Twilight's Second First Time

The little bakery in Our Town was closed for the evening, but the flicker of light inside betrayed the presence of four ponies sitting around a table. The mood was somber and uncomfortable as the little shop's owner, Sugar Belle, explained last night's activities to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Starlight Glimmer. Sugar Belle's husband, Big Macintosh, shifted uncomfortably in his seat as his wife recounted even the most intimate of details, leaving not a single part of the story out.

"Oooookay. That's far more information than I needed," Starlight Glimmer announced, glancing back and forth at Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle. Twilight Sparkle scribbled intently on a piece of parchment, making sure to take a note of every detail.

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh muttered, eyes downcast. "You... you aren't going to publish that, are you Princess?"

Twilight ignored his question, looking up from her notes. "Is there a reason you haven't just gone to a fertility clinic?"

"Costs money," he grunted.

"A lot of money," Sugar Belle agreed. "We just want to have a child. My bakery is successful enough to pay our day-to-day expenses, but..." She looked over at Big Macintosh helplessly.

"Fertility, huh..." the big stallion murmured. "So you're saying we're not..." He trailed off, before letting out a snort. "Bits. Eeyup, it's always about bits. But the soil here ain't fertile, neither," he continued, gesturing with a hoof at several stunted apple trees outside the window. "Trees don't grow well. Farm here doesn't make money what like Sweet Apple Acres did. It's a growing town, Our Town. So I do what I can to help build new homes for the immigrants. But it don't pay great. We have enough to afford raising a child... But a fertility clinic?" He shook his head sadly. "Closest one is in the Crystal Empire. Nevermind treatment, we can hardly afford the travel expenses."

Sugar Belle nodded in agreement. Silence descended on the bakery for a short moment, disrupted only by the repetitive tick-tock of the clock on the wall. Starlight lifted a pastry from the plate on the table, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle snuggled together, though it was more the result of habit, as neither seemed to take particular note of the other. Instead, their eyes gazed, unfocused, beyond the window and into the dimly lit main street of Our Town. Twilight read over all of the notes she had taken since they had arrived.

"You know, I've been thinking," Starlight announced. "And I'm not sure a fertility clinic would help."

Twilight turned her attention to Starlight. "Why not? Everything seems like it is... um... shall we say, working as it should. What else could there be?"

Big Mac shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.

"Well, Sugar Belle said they've been trying daily since they got married," Starlight replied. "While infertility certainly might be an issue, I don't think it is. Big Macintosh is a healthy stallion, and I don't think his physical development comes from a lack of, shall we say, working parts. But there's a very good chance he simply isn't able to overcome her magical resistance."

"What?" Twilight blurted. "Magical resistance? That... doesn't make any sense. Big Macintosh isn't the strongest Earth Pony I've met, but I've done tests on him before. His connection to magic is well within normal levels."

"Sure," Starlight Glimmer nodded, trailing a circle in the air with a hoof. "But have you considered hers?"

Big Macintosh stood up. "Could y'all explain what in the hay you're talking about?"

Starlight clopped a hoof on the table. "Just... hear me out, alright?"

"Macky, please," Sugar Belle said, pulling him back into her embrace. "Just sit down and let her talk."

Starlight Glimmer took a deep breath. "You all know what I tried to do here... before. When I had the entire village under my control. Or so I thought." Everypony at the table nodded. "I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, because I'm not, but my magic is very powerful; it even rivals Twilight's magic. No ordinary pony should have been able to overcome my charm spell. And yet-"

"I'll never have kids!" Sugar Belle abruptly shouted, realization dawning. "He'll never..." Her words faded as she broke down into tears.

Big Mac struggled to comfort her, confusion and anger flashing across his face. "Could somepony explain what in tarnation she's on about now?"

Twilight swallowed a growing lump in her throat. "I hate to even ask this, but after the things I've had to explain to Apple Bloom... Big Macintosh, did you ever have a proper sexual education course?"

"Eeenope." His head dropped and he shook it sadly. "I quit school to work the farm after ma and pa died. Only learned about the birds and the bees from the cows and the pigs."

Twilight nodded. "Well, Big Mac, you see... ponies have a... defense mechanism, of sorts. A defense that helps to ensure that our offspring are magically talented. As a filly's eggs mature, they feed off her latent magical energy and create a sort of barrier. A stallion's sperm also carries their own latent magic to punch through that barrier. Each individual sperm doesn't live in a stallion's body for very long, so it doesn't get the chance to absorb very much magic, but the sheer number of sperm that a stallion can produce means the sperm can overpower the shield by overwhelming it. The stronger a pony's latent magical prowess, the stronger these effects, mare and stallion alike.

“Now, the biology of the process heavily favors stallions, and it has generally been proven that most stallions should be able to impregnate most mares. In short, normally, this doesn't cause any issues except with a very small minority of stallions who have an extremely weak magical connection. The whole system is believed to prevent catastrophic loss of magical prowess through genetic selection, and it has worked relatively well.

"But the issue is compounded slightly by Unicorns. Earth Ponies have strong bodies, even if they don't have a strong connection to their earth magic. A pegasus with no connection to their magic can still fly away from danger, even if they can't manipulate the weather. But unicorns have frail bodies, and without their connection to magic, they're almost entirely defenseless. As a result, early evolution - back when the wilds were largely untamed - favored unicorn fillies whose eggs absorb more of their latent magic. It's one of the reasons why many fillies struggle with magic through puberty while colts seem to have no problems with it - their bodies are redirecting that energy elsewhere. It's also why there's not nearly as many unicorns as pegasi or earth ponies: while it rarely renders a couple incapable of foaling, it is harder for them to get pregnant.

“But the real problem comes at the extreme end of the spectrum. Amongst the strongest unicorns, the need for strong magic just to procreate is believed to be why unicorns have never developed a psychological aversion to inbreeding as the others did: Prior to the unification of Equestria, unicorn society was extremely insular to encourage the development of magical prodigies that were capable of controlling the moon and sun.

"But now I'm getting off topic. The magical shield around the egg is a lot like the wall of your barn. You throw enough rocks at it, it will chip away, becoming damaged, and eventually those rocks will break through. But a mare with powerful magic can end up with a wall that isn't made of a flimsy material like the wooden wall of a barn: if it's sturdy enough, you could throw billions of stones at it and it won't weaken at all. Adding more stones doesn't help. Higher sperm counts don't help. More sex doesn't help. What you need is boulders... You need sperm with more magic..." She paused, giving Big Macintosh an apologetic glance. "You need stronger sperm. And... that's not something you can force. Sperm are produced and die off in a stallion's body with regularity; they don't continue to stay in the body. Unlike a mare, who keeps her eggs in her body forever, a stallion holding back on sexual activity doesn't make them any stronger and has limited usefulness."

"So, you're saying that Sugar Belle has built a castle wall, and I'm trying to tear it down by slinging pebbles?" Big Mac looked down at the mare shuddering and sobbing in his hooves. "She can't ever have kids?"

"She could have kids," Starlight offered. "Just... not with you." Big Mac's face fell.

"STARLIGHT!" Twilight cried out. "You can't just say that!"

Big Mac raised a hoof. "No," he mumbled. "If what you're saying is true, then it's true. No sense sparing my feelings on the issue. Sometimes truth is what a stallion needs to know, even if he doesn't want to hear it." Sugar Belle let out another choked sob.

Twilight fidgeted in her seat. "There... might be a way."

Sugar Belle looked up, eyes shining with hope in the midst of a face streaked with tears. "Another way?" she squeaked. "How?"

Three pairs of eyes were boring into Twilight.

"I don't even know if it would work, but it might be worth trying." She took a deep breath. "If... if his sperm were to be exposed directly to a very strong magical source, they might be able to absorb some additional magical energy. But there are... complications."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Complications?"

"What kind of complications?" Big Macintosh asked, his voice quavering as his front hooves moved to protect his jewels.

Twilight blushed fiercely. "Uh, well... When I say 'exposed directly', I mean... 'in contact'... with a unicorn's horn. As they channel magic. So that the sperm might gain some power directly."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Twilight, you can't possibly expect the problem to be fixed just by rubbing his balls on her horn. If that was all it took, there would be no shortage of books on the subject."

"That's not it at all," Twilight interrupted. "It would have to be... outside the body."

Sugar Belle blinked. "You mean he would have to... finish... on my horn?" She blushed. “It still has to get… I’m not sure I’m that flexible.”

Twilight shook her head. "It won't attack itself. There would be no--"

"Wait, wait, wait," Starlight interrupted. "What won't attack itself? Her magic?" Twilight nodded. "You mean somepony else needs to help?"

"If she tried to do it herself, her magic would just protect the egg even more."

Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle exchanged a worried glance.

"And there's another problem," Twilight continued. "Sperm dies very quickly outside the body; the spell cast by the unicorn would have to be one designed to keep them alive as long as possible so that they can be... inserted... into... umm..." Twilight's wings were starting to stiffen slightly, and she tried desperately to will them to stay put.

"Are you saying you would have to horn-fuck me?" Sugar Belle inquired, eyes wide.

Twilight's wings shot out, fully erect. "It wouldn't have to be me," she blurted out. "I'm just saying that it might... work..." she trailed off, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"It would have to be powerful unicorn magic, right?" Big Macintosh asked. Twilight nodded dumbly.

"Then you have to be the one to do it," Sugar Belle declared.

"W-w-w-what?" Starlight stammered. "Why can't I do it? My magic is almost as strong as hers!"

"Because I'm not taking any chances with this." Sugar Belle paused to compose herself. "If... If I'm going to share my husband in bed with another mare... I want to be sure this works. The first time."