, it's a value I espouse daily." she added, looking to the Luna window.
"You know what I mean."
Celestia sighed. "Twilight, rules usually exist for a reason. But some ponies can get so caught up in the rules that they forget the reasons, and that sometimes the reasons don’t always apply. They put the cart before the horse and invent justifications for the rules instead. There can be no justice so long as laws are absolute, I have always said. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions."
Twilight stared at some nondescript point on the ceiling as her mind processed what she had just been told.
“The incest taboo has some good reasons behind it.” Celestia continued after a few moments, “Besides the obvious issue of inbreeding, it’s a fact that a sexual relationship complicates emotions. Not all ponies can work through the problems it brings. If the romance fails for any reason, it can easily destroy the familial bond as well. When you have relations... with your relations… it’s so much easier to hurt the one you love.”
"So you don't think it's wrong?"
"No, Twilight. I think I've made that pretty clear. Had you come to me a couple months ago seeking romance advice, I would have told you simply to go out and find somepony who makes you happy, that you make happy in return. Somepony that you want to spend the rest of you life with, no matter whom it may be. And you've done just that. And as long as neither of you are planning on breeding with your family members again..."
"NO! Definitely not."
"Well then, there's no problem. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to repair some foreign relations." Celestia finished. "Now go, Twilight. Go get your very special somepony and give her a kiss for me."
"I will, and Princess?" Twilight gave Tia a peck on the cheek, "Thank you."
*FLASH*
Twilight reappeared in her bedroom.
"There you are!" Spike said, jumping up from the bed. "Everypony was wondering where you went. They're all downstairs, worried."
"Everything's okay Spike. I just needed to sort things out." she smiled, "Come on, lets go see everypony."
___________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight appeared at the top of the staircase, everypony below ceased their chatter.
"Its Twilight!"
"Spike said that you vanished!"
Twilight raised a hoof, silencing them. "Everypony, I'm glad you're all here. I have an important announcement to make. Actually several."
Everypony below listened intently. Twilight descended the staircase, walked right up to Trixie and gave her a big kiss. It was most definitely not a sisterly kiss. Their parents were in shock. "Trixie, I love you. Everypony, Trixie is not my roommate, or not just my roommate. She is my marefriend and I love her. We have been in love for some time now. The revelation that she is my sister doesn't change that." Twilight kissed her again to emphasize her point.
"Furthermore, Trixie is pregnant. With Shining Armor's foal." Everypony gasped. "Now, now, it was an accident and they didn't know better at the time. I don't blame them for any wrongdoing and you shouldn't either." Twilight said, looking at her parents. Shining Armor somehow managed to turn an even whiter shade of pale.
"But if it's Shining's, what about the foal?" Her mom asked, "Won't there be problems?"
"Ah yes," Twilight said, retrieving the flask from her bag, handing it to Trixie. "I got this from the Princess herself with her personal guarantee that this will prevent any birth defects." Trixie popped the cork and began to drink the potion.
"Ooh, cherry flavor!" Trixie smiled.
"Well it is Royal alchemy." Twilight chimed.
"Now there is just one final thing. Trixie being my sister is a fact. No one is denying that. And that there are rules against us being in love. But the Princess told me a thing or two about rules." Twilight looked around the room at them, "Yes, the rules against incestuous love exist for a reason, to prevent the negative side affects of inbreeding." Twilight looked at Shining, "And as I said, that was an accident," she looked back to Trixie who finished the potion, "which we have now fixed."
"So I think we can all be mature enough to keep the fact that Trixie is my sister, and the truth about her foal's father, just between us, family. We want to get married and have a normal life and raise our foal without being shunned by our friends and neighbors." Everypony nodded in agreement.
Trixie grabbed Twilight in a tight hug, kissing her all over her face, "Oh, Twilight! I love you! I knew you'd find a way to work everything out!"
"Well I had some help." Twilight said, looking out the window to the glorious sunset, "but in the end, Love conquers all."