We Want to Help.

“I know I’m a new member, but I had to wait three months for my new job to offer my spouse and I company sponsored insurance. Is that really the most you are able to cover?” said Twilight Sparkle as she paced around the kitchen island with a phone pressed to her ear. “It’s just that given all the secondary and unforeseen costs that will result from visiting multiple doctors and clinics that is hardly anything at all.”

Sunset Shimmer watched from where she sat at the island bar as her wife paced with a pout on her usually perky and cheerful face. It was turning into another ugly conversation that would result in Twilight huffing and puffing and then eventually breaking down into angry tears. They had been down this road before. Sunset, however, was ready and had the small box of chocolate truffles hidden under a wash cloth and a glass of milk already poured and waiting in the refrigerator.

“Yes, of course I understand that you are an insurance company not a charity organization, but given that the implantation rates of the most common, cost effective means are so low, less than twenty-five percent, there must be… fine, no, no thank you, I do not need to speak to your supervisor, that’s… oh never mind.” Twilight hung the phone up and tossed it up on the island counter. “I’ve had more intelligent conversations with the wall.” Once she had a moment to curse quietly under her breath, Sunset made her move.

Just as the tears were about to fall, a slim box of delicate fine chocolates was slid into her field of vison. Twilight fought down the sobbing shudder and glanced up at Sunset who was smiling warmly at her. Her Sunset, her beloved wife, and best friend a girl could have.

“Same shit, different day?”

“SSDD,” replied Twilight with a sigh, choosing one of the salted pretzel covered delicacies. “Milk, please?” Sunset was off her stool and with two quick pivots like a well rehearsed dance was at the fridge and pulling out the requested beverage. Twilight wiped her tears again and smiled. “You’re the best.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Sunset smiled as the bluster caused her indigo haired wife to snort so hard that some of said beautiful hair fell out of the topknot bun she had been keeping it in. Twilight sighed and let her hair fall down, cascading over her shoulders before securing it back in a simple ponytail with a scrunchie she found on the countertop.

Twilight was about to launch into her prepared rant about the uselessness of insurance companies and the unfair, uphill battle she and Sunset had been presented with since they had sat down and had a serious conversation about starting a family a little over a month ago.

They had both finished with post graduate college last fall. Twilight had double doctorated in computer science and mechanical engineering and was currently working in her spare time on her PhD in Physics at Canterlot University. While in California, Sunset had elected to obtain her second masters in sound engineering to go alongside the masters she had in electrical engineering. As a result, they both had a stack of beautiful degrees in a box in their apartment they could not wait to hang on the walls of their new home once they got serious about house hunting.

That was what was supposed to be next on the list that Twilight had composed ever since they moved back to Canterlot City from southern California where they had been living and going to school. But then, while lying naked in bed and cuddling after a wonderful round of sex, Twilight dropped the unexpected bomb of telling her redheaded wife she wanted to have a baby.

Despite the spontaneity of it all, the couple had discussed the issue well into the night and then the next morning wrote up their own pros/cons lists to compare the results. After a heated discussion and calling their friends on a group video call to ask for second opinions, they came to the conclusion that they were in fact ready. That then resulted in a second pros/cons list of who should carry the child.

Both Sunset and Twilight had made visits to their regular physician as well as their gynecologist and received tests on their fertility viability. They were both pleased with the results. All scientific signs pointed to they both had properly working reproductive systems that were at the prime of their lives and ready for use so who carried first was ultimately decided by a coin toss. Sunset won the honor of being mom first, but they were both looking forward to the process either way. Until they started hitting roadblocks.

The front door to the house opened. “Helllooooo! We’re back and we brought gyros!”

As crazy as anything else, both Sunset and Twilight looked at each other abashed because both forgot that they were in fact, not at their apartment. Their old, used washing machine they had purchase from a rebuild shop in California near the campus had finally given up despite numerous patches and repairs they had performed. Neither really had the time or desire to fix it again so instead of hauling it across country it was instead sentenced to the scrap yard. Since their lease on the apartment was up in six months and they were planning to go house hunting starting next month, Cadence and Shining Armor had offered the use of their appliances every weekend in exchange for some free time by having Sunset and Twilight babysitting Flurry Heart, who was currently napping in her room.

Or had been until she heard her parent’s come home. The six year old ball of energy ran from her room and latched onto Shining Armor’s leg, grinning wider than any human should have been capable of. She giggled as he stomped about the living room while she sat on his foot, arms wrapped securely around his leg. The scene sent fresh pangs of longing and sadness through Twilight that she set her lunch back down, appetite lost. The young, purple skinned scientist had to take off her glasses to dry her eyes again.

Cadence pouted and sat on the next stool and began rubbing Twilight back. Few things hurt her soul more than seeing a loved one cry of pain. “Still having problems with the insurance company?”

“The lab I work for is great, especially for a new hire right out of college, but the company they contracted to cover our needs is just garbage. The deductible alone would practically wipe out our budget that we need for our house down payment. It’s practically robbery! If I ever start my own company I will personally negotiate better health care rates for my employees.”

“What about the adoption center? I mean, I know you were both looking forward to carrying, but there is nothing wrong with adoption as an option.”

Sunset had to set her wrap down as well and growled. “Trust me, we looked into it and we are both okay with it as a choice. Unfortunately, the lady who runs the child care services and foster programs in this city is very… traditional. The moment she realized that two women were looking to possibly adopt we got stonewalled. We filled out every piece of paperwork she put in front of us, some of which I was NOT comfortable filling out, yet for Twi I was willing to do so.”

“Yet, every time I call to see how our application is processing, I get put on hold until I have to hang up, or get told, ‘it’s in the system, you have to be patient’. I have two doctorates, I can read between the lines,” Twilight finished. She sniffled again. “Maybe… maybe I should just give up on the whole thing. I mean, being the cool aunt is great too.”

Sunset reached across the bar and squeezed her wife’s hand. “Babe, we're not giving up. You were so excited at the idea of being a mom. I want to see your face light up like that again. I promise we’ll find a way.” Sunset lowered her voice and leaned closer. “I don’t care if I have to pay a healthy guy to jerk off into a cup and I use a turkey baster on myself. If my wife wants to be a parent, then I will make it happen.”

Twilight snickered through her tears and smiled, just like Sunset had hoped. Cadence, on the other hand just sat back and touched her chin contemplatively. She then wiped her hands on a napkin and stood.

“Hey, can you two distract Flurry for a few minutes? I need to talk to Shiny about something, is that okay?”

“Of course.” Sunset walked into the living room and traded positions with Shining Armor as the living playground equipment. Twilight turned to watch as her wife easily stomped around the space with the giggling little girl latched onto her leg. She then switched positions and laid on her back in the center of the carpet, feet in the air as she suspended Flurry to give her niece the feeling of flying. Flurry Heart squealed happily at the attention. As Twilight watched them play, she fell in love with her beautiful, loving wife all over again. The pessimistic whispers in her ear fading away along with all the other concerns as she smiled and enjoyed the show.

Sunset closed the trunk that was now full of freshly folded and cleaned laundry, dusting her hands off as she nodded to Twilight. “Sorry we can’t stay for dinner, I’ve got an art commission I have to work on to have in by the end of day Tuesday and Twi has her physics class she has to attend.”

“It’s fine, we get it,” said Shining Armor with a pleasant smile, he glanced down to Cadence and nodded.

“Though, before you go,” Cadence gestured for Twilight and Sunset to step closer, “I have to ask you a couple of… delicate things and I want you to keep an open mind and think about it before you react and answer on instinct.”

“Well, that sounds ominous,” said Sunset and Twilight nodded in agreement.

Cadence smiled, but her features were set in a serious demeanor not unlike one she would adopt when dealing with the school board or her faculty at Crystal Prep. “How far are you willing to go to have a baby?”

Twilight glanced to Sunset who met her wife’s eyes and shrugged before saying, “You know how Twilight is when it comes to schedules. She was really dead set on getting… well getting me pregnant or having our paperwork fully processed with the agency before we started house hunting so we could have the place set up by the time the child would arrive. So, in short, we would go pretty far. Do you have some insider information that we could use?”

Cadence smiled again and tapped her chin with one slender finger while intertwining her other hand with her husband’s. “Not exactly, but we want to help. Your current problems stem from the fact that there are systems and blocks in place to not only make it difficult for same sex couples to have a child, but also because science has not yet been able to easily and affordably recreate what nature already can do on its own. Most of the other hang ups are just a question of, let’s call it ‘societal morality’. But since we both know that you two would not only be great, loving parents, you also have one small advantage over other couples in the same situation.”

“Which is?”

Cadence looked directly at Sunset, smiling as brightly as the noon day sun. “Sunset is bisexual. So, she would have no qualms or mental trauma at being inseminated by a penis.”

Twilight’s jaw hung open while Sunset, arched an eyebrow and, much to Twilight’s annoyance, nodded and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, ‘sure, yeah, that’s true’.

“Well, yes, hypothetically speaking there would be no problem with that, but she’s married to me and I have... I DO have a problem with my wife banging some random guy even if it is to get something I want in the end! Not to mention what if he comes back into our lives at some point wanting to be a part of the kid’s life or worse, tries to take partial custody! No, thank you, but too many things could go wrong with that.”

“What if the donor was someone who would never do that, would never tell a soul the origin, because he is already part of the family, and would love to see his sister happy?”

Sunset was pretty sure Twilight’s brain had literally locked up as she stared completely flabbergasted at her brother who was smiling warm and disarmingly as if they were just simply talking about changing the garden décor or internet service provider.

“You?! But… but… you’re married and… just… you… her…”

“Twilight, breathe,” Cadence and Sunset said together.

After a few seconds of calming breaths, Twilight regained some of her composure as well as the blood flow to her brain. “I’m, I'm sorry, I must have misheard, but did you just offer up my brother, your husband, as a donor? You two are married!”

“Yes, we are,” Cadence said with a sassy quirk to her smile and raised her left hand to show off her ring as if that had really been necessary since all four were wearing wedding bands. “However, we are also, let’s call it, adventurous from time to time.”

“Swingers,” Sunset said plainly. “She’s saying that they share partners sometimes to spice things up in the bedroom.”

Sunset was certain Twilight’s brain would have melted out of her ears had that been humanly possible. “But, but, but… is that sanitary?! I mean, there are so many STD’s and other horrible things you can contract doing that! How long have you been doing that?! Why would you do that?!”

“Come on, Twily, give us a little credit,” said Shining with a small chuckle. “We don’t do it all the time and are extremely selective on who we tell and have join us and afterwards always get ourselves tested just in case, because you’re right, the world is a scary place even at the microscopic level.”

“Plus, we both take precautionary, anti-pregnancy protections, but if we were going to move forwards with the intention of impregnation obviously, we would forego that step.”

Twilight looked to Sunset for help, then back to Cadence and Shining Armor, then back to her wife, who did not appear nearly as offended or stunned as Twilight felt. Was Sunset considering it? Had she already decided? Was this another one of those quirky Equestrian things that happened so it did not shock her?

“Think about it tonight,” Cadence continued, “talk it over privately and get back to us. If you think it would be just too strange you will never hear another word about it and you can pretend we never had this conversation if it makes you feel better. However, if you really are serious about wanting to have a baby, we already talked about it and we really do want to help. Understand that it would not just be Shiny and Sunny in a hotel or something sleezy like that. We would have it here, and all four of us would be in the room to see that it is done correctly and with the utmost love and care. No secrets, no shaming, just four mature adults methodically and most likely pleasurably experiencing the joy of baby making.” Cadence squeezed both Twilight and Sunset’s hands and stepped back. “Hope to hear from you soon.”

Sunset and Twilight did in fact discuss the proposal, thoroughly. Afterwards, so as to not let emotions get the best of them, they both agreed to sleep on it and would continue discussing the issues the next day. Once again, the large white boards came into play and there were lists of PROS versus CONS. Slowly, the list became heavy to one side and Twilight finally placed the cap back on her marker and sat down on the corner of their bed, shaking slightly. She had to remove her glasses to cover her eyes.

“Babe?”

“I’m… fine. I’m just... processing the data.”

“Anything I can get you?”

Twilight smiled and scooted back on the bed until her back was against the headboard and she wiggled her toes. Sunset took that as her cue to slide onto the bed as well and began massaging her wife’s feet. Twilight moaned and sighed as the tight muscles from another long day loosened and the anxiety was expertly ebbed away by Sunset’s delightful handiwork. Not too hard, not too soft. For someone who was born without hands, Sunset had learned how to use them better than most ever could.

Twilight, after a few blissful minutes of silence and closed eyes, replaced her glasses and looked down at her wife who had been waiting for those heavenly beautiful purple orbs to open. She didn’t need a magical spell or geode necklace to see that Sunset had already made her choice, but was respectfully awaiting Twilight’s final verdict before either countering or trying to persuade further.

“You are really comfortable with the idea of letting my brother put… put his penis inside you?”

Sunset wanted to try and feel abashed, but honestly, deep down, she was excited at the idea of it. She loved Twilight with all her heart and would never betray or go behind her wife's back. Twilight Sparkle had been her best friend ever since the end of the Friendship Games all those years ago. She would always be her best friend and no magic artifact or change in social status or pile of money or even the power of a god horse would ever change that. However, after having lived together for almost nine years and been officially married for more than a year she knew every inch of her wife’s body. She knew all the best places to touch, all the places to tickle, she knew how to turn her into putty in her hands. Of course, Twilight knew her just as well, but Sunset sometimes felt as if she was running out of standard tricks. Things were in danger of becoming a bit routine in the bedroom especially as their lives fell into more standard grooves at work.

Sunset knew herself and that she had a heart of fire and needed a little… spice now and then. Twilight had humored her wife’s desires and explored a few kinks. They had roleplayed often, Twilight's favorite form of playing, but they had also experimented with a few toys, lotions, and even some light bondage, but Sunset wanted to do something special, really wanted to see how far her limits were and of course, take Twilight along for the ride.

“I would be lying if I said the thought of it didn’t excite me. I mean, you have to admit, Shining is a very attractive example of the male species.”

Twilight conceded. “No, you’re not wrong. Even though guys don’t do anything for me sexually, I have always known Shiny was hot in that cute, adorkable way that he is. And that was just when we were younger. After he graduated from officer’s training at the academy and he bulked up a bit more he definitely became what most would call fetching eye candy.”

“And Cadence is hot too, don’t forget her.” Sunset’s grin grew mischievously wide as she watched her wife’s cheeks heat up and she subconsciously began to played with one of her hair tresses. “Ohhhhh, soooomebody had a crush on the babysitter, didn’t she? Or was it hot for principal?” Twilight gently kicked at Sunset, which caused the fire haired woman to laugh harder.

“You’re terrible.”

“You do know it’s okay to be attracted to others, Twi. Attraction is perfectly natural even in Equestria. It doesn’t make you a bad person or unfaithful. As long as you are honest about it and everything is out front. Fantasy is one of the playgrounds of the mind,” Sunset said, remembering one of Twilight's own quotes.

“I know, I just… I never saw myself as the… swinger type. I have nothing against people that do it, mind you. I just don’t feel I have the self confidence for it. I know me, you know me. I would always worry if you were more attracted to the new person. Are they better at it than me? Would you leave me-”

“Yeah, you can stop that train right there.” Sunset spun around and cuddled up next to Twilight, gently walking her fingers up Twilight’s leg, over her hips, sliding her fingers over her wife’s breasts and finally cupping her cheek to turn her face so she could plant a warm kiss, slipping her tongue in at the last second, which Twilight met with her own. They moaned before separating, but only by an inch, savoring the taste of each other’s mouths. “I love you with all my heart, Twilight Sparkle. I would never leave you and you say the word and this whole conversation goes straight into the trash never to be heard from again. Just like Cadence said.”

Twilight traced her finger’s over her wife’s bare arm, the faded black tank top she was wearing without a bra giving Twilight a great view of Sunset’s cleavage as well as easy access to the round mounds of pleasure, covered by ragged cotton. Twilight’s fingers flowed from Sunset’s left arm, over the shoulder, down across her collarbone and down the curve of her perky bust. Sunset grinned as she chewed on her bottom lip, savoring the touch.

“It… really is the easiest way and the most cost effective. Morality aside, it would give me exactly what I asked for and if it is Shiny that does it, he and I share the same DNA so it is the closest you and I can come to having a child that is just ours. At least until scientist are able to improve or get as close to perfection as possible for two female gametes to combine. Someday, I hope.”

Sunset nodded in understanding. “So, is that a yes? Are we going to do this?”

Twilight kissed Sunset again, all while her hand cupped and squeezed a handful of soft bosom. Sunset gladly leaned into the touch.

“Yes.”

Twilight rolled over to her nightstand and picked up her phone to make a call.

Author's Note

I have no idea what to write here. Last chance to bail before things get... steamy.