3 Years Later

Twilight Sparkle had firmly established her rule with a routine that worked well for everypony around her.

Twilight had requested that Celestia continue to hold a smaller version of Morning Court in Silver Shoals in much the same fashion that Twilight and Blueblood had done all those years ago in Ponyville while Twilight was first learning to rule. This would help thin the Canterlot Morning Court crowds, which would allow Twilight more time for her research.

Celestia agreed to this small concession on the condition that she wouldn’t have to continue to do so once Twilight’s research was finished, assuming that it ever would be finished. Twilight made no promises to that effect.

Luna continued to help with ponies’ nightmares as her only royal duty and Twilight was relieved that Luna was able to handle that small burden without pushing her closer to darkness as Celestia had feared. Twilight had suggested that Luna take on a personal student to teach Dream Magic to so she could fully enjoy her retirement, a suggestion that Luna was taking seriously as she sought out a unicorn that might be capable of doing so.

Blueblood, for his part, insisted on doing Morning Court on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that Twilight would only have to deal with it on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Taking the lion share of the Morning Court appearances and paperwork burden gave his wife the maximum possible amount of time for her research and he was still capable of recording the experiment attempts and the results in the evenings.

Also, the Diplomatic Corps were instructed to keep that schedule in mind when making appointments for Ambassadors and Foreign rulers. Short of the possibility of war, Princess Twilight was not to be disturbed on her days off when she was working on her research and treating patients. Everypony was made aware that Twilight may be a Princess, but she was also a doctor.

Starlight Glimmer, ever willing to help, was happy when Princess Twilight approved her request to return to university for even more education. Starlight continued her education for a further 2 years, earning a PhD in Reproductive Science for both Mares and Stallions, but keep it on the Clinical Lab Research side where she would only be working with approved Clinical Lab Research Study participants, testing the potions that she had crafted. As such, Starlight didn’t need a year of residency to become a medical doctor because she wouldn’t be treating patients outside of a clinical laboratory setting, testing new potions. This allowed her to begin the work of putting years of lab tests into practical application by making potions.

Starlight couldn’t treat the patients past a Nurse Practitioner level of treatment and Twilight couldn’t craft the potions, but with Twilight as a licensed doctor, and Starlight as a certified potion maker, their work was intertwined with each other. They needed each other and they would both be able to advance medical science, make a lot of bits, and hopefully help Twilight overcome her own fertility issues.

This partnership worked well as they were able to come up with three potions that cured various types of infertility in mares and two potions that cured two different types of erectile dysfunction in stallions. All five potions were patented, and Twilight split the profits with Starlight 50/50 as originally promised. Twilight, for her part, took all 3 of the mare’s potions in an attempt to fix her own issues… with no noticeable change. Blueblood didn’t bother with the stallion potions because he didn’t have erectile dysfunction, although he was glad that the potions existed.

As for today, it was a Friday night and Twilight was waiting for Blueblood to finish his daily paperwork so they could go out as a family. With recent advancements in science, there was this new type of family entertainment called the ‘motion picture.’ It was like a stage play but had been previously recorded, edited and formatted to be displayed on a huge screen. Twilight was having a personal movie theater installed into the castle, but it wasn’t completed yet so tonight they would be going out into public.

While she waited, she decided to have tea with Starlight. It was rare when they were able to spend time together when they weren’t working.

Starlight mused. “I’m really enjoying the profits from our successful potions. I’m able to afford things that I never thought I’d have, but I am curious… what does the Princess of Equestria need with all those potion profits?”

Twilight smiled as she sipped on her own tea. “I spend it on things for my family. Equestrian taxes may pay for the Grand Galloping Gala and other social functions and parties for foreign ambassadors and hosting the rulers of other nations but unlike Celestia used to, I take no pay for myself as the ruler of Equestria. I don’t think it’s fair for the citizens of Equestria to finance my lifestyle. Any clothes I commission for myself, my daughter or my husband… family outings to restaurants, plays, the opera or now… these so-called movie theaters, they all come out of my pocket, not the royal coffers.”

Starlight seemed shocked but also impressed. “Wow. I guess I won’t feel guilty about paying my taxes now. But still… you don’t go out much for obvious reasons and you only wear dresses to important events. What about the rest of the money?”

Twilight wasn’t sure it mattered but she answered anyway. “A lot of the rest goes to my parents. When Blueblood named my mom the Princess of Unicornia, they inherited the Unicornia estate which included a 20-bedroom chateau, Chateau Unicornia. They employ the minimum amount of household staff… but even with my dad’s wages as the Minister of Education and my mom’s book royalties’… it’s an expensive estate to maintain, especially when it needs repairs, general maintenance or upgrades. The movie theater I’m installing in the castle isn’t cheap and they are getting one in their estate as well. They probably would have preferred to stay in the tower home that I grew up in, but that’s a museum now. Still… 20 bedrooms with the Royal Guards providing security makes it a great home for 12 grandfoals… if only I could ever give it to them.”

Starlight lowered her head. “For me… I like the science of solving these problems but sometimes I forget how personal it is for you. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Twilight smiled at her friend. “Actually, I was hoping that you would do a full exam on me later tonight after we get back from the movie. I don’t feel any different but that doesn’t mean that the potions didn’t do something. Maybe I need an exam to find out one way or another. You’re an OBGYN nurse so at least you know what you’re looking for.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. “Sure, no problem, Twilight.”

* * *

The movie theater was a popular attraction in Canterlot and was filled to capacity with ponies wanting to see the latest show. Tonight’s feature was ‘The Prince of the Rings’ as a fantasy adventure theme set around the main characters of Mystichoof the Grey and Meadowheart the Brave as they tried to destroy a powerful magical artifact to prevent it from falling into the hooves of evil forces that would use it to conquer the world.

Twilight smiled at the parallels the movie made to some of her own adventures as the Element of Magic. Blueblood was content to cuddle up next to her with their daughter in his lap watching the movie.

Velvet Dawn watched the whole movie silently, jaw agape nearly the entire time and barely touched her popcorn as the movie captivated her entire attention and imagination.

The movie was unexpectedly long, at over 3 hours and had an ending that promised an eventual sequel. Returning to the castle, Velvet gushed about the movie non-stop as if it the best thing she had ever seen.

“Do you think that they will turn more books into movies, mom?”

Twilight nodded. “I’m sure they will sweetheart. This is a new technology, but it seems popular so I’m sure that it will continue to grow and improve.”

Velvet smiled up at her. “Will we go watch more movies in the future?”

Twilight kissed her forehead and nodded. “I think so. It would be nice if we had a family movie night… maybe every Friday from now on. Starlight is doing more and more work without me, so I have more time to spend with the family.”

Content with that answer, Velvet went to sleep without a fuss.

Blueblood smiled. “I must say, dearest, this was one of the better family outings that we’ve managed to have recently. Shall we retire also?”

Twilight nodded. “Starlight agreed to help me with something really quick that I wanted to do after the movie. Go get the bedroom ready and I’ll be there soon.”

Blueblood went on to get the bedroom ready and Twilight returned to the lab to see a full spread of simple OBGYN medical tools.

Starlight smiled. “Ah, good timing. I have everything I need for the exam, and I just finished reading your medical file from you giving birth to Velvet Dawn. I think I understand what the doctors recorded about your condition so I’m ready to start.”

Twilight climbed into the OBGYN chair that she had for medical exams for mares seeking fertility treatment and settled in for the exam. Starlight was quick but thorough as she tested everything that they normally looked for in a mare’s fertility issues.

After about 20 minutes, Starlight backed away to record her notes. 5 minutes of non-stop writing in silence was starting to unnerve Twilight so she bluntly asked.

“Is it that bad or that good?”

Starlight sighed. “I’m not sure. I’m not seeing any of the damage that the doctors recorded 9 years ago. For all intents and purposes… there is nothing wrong with you. Whether that was the potions or natural alicorn healing… I can’t say because we weren’t exactly thorough with doing a physical exam after every potion you’ve ever tried to take to heal yourself. In theory… you should be able to conceive again… eventually.”

With a sigh of relief, Twilight smiled with a tear running down her cheek.

“Hope. Simple hope. That’s the best answer I could have gotten.”

Starlight nodded. “So… what now?”

Twilight sighed. “We are making a fortune with the potions that we already have patented. You could retire or we can continue to try. What do you want to do?”

Starlight considered her response carefully. “There are a few other aspects of fertility that we haven’t fully explored. I’d like to continue to try to solve some of the rarer causes of infertility, but I’d also like to have more time to fly my kites and relax. At times, it feels like I’ve been working 60 hours a week for the last 7 years trying to solve this puzzle and I need a break.”

Twilight hugged her friend. “Of course. That’s more than reasonable. Good night, Starlight.”

Content with the hope of the recent exam gave her, she returned to her bedroom to cuddle with Blueblood.

The perfect end to a good day.

* * *

Author's Note

Only the Epilogue left.