Velvet Conundrum

Twilight Velvet skulked her way home as the streets of Canterlot waned to a quiet din. Her head was level with her barrel, and ears flattened against her head as a weary, almost despairing sigh fled her mouth. At her side strode her husband Night Light, himself as dejected and his pace just as slow. All around them, the streets were deserted, save another soul or two that trotted past them on occasion.

For a while, as the hours went uncounted, none approached the duo as the sunset of the horizon melted into the young night. An unspoken, but noticeable tension, hung between them—large as the coming moon, but weighing only upon those two. To all the other ponies they passed, it mattered as little as the equally-heavy silence that lingered between husband and wife. Their troubles weren't important to the world; it was asleep and dead to that tension that coming night as far as they were concerned.

By Tartarus, not even having three Princesses in their family, and a captain of the Royal Guard could help them now. The matter was strictly between them, kept under lock and key even as the street on which they resided started coming into view. Their pace quickened upon seeing home, but their mood had not improved; indeed, their scowls were firmly set upon their faces, and seemed to deepen with every step.

Both could feel that tea kettle steaming, and heard its sharp whistle ringing in their heads as Night Light opened the door to let Twilight Velvet inside. He dutifully followed her in, shut the door, and locked the door just to be sure that no eavesdroppers could sneak in unannounced. Both strode to the living room, Velvet spinning around to scowl at her husband.

The tension could've been sliced by a knife, and neither would have noticed; their focus was solely upon their spouse. Little else mattered. Velvet spoke first, partly to break the silence and partly to let all the bottled emotions spring forth, "You've said earlier today that you can't have foals anymore?"

Night Light gravely nodded. "Ever since Shining's wedding," he clarified bluntly. "A changeling managed to kick me between my hinds hard as it tried to cocoon me."

Twilight Velvet's nostrils flared. "And you're sure," she continued, anger flashing through her eyes, "that it's not my reproductive bits failing?"

Another mute nod answered her. "It's possible, with your age," Night Light stated with a blaise shrug. "But I've heard of mares older than you still pumping out foals that came out fine and dandy after the fact."

Velvet snorted again. "How is that possible? Shouldn't their age prevent them from doing that?"

Another blaise shrug was all the answer she needed. Night Light piped up again anyway, "It should, but it doesn't." He kept his even stare, though something about his expression seemed off to his wife. She couldn't place what it was, and so ignored it. "I've heard several theories; potions, fertility rituals, crossbreeding, and magic—that one seems to be the go-to explanation at any rate for most of the theories I've come across."

That made Velvet's mental gears turn. "Couldn't you try the potions?" she asked, a mite hopeful.

Night Light shook his head, causing whatever hope she had to sink. "All of that's applicable only to mares at the moment," he said sourly, frown deepening with the statement. "They've tried it with stallions, and… the results turned out messy."

Velvet wilted. She didn't particularly fancy the mental image her brain conjured there and then. "So… we can't have a third foal…" she grumbled, mood souring at the thought.

"We can't," Night Light affirmed, ears flat against his head as the words left his mouth. "You could try to be a surrogate mother, but… you might get attached to the foal if that were to happen."

Velvet, dejectedly, nodded with a tired sigh leaving her mouth, withers sagging at the prospect. "I'll double-check with the doctor to be sure of it, then. But that won't be until next month," she said.

Night Light trotted around to sit on the sofa, face still sour at it all. "Just…" The next words he spoke would ignite something that he could only see in his wildest dreams—or nightmares, if one asked any other member of the noble houses what they thought on this matter. "Just do what you need to do."

Velvet trotted and sat at his side, gears still tumbling in her head. Whatever she needed to do… hrm, that was going to be a challenging prospect… She toyed with the idea of surrogate motherhood and potions, but crossed that first one off her list due to the fact she'd need to give the foal to the clients after birthing it, not to mention all the other problems even associated with that option could potentially bring. And her age might not be a fine selling point on even becoming a surrogate mother either, some maddened part of her brain shouted in her head.

As for potions, where would she even get her hooves on such? Those came from outside Equestria for the most part, as far as she knew at any rate. And then there was that whole 'check-the-labeling' kerfuffle she'd inevitably have to delve into to make sure she got the right product without any nasty or lingering side-effects.

Chills ran down her spine when she concocted another mental image of enlarged horns and legs mismatched in length. No thank you, she'd take poison joke over that any day of the week. At least poison joke had antidotes and humor, unlike some of the potions whose various nasties she'd heard about from friends abroad.

Velvet counted her lucky stars; at least she had options on the table. But first… she'd have to get that appointment out of the way. And the sooner she did that, the more at ease she could feel after the fact. She nuzzled her husband consolingly, blissfully unaware of how much her world would change within the coming months ahead.

[/hr]

The month went by without much incident, and the appointment eventually came. As promised, Velvet got herself checked out by the doctor, and now she waited in the check-up room for results. As she idled, she perused a few brochures hanging off a small little rack, reading them extra slowly to pass the time. Medical, remedial, side gigs, potions, and…

Huh. After going through half the small stack at her hooves, she rescanned the potions brochure to find an advertisement written in big, bold writing.

FERTILITY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Are you tired of failed attempts at getting pregnant? Than this potion is for you!

Come now to Zejorpa's Wild Buck on 1800 Canterbury's Trot Road in southern Canterlot for a taste of this wonderful brew! Experience renewed purpose in the bedsheets, for a limited time only!

Velvet re-read that again, to be sure of what she was seeing. It was then she noticed a bit of fine print beneath the blurb, and zeroed in on it to see what it beheld.

*Applicable only to healthy mares. Stallions need not apply.

"Of course," she thought sourly. She thought back to Night Light's confession, and furrowed her brow as thoughts of beating up the changeling responsible flooded her mind. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts before they could get too vivid. "No, no. And no," she continued to think as she picked up another brochure to read through, "I am a noblemare. And noblemares don't engage in such actions."

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the room swung open, and in strode a unicorn stallion complete with the doctor's coat. Her expression brightened, and a warm smile spread on her muzzle as she put aside the brochures. "Oh, hello Dr. Hayseed! Did the results go by smoothly?" she asked.

Dr. Hayseed nodded, expression neutral as his horn glowed and papers arranged into a stack appeared at his side. He shuffled them for a moment, then levitated the parchments before him to make sure he had his ducks in a row. Once he was satisfied, he hoofed them over to Velvet, who took them in her own magic. "I think you should see what these say for yourself," he said coolly, though Velvet could've sworn there was a hint of dismay in his tone.

Velvet started scanning the papers. First one just had the standard info; patient's name, date and time of appointment, reason for appointment and so forth. She shuffled that one to the back to start using the second one. That paper had testing info; yadda yadda, reason for test, what sort it was, and the rest of the works. To the back that one went.

Page three, on the other hoof, proved far more interesting. "Magical anomoly found in mare's body…" Velvet read aloud, brow furrowing at what she beheld. "Symptoms higher than normal mares… may be tied to alicorns in family…" She turned to Dr. Hayseed and asked, "What are the symptoms?"

Dr. Hayseed gave a resigned sigh and answered, "Well… in your case, it's tied directly to your inability to have another foal."

Velvet nodded, "Go on…"

Dr. Hayseed continued, "Seeing as you've tried and tried again, it's basically like this: you've had a lot of innate and ambient magics coursing through your body, doubly so since you've basically birthed the Princess of Friendship. Coupling that with your son Shining Armor's prowess, and your grandfoal Flurry Heart…" He took a deep breath through his nose, and exhaled a long and almost despairing sigh through his lips. "With what you've displayed during the testing today? The magic would kill any foals you've tried to conceive now, unless you've found ways to channel that magic elsewhere without harming anypony else in the process."

Velvet wilted, ears turning back against her head as she absorbed what the doctor told her. "But… isn't there anything I can do?" she asked, hope still swimming somewhere in her voice.

"There is, but…" Dr. Hayseed's brow slanted, and a frown tugged at his mouth. "For you, it'd be nothing short of suicidal; it involves inducing a magical surge in a highly protected room. Were there to be a backlash of any sort, you'd collapse on the spot, and there'd be no saving you. The magic is going to keep on building, making it impossible to completely bleed out through that induced surge."

Another inhale went in through his nostrils, and out his mouth as he let that sink in. Finally, his head grimly shook. "I'm sorry, but… for you, there's nothing we could do. We could point you to some other doctors, but they're out of Equestrian bounds and legalities. Not to mention the absurd amount of bits and other goodies they could try to shake out of you."

Velvet wilted further and further as he finished off with, "And Equestrian law dictates that I am, in no way possible, obligated to point you to those doctors due to the sheer number of risks involved. It's just too dicey to even attempt."

Velvet nodded in understanding, mood tanking with the motion. Nonetheless, him being unable to point her to those out-of-continent doctors made some semblance of sense, some sour part of her mind reasoned. It was one thing to visit for simple tests; treatment was a whole other kettle of fish that different cultures tended to disagree on. And if she had to choose, she'd rather keep her legs intact than have her innate magic used for nefarious and nebulous purposes.

Still, she felt the need to ask, "So… is the magic going to affect me in other ways as I get older?"

Thankfully, Dr. Hayseed shook his head again. "Barring fertility issues, it should not," he said bluntly. "Though that will change, should you ever need prosthetics in the future. I've heard new legs are in vogue for those who are unable to walk due to missing limbs."

Velvet nodded, forcing a smile onto her face in light of that information. As long as she was careful, she'd keep all four legs in shape for a long while yet. "I see," she said a mite rigidly as she stood up to offer a hoof to shake with Dr. Hayseed's. He raised a hoof, their pasterns locked, and the shake was swift and firm. "Thank you for the information. I was worried that I would have more problems down the road."

"You're welcome," Dr. Hayseed replied, smiling as their hooves parted and returned to the floor. "And besides, you might have lots of grandfoals on the way thanks to Princess Cadence. It's not the end of the world."

Velvet smiled for real that time, envisioning lots of siblings for little Flurry. She laughed with Hayseed, and the smile remained on her face as she left the room to pay for the appointment and leave. The smile fell only when she turned into an alley on her way home, evolving into a scowl as she kicked at a wall in anger. Even so, there was a small niggling feeling in her head, telling her not to get her hopes up.

But she composed herself and shook her head, idly hoping that nopony saw her kicking a wall in a fit of rage. That nagging voice be damned, she was going to find a way. It would just take quite a lot of trotting to get there.

She hoped there wouldn't be any theatrics involved. She had enough drama in her life.