A Life Desired

Seeking Sparks stood quietly in front of the mirror, studying her body. Her wings were tucked close against her sides, deep brown feathers giving way to a deep brown coat. The flash of her bright campfire cutie mark stood out against the darkness of her fur. A forest and light green braid fell over her shoulder and her matching tail flicked behind her.

But at the moment, it was her sleek belly that intrigued Sparks. She smoothed a hoof over the curves of her chest, down to her stomach, and over her flanks. Sighing, she turned away from the mirror and stopped dead when she saw her girlfriend leaning against the door frame, smirking.

Running River, a bright blue earth pony with darker blue flowing hair, walked over and slipped her forelegs around her girlfriend.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Sparks inhaled sharply and shook her head. “Nothing important.”

“Thinkin about the baby?”

Sparks whipped her head around and gaped at her girlfriend. River rolled her eyes. “Come on babe. I know you better than that. Why you even still try to keep secrets from me, I don’t know.”

Sparks huffed out a deep breath and leaned her head against River’s. “I know we’re both mares, but I’ve just always wanted foals so badly.”

“I know baby. We’ll find a way to do it someday, I promise.”

A moment of silence passed before River spoke up hesitantly. “We could...find a stallion who will-”

“No!” Sparks jerked away and cut her off. River lowered her eyes and set her hooves back on the floor. The pegasus sighed and ruffled her feathers.

“I just….no. I’m sorry. But I’m just not comfortable with it. I want the baby to be ours. And I definitely don’t want some random stallion inside me...gross.”

Sparks slumped against the wall, her head falling against the hard surface beside her. “And I know that you offered, but you don’t want to be pregnant. And…..I do. I so desperately do.”

River reached out a hoof and tucked a curl of mane behind Sparks’ ear. “I know my love. Twilight said she would do some research for us, remember? We will have our foal some day. I promise.”

oOo

Sparks was standing in the kitchen, an apron around her waist, and a whisk in her hoof when there was a sudden smell of smoke and a tingling in the air. A loud POP and the whisk clattered to the counter as Sparks spun around, hooves up and ready to fight.

Twilight was mere inches from her muzzle, a huge grin on her face and her eyes wide and excited. Sparks held her breath and counted to five, trying desperately to quell the martial arts instincts that made her hooves twitch.

“Twilight. What….what can I help you with?”

“I found it! I found a spell that can get you pregnant!!”

oOo

Sparks and River stood in the middle of the castle library, eyes flicking back and forth as they watched Twilight run around the room.

“Do you...do you think this is normal?” River whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

“I have no idea.” Sparks whispered back.

CRASH!

Sparks’ wings flared out as dozens of books fell to the floor and Twilight’s horn sparked to life with a loud ZAP. River stifled her giggles with a hoof as Sparks flushed and tucked her wings away.

“Oh hush.”

“Big bad martial artist is afraid of loud noises huh?”

“Ah bite me. You know it’s training instincts.”

“Sure it is babe. Sure it is.”

River’s snickering was cut short as Twilight popped out from a pile of fallen books, a scroll held triumphantly in her magic.

“I GOT IT!!!”

She laid the scroll down with a pile of parchment and books on the library table.

“Spike! Can you put all these books away please? I have SCIENCE to do!!!”

Sparks leaned over to her girlfriend. “Should we be concerned about the crazy look in her eyes?”

“I think the real question is if we should be more concerned about the look in her eyes or the tone of her voice” River whispered back.

Twilight rushed over between them and suddenly Sparks found herself standing in the throne room, blinking pink flashes out of her eyes.

“Oh Celestia! Twilight, warn us before you teleport!” River rubbed her hooves over her eyes and blinked up at the jewels hanging from the tree roots in the ceiling.

Twilight dropped a pile of books and parchment on the map table and grinned at them. “Sorry! There’s just so much to do! So much to STUDY!!”

Sparks furrowed her brow. “Am I gonna be a lab rat?”

Twilight’s eyes went misty and unfocused. “You are going to be the first lesbian couple to have a biological child in the history of Equestria! There are spells for helping heterosexual couples that struggle with fertility, but it really took a lot of research to adapt those for a same sex couple! I could write a whole book on just how I combined all these spells!”

Starlight Glimmer walked into the throne room and surveyed the scrolls and books on the table. “Excuse you Twilight. How WE combined these spells.”

Twilight just smiled wider. “Yes! How we combined these spells! And now that you’re back, we can get started!”

“Started?” Sparks asked. “Don’t you just have to cast the spell and it's done?”

“Well…” Starlight drawled. “That’s how I would do it but….”

Twilight suddenly laughed and dozens of machines started popping into the room in flashes of purple light.

“This is the first time that this spell combination has been used! And it’s being used to create LIFE!!! We must monitor everything!!”

“Twilight. Chill. Deep breath. I think you’re scaring them.” Starlight cocked her head in the direction of the other two mares.

Sparks had an eyebrow raised as she gazed at the various machines with clear trepidation. River was staring wide eyed at a long silver instrument that was sitting on the table.

Twilight took a long, slow breath. “Right. Sorry. I’m just excited! I-”

Starlight coughed and Twilight gulped, swallowing back whatever lecture she had been about to begin.

Starlight stepped up to Seeking Sparks and levitated a tape measure over. “Let’s just start with some basic measurements okay? It’s important to get a baseline on your build and health so we can see how the spell affects you and if the pregnancy progresses as expected.”

Sparks tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Sure.”

Starlight took measurements of more than Sparks ever thought one could measure. She began with lengths of each leg, then circumferences of her hooves, then moved up to getting waist, flank, and chest measurements. Twilight stood with a quill and parchment, furiously writing down numbers as Starlight called them out.

Finally, Starlight stepped back and asked Sparks to open her wings. As she did, the broken feathers on her left wing became painfully obvious.

Starlight blinked and cocked her head. “How did that happen? Were you born with it?”

“Nah. I injured my wing pretty badly as a filly. Haven’t been able to fly since.”

Starlight nodded and took her wing measurements. “That’s good. Nothing genetic then.”

Twilight passed the parchment and quill over to Starlight, who took them into her own magic.

“Okay Starlight you keep getting info and measurements on Sparks and I’ll get a medical history for River.”

Starlight nodded mutely and led Sparks over to a series of scales and work out equipment.

“Okay I’m just gonna ask you about your medical history while we check your weight and physical fitness okay?”

Sparks nodded and smirked, excited to finally show off her martial arts training.

oOo

Running River sat at the table with Twilight as she prepared a new scroll and quill.

“Why does my medical history matter? Sparks is the one carrying the foal.”

“Because the foal will be yours too. You are going to be its other biological parent. So getting an idea of your health and genetics gives us a better idea of what to expect in the foal.”

“Really? That’s….” River smiled and felt a weight lift off her shoulders that she hadn’t known she’d been carrying. “That’s amazing.”

Twilight nodded and started in on her questions. “Alright, genetic history. Any unicorns or pegasi in your family?”

“Nope. All earth ponies. As far back as the banishment of Nightmare Moon.”

“Interesting. What about Seeking Sparks?”

“Nope. Her family has lived in Cloudsdale for generations. All pegasi.”

Twilight noted something with her quill. “How did the two of you end up here?”

“I’ve lived in Ponyville my whole life. Sparks moved here with her family after her accident. She couldn't fly anymore, so it wasn’t really safe for her to live in Cloudsdale. We met at Camp Friendship. Now we own and operate it. In the summer months we are the primary counselors and we live out on the property, but throughout the year we live in Ponyville. I work at Fluttershy’s animal sanctuary and Sparks is a martial arts instructor.”

Twilight nodded again. “Any history of family illness or injury?”

“Nope.”

“How about a family history of cutie marks? Common themes in your family or Sparks’?”

Running river shifted in the throne seat to show Twilight her willow tree cutie mark. “My family has a long history of nature related cutie marks. My parents own a Christmas tree farm on the outskirts of Ponyville. The rest of my family is spread all around, but they all have plant or animal related cutie marks in some way. Seeking Sparks breaks the mold though. Her parents and family have mostly weather related talents. They both work in the Cloudsdale weather factory. But Sparks’ is a campfire.”

Twilight nodded as the quill scribbled furiously against the parchment. “And you have a light blue coat with a mane and tail in other blue shades. Sparks has a deep brown coat with a mane and tail in light and dark green. Alright. Great!”

The parchment and quill disappeared in a little poof of pink sparkles. “I think that’s all I need!”

Twilight trotted over to Sparks and Starlight, River trailing behind. “Okay Starlight are you done with Sparks?”

They both nodded then Sparks yelped as Starlight plucked a hair from her mane.

“What was that for?” Sparks scowled.

Starlight walked over to River and did the same, causing another startled yelp to echo around the throne room.

“This spell has been crafted to operate without any of the normal biological rules of fertility. The normal infertility spells all still use the mare’s egg and the stallion’s sperm, and simply help them to get together and create a viable pregnancy-”

Twilight cut in. “This spell though, is made to work with your genetics but not with your reproductive cells. That way we could use it if two stallions wanted a biological foal too! They would need a surrogate mare of course, but we wanted to make a spell that could be used for any two ponies no matter what fertility issues they were having.”

River raised an eyebrow. “So our foal will be made from...our hair?”

Twilight took a deep breath, a glint in her eyes, but Starlight cut her off before she could launch into a complicated scientific or magical lecture.

“Essentially, yes. Magic can’t create life, so we need to start somewhere. The spell will basically use the genetic information in your hair to create two compatible reproductive cells, which we can then put in Sparks as an embryo.”

Sparks swallowed hard, her heart racing. “Will….will the foal be different?”

At this, Twilight jumped in. “We don’t know for sure. Theoretically the pregnancy should progress as normal, and the foal should be healthy like any other conception. But that’s why we got your medical histories and physical measurements. You’ll have weekly check ups with us so we can track the pregnancy, the foal, and your health.”

Running River wrapped a foreleg around her girlfriend and nuzzled her ear. “I love you so much Sparks. Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

Sparks closed her eyes and smiled, feeling her heart rate slow. No matter what happened, she knew she was safe and loved with River. “I love you too sweetheart. And yes, I’m ready.”

Sparks took a deep breath and stepped forward, making eye contact first with Starlight and then with Twilight.

“I’m ready.”

Twilight and Starlight nodded, then put their horns together. The two mane hairs floated in the air in front of them. River rested a hoof comfortingly on Sparks’ back as a bright swirls of magenta and teal magic began to swirl around them.

Sparks saw a brilliant flash of light, felt a burning pain in her stomach, then...nothing.