Vying for Her Love

Getting Ready for Work

Monday morning arrived and like she always is, Colgate was the first to get up. Colgate loathed Mondays, not only because it is the start of a long work week, but because it was always her busiest day. She jumped in the shower and tried to clear her mind of the day ahead, but she knew that since Sea Swirl overheard of her relationship, that her patients would be asking her about it. Once she was done she headed downstairs and rested her head on the table, hoping to get a bit more rest before her marefriends got up but unfortunately for her, it wasn't even one minute before they came downstairs.

They headed to the table and gave her a hug. Lemon Hearts kissed her cheek and said, "Good morning sweetie!"

Twinkleshine asked, "Did you sleep well honey?"

Colgate mumbled, "I slept fine."

Twinkleshine asked, "What's wrong honey? You seem upset?"

Colgate growled, "I'm fine, it's just that I know my patients will be asking me about every last detail of our relationship since Sea Swirl has likely told everypony and their pet that we are an item."

Lemon Hearts pulled her close and asked, "That can't be a bad thing, can it?"

Colgate snapped, "Yes, it is. When I am at work I do not like discussing my personal life." She calmed down and continued, "Yes I like to talk with my patients and show them that I care about them but when it comes to things such as relationships, I prefer to keep it out of the workplace. Things like that are meant to be discussed off the clock, not while one is working and it sure the hay isn't meant to discussed with one's patients!"

Lemon Hearts said, "Well at the palace those of us who organize events for the princess talk about our private lives."

Colgate replied, "Well that is there. You aren't working with other ponies out in the community." She got up and continued, "I think we should just eat something quick this morning. I want to get to the office early."

Her marefriends sighed, "Ok."

Colgate grabbed a couple protein bars and rushed out the door. Once she was gone Twinkleshine asked, "Lemon Hearts, is it just me or does it seem like she doesn't truly love us?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "I'm sure she loves us, she is just nervous about her patients trying to pry into her personal life. You know how she is, you know she isn't the type to open up much to other ponies."

Twinkleshine sighed, "Yeah you're right. I'm just being paranoid."

Colgate headed to her office and readied herself for another day. When she unlocked her door the first pony to come in was Rarity. Colgate was shocked to see her there given that she lives in Ponyville. She asked, "Rarity, what are you doing here? Did something happen to the dentist down in Ponyville?"

Rarity replied, "Of course not darling! I just wanted to come and congratulate you."

Colgate had a confused look on her face. She asked, "Congratulate me? Congratulate me for what?"

Rarity replied, "When I heard about you hooking up with Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts I just had to drop in and congratulate you."

This did not sit well with the unicorn. She growled, "Who told you about my relationship? Let me guess it was Sea....."

Rarity interrupted, "I heard it from Sea Swirl. I was visiting the princess and she was out telling everypony she could. I thought it was bad that she would do that but I thought maybe you three wanted the city to know."

Colgate decided to calm down as she realized that this was not Rarity's fault nor did she think that Rarity had went out spreading the word either, well so far. She asked, "Rarity, can I ask you of a favor?"

Rarity replied, "Of course!"

Colgate asked, "Could you please not tell anypony down in Ponyville? I do have a few friends down there and I don't want them hearing about this from anypony except for me."

Rarity replied, "Don't worry Colgate, I won't say a word."

Lemon Hearts' Talk With Celestia

While Colgate was having a rather stress free day given that none of her patients were bringing up her relationship, things were not the same at the palace where Lemon Hearts was aiding in planning a special dinner that Princess Celestia is inviting the nobility to. While she was going over the details, Princess Celestia herself decided to pay her a visit. Lemon Hearts saw her and bowed, "Hello your Majesty. Coming in to see how the planning is going?"

Celestia replied, "No, I'm coming to talk to you about your new relationship."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Wait, how did you hear about it?"

Celestia replied, "Rarity told me." She paused, got a more stern look on her face and continued, "Lemon Hearts, while I am happy for you I also want you to know that such relationships are frowned upon by many, many ponies."

Lemon Hearts did not know that ponies frowned upon such relationships, she thought that most had moved beyond such old fashioned discrimination. She asked, "Seriously, ponies frown upon it?"

Celestia replied, "Yes. It wasn't but a decade or so ago that ponies became more open to same sex relationships but a relationship that involves three ponies still bothers many ponies because of what happened in the past with relationships that involved more than two ponies."

Lemon Hearts asked, "What happened in the past with these types of relationships?"

Celestia sighed, "You didn't pay attention in class when obscure pony history was being taught, did you?"

Lemon Hearts shook her head and Celestia continued, "Well a few hundred years ago there was a sect of ponies who considered polygamy perfectly normal, which the rest of the nation did not. In these relationships stallions would often have multiple wives and father many, many foals. It was a situation where mares had almost no control over their own lives and were basically viewed as property."

Lemon Hearts interrupted, "But if at some point the three of us were to decide to get married, it would be three mares so I don't know what would be the problem?"

Celestia sighed, "Lemon Hearts, that would never happen because not too long after I heard about this sect and disbanded it, I made plural marriages illegal in Equestria."

Lemon Hearts asked, "Would you ever consider altering it so that three mares could be married together?"

Celestia replied, "No, I would not. If I did that then you would see ponies complaining about it. They would claim that I favor mares over stallions. You would see mares that want multiple husbands complaining, stallions that want multiple wives complaining and stallions who want multiple husbands complaining. I'm not going to alter things for just one situation."

Lemon Hearts looked dejected and sighed, "Ok your Majesty, I understand."

Celestia gave her a hug and told her not to worry and headed back to her throne room. While she wanted to believe her, she couldn't help but cry. Yes it was way too early to even be thinking about marriage but Lemon Hearts is a lot like Twinkleshine, a true romantic at heart.

Bad News Gets Home

Late that afternoon Lemon Hearts got off of work and headed towards home with her head hung low. While she was happy that she had two special ponies in her life that she loved, she couldn't help but feel sad over what Celestia had told her. When she got home Twinkleshine could tell that she was sad. She asked, "Lemon Hearts honey, what is wrong? You look so sad."

Lemon Hearts began to cry, "Twinkleshine, Celestia heard about our relationship and told me some really bad news."

Twinkleshine asked, "She isn't going to make you break up with one of us is she?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "No, but she did tell me that the three of us could never be married because plural marriages are illegal in Equestria."

Twinkleshine rushed over to Lemon Hearts, hugged her and began to cry a bit herself, "Why is it illegal? Doesn't she know that sometimes three mares love each other all at once?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "She told me it is about some sect of ponies from several hundred years ago that practiced polygamy where stallions would have multiple wives and that the mares had no control over their lives. She said that after she disbanded them that she made polygamy illegal, regardless of who is involved in it."

Twinkleshine asked, "Did you ask her if she would give the three of us an exception?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "I did but she said she wouldn't do it. She claimed that doing so would cause other ponies who wish to be polygamous would start complaining and she doesn't want to have the atrocities of the past to return."

The two held each other close and sobbed quietly, knowing that unless something was to change her mind, that the three of them would never be able to get married.

Colgate Gets Home

Finally around 1800 Colgate was able to head home after she was finished with the final patient of the day, who had dental problems far worse than what she had expected. As she headed home she had a scowl on her face realizing that after fixing supper and eating that there would be little time to relax. She mumbled to herself, "Ugh, why can't ponies at least let me know in advance when their teeth are in that bad of shape so I can properly schedule them?"

When she finally got home she slammed the door behind her she was so angry. She could see that her marefriends' eyes were red and they were very sad. She sighed, "What's wrong with you two? You look like you've been crying."

Lemon Hearts began to sob, "I got some really bad news today from Princess Celestia."

Colgate had a slight scowl on her face and asked, "You didn't get fired did you?"

Lemon Hearts replied, "No, I didn't get fired. She heard about our relationship from Sea Swirl and told me that the three of us could never be married together because polygamy is illegal." She began to sob harder and continued, "I tried to get her to make an exception for us but she wouldn't do it."

This didn't sit well with Colgate. It was not a matter of Celestia not making an exception for them, it was because marriage was brought up so soon after they had became an item. She asked, "What? You were already bringing up marriage? We have only been an item for two days." She snorted and continued, "Look, I know you are a romantic at heart but we shouldn't even be discussing marriage until a year after we are an item."

Twinkleshine gasped, "A year? You think we should wait that long until we even think about marriage?"

Colgate replied, "Yes, but with what Celestia told you, we will likely just have to be three ponies who love each other that live together. Unless Celestia was to suddenly decide to change her mind, which I doubt she will, we won't be able to be married."

Both Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine knew that Colgate has a way with words and could potentially get Celestia to sway the Princess's decision on this. Twinkleshine asked, "Colgate honey, I know you are very good with words and I was thinking that maybe if you talked to Celestia, you could get her to change her mind and give us an exception."

This shocked Colgate. She raised her voice and said, "What? You want me to go and try to sway Celestia's view on polygamy this soon after the three of us are together?" She calmed down a bit and continued, "Even if I decide to go and talk to her about this at some point, I highly doubt that I could get her to change her mind. From what I understand, it is almost impossible to get Celestia to change her mind, the only one more stubborn than her is Luna."

Lemon Hearts begged, "Please Colgate, would you talk to her about it sometime? I know the chances of you swaying her opinion are slim but it is better than no chance."

Colgate finally decided to cave in, but she wouldn't talk to Celestia right away. Colgate replied, "Look, I'll go talk to Celestia about this in a few months, once we have been together for longer. Perhaps if she sees us staying together for longer, she will know that we truly love one another."

While the two were a bit irritated that Colgate would wait so long to approach Celestia about this, they realized that it was better than Colgate simply not caring and not worrying about them never being married. The rest of the evening went by without too much stress as Colgate fixed supper, they ate and watched some TV. The only thing that caused some stress was Colgate turning the TV to documentaries about aliens and conspiracies that they helped shape modern day Equestria rather than watching something romantic.