A Week Later (Week 3)-

Gleaming stared at the open anatomy book before her. “What’s ‘fundal height’? I’ve seen it mentioned in here a few times.”

Cadance looked up from her own book. “That’s the distance from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. It’s how the doctor measures your tummy.”

The two of them were in their sitting room going over a stack of pregnancy books. Along with the ones Doctor Endo had given them on prenatal care, Twilight had also sent a few books along with the instructions for the nausea spell.

Gleaming groaned. “Please don’t say ‘tummy.’ Just… don’t.”

Cadance giggled. “Why not? It’s cute.”

“Because we’re gonna be drowning in baby talk soon as it is.” Gleaming turned the page, grimacing as she beheld a picture of a mare’s reproductive system. “We’re gonna be jibbering and jabbering and spouting nonsense at this kid soon as we see them, so I’d rather use adult words while I still can.”

Cadance blew a raspberry. “You worry about the silliest things sometimes.”

They’d been spending most of their free time lately like this—reading up on things and trying to make preparations. Even though it was still early, they just couldn’t help themselves.

Gleaming sighed and glanced down at her stomach. “So the little tyke’s just a ball of cells right now, eh?”

“Pretty much,” said Cadance. “The first few months are mostly internal changes, hence the nausea and other junk.”

Gleaming flipped through the book a bit more before picking up another. “When d’you think I’ll, uh…” She gestured to her middle. “Start ‘showing’?”

Cadance chuckled. “Not until the fourth month or so. You’ve got time yet.”

Gleaming stretched her limbs with a small grunt. “Was pretty sure Doctor Endo had said something like that when he gave us the prenatal vitamins, but I wasn’t sure.” She glanced over at the small white medicine bag on the table. It seemed innocuous enough, but it was just another reminder of how much (and how fast) things were changing.

Cadance watched Gleaming roll her shoulders, the weak morning light shining through the eastern window. She looked like she had a golden glow around her in that moment, the streak in her mane glinting with greenish-blue highlights.

“Y’know…” Cadance said. “A part of me is kind of hoping it’ll be earlier.”

Gleaming hesitated. She looked over to see Cadance eying her with a familiar look. “Eh?”

Cadance licked her lips. She got to her hooves, slowly, innocuously. “I can’t wait to see you properly pregnant. All big and round, filled out with nice curves, teats filled with milk, your tummy growing more and more…”

Gleaming’s heart skipped a beat. A hungry gaze of her own crept into her eyes, her body fluttery and warm. “Y’don’t say...”

Cadance smirked. She put her book aside and took a few steps forward. “I was actually hoping you’d let me spoil you some these next months—let you experience some girly things. Trips to the spa for pampering, makeovers with my beauticians, maybe some maternity outfits, that kind of thing.”

Gleaming bit her lip. A part of her was shrieking alarm, but the rest was oddly thoughtful. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all.

“...I’ll think about it.” She met Cadance’s eyes with a small smile. “And I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you find all of this sexy. You find almost everything sexy.”

“Not everything-everything.” Cadance kissed her. “Just everything about you.”

Gleaming hummed pulled her back in. Their tongues met in a familiar dance, and Gleaming wrapped her hooves around Cadance to lean back. The two of them collapsed onto the pillows as their kisses grew more and more fevered.

Cadance ground against Gleaming with a growl. She wrapped them tight in her downy wings, their tails entwined and tugging. Tiny sparks of magic flew from their horns that glittered and glowed, and Gleaming’s hoof trailed to Cadance’s dampening slit—

Knock, knock, knock.

They broke apart in a flash. Cadance flew back to her spot and picked her book back up, Gleaming teleported to the far side of the room and grabbed a few papers from the desk.

After sharing a look filled with later promise, Cadance smoothed out her mane and turned to the door.

“Come in!”

In walked in a pegasus guard they both recognized. Her curly coat was a dull gray with a two-toned mane of black and violet, her eyes were a muted shade of green, and her piercing gaze was impassive as she looked between them.

“I interrupted something, didn’t I,” she said.

Cadance and Gleaming chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it, Rex,” Cadance said. “What do you need?”

Rex yawned and inspected her shinguard. “An emissary from Equestria just arrived. I’m pretty sure Princess Luna sent them.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “How d’you know they’re from Luna?”

Rex’s expression didn’t change. “Who else would send a thestral?”

Cadance blinked. She glanced over at Gleaming, who’d was already preparing to go.

“Really?” Cadance asked.

Rex nodded. “Really.”

Cadance sighed. “Then I can guess what Auntie Luna wants.”

Rex shifted her wings. “I, uh... wouldn’t keep them waiting. She’s pretty cranky as is.”

“Great.” Cadance got up and floated over her crown and regalia. “A moody batpony who’s probably up way past their bedtime. Just what I was hoping for on my Saturday.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage to find a way to placate her.” A smile tugged at Rex’s lips. “Or is the great Mi Amore Cadenza afraid of a little ol’ messenger?”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Remind me again why we’re friends?”

“Because you liked to sneak out back in Canterlot for some late-night flying,” said Rex. “And I wasn’t very well about to let you go alone.”

“Heh.” Cadance looked off towards the window. “Good times…”

“Go tell them we’ll be down, Rex,” said Gleaming. “We just need a minute.”

Rex bowed and walked out the door.

Cadance turned to Gleaming. “You don’t have to come.”

“It’ll look better if I do,” Gleaming replied. “You know how certain ponies are with these things.”

Cadance sighed. “I wish we could just say we’ve already agreed to Auntie’s proposal. Save everypony the trouble.”

“Appearances are important, Cady,” Gleaming said. “Gotta make it official and all that.”

Cadance blew a lock of hair out of her face. “Being a Princess is such a pain sometimes.”

“I dunno…” Gleaming brushed her tail against Cadance’s leg. “I’m kinda getting used to it.”

The castle was mostly empty on weekends. Usually it’d remain sleepy and silent until Monday, but a rare visitor or event would bring about some infrequent activity. A small contingent of guards was always present for this purpose, and they were the ones who escorted the Canterlot messenger into the throne room.

The messenger was a small navy mare with leathery wings and cat-like eyes. She was clad in silvery scout armor emblazoned with a crescent moon, and the saddlebags at her sides were still peppered with flecks of snow. There were dark circles under her eyes as she yawned, tapping her hoof and flicking her fuzzy ears.

The click of a second door echoed throughout the chamber. Cadance and Gleaming walked in side by side, and Rex pointed them over to their guest.

“Welcome to the Crystal Empire!” said Cadance. “Who might you be?”

“First Lieutenant Apogee,” grunted the mare with a salute. “Forgive my curtness, but I’d rather not waste time with pleasantries. My mistress has a message she wanted delivered to you personally.”

Cadance didn’t miss a beat. “Of course. Go ahead, then.”

Apogee produced a scroll of midnight blue with an ornate seal. Her eyes were unreadable as she gave it to Cadance.

Cadance opened the scroll, Gleaming standing on her tippy-hooves to read over her shoulder.

“I see,” said Cadance after a few moments. “So Luna’s taken it upon herself to participate in her little program? I didn’t realize the situation was that dire.”

“There are less than a thousand of my kin left, Highness,” Apogee said flatly. “It’s to the point that the elders don’t want us leaving the capitol anymore. It took a royal order to get me here.”

All Cadance could do was shook her head. “Why have you all waited so long? We could’ve done something long before now.”

“The Dark Lady was gone, Princess.” Apogee was small and wiry, but the passion in her voice made her larger than life. “All these long years we’ve waited, wasting away, the light eating away at us—”

Apogee’s voice wavered. She hung her head and took a deep breath. “I don’t expect you to understand. We are guardians, Highness—sentinels, safeguards of the sleeping mind. We only fight when there’s something worthwhile to protect.”

Gleaming put Luna’s letter down to watch Apogee like a hawk.

“Everything we had… gone,” Apogee whispered. “W-We tried to keep going, b-but all that was left was fear. Fear and sadness... sadness and anger… so much anger. Equestria had become all light—the shadows were being burned away and no one cared—”

“But Luna’s back now,” Gleaming cut in. “Which means you all have a purpose again. Yes?”

Apogee raised her head. “It was like a fog lifted from our eyes. We remembered who we were, what we’re meant to do. We will serve Equestria once more under the Dark Lady, but there are so few of us left now...”

Cadance bit her lip. She and Gleaming had already heard most of this from Luna, but to hear it firsthoof from a sufferer?

No, not just a sufferer… a survivor.

“So you need help repopulating,” Cadance said. “It’ll be generations before your ponies are back to a healthy population, but with help, it’ll be considerably fewer generations.”

“Which Princess Luna is managing through a nationwide volunteer surrogate program,” Gleaming finished. “Correct?”

Apogee knelt down before them. “On behalf of the thestrals, will you speak to your citizens of the mistress’ plan? Even if it only leads to one volunteer, it’ll be worthwhile to us.”

It was all Cadance could do to not to hug Apogee. She could feel the turbulent emotions within her, but there was also a dark malaise; the dregs of a melancholy that’d once gripped her. Cadance couldn’t imagine a depression that’d make a pony lose the will to live before, but now...

“Seems the thestrals are in a bit of a jam,” Cadance said to Gleaming. “What do you think? Can we lend a helping hoof?”

Gleaming pretended to think for a moment. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to make an announcement. Gauge the interest, at least.”

Apogee perked up. “Thank you, Your Majesties!”

“Although…” Gleaming continued.

Apogee’s smile froze.

“I’m just thinking this might be a larger project than we think,” said Gleaming. “If we get a surplus of volunteers, we’ll have to do a lot more than just an announcement. Wouldn’t be very practical to have that many doctors travelling back and forth, for one. We’ll probably need to establish a branch of the program here in the Empire.”

Apogee’s eyes widened. “B-B-Branch?”

“I mean, it’s only logical,” she went on. “According to the last census, the Crystal Empire is home to a little over two hundred thousand ponies. About sixty percent of that number are mares, and a little over half that number being the proper age to bear foals. That means we have sixty thousand possible volunteers, with say... a sixth of those already expecting or incompatible, that’s still not much of a dent. Let’s go on the low-end and say one percent of fifty thousand decides to enter the program. Even then, five thousand ponies is more than enough of a demand to require a facility.”

Apogee could hardly believe what she was hearing. “F-Five thousand… f-facility…”

“And that’d just be the first round!” Cadance chimed in. “We’ll likely have extras filter in from surrounding areas once words gets out! We could wind up with twice as many for the next wave for all we know! Maybe even three times that many! We’d definitely need an organized system and establishment then! Maybe even a whole complex!”

Apogee was reeling. She wobbled back and forth like a windchime, muttering and making strange squeak-like chirps.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Gleaming clapped her hooves. “We could add a new wing of the Crystal Empire Central Hospital! It’ll be completely dedicated to obstetrics, fertility treatments, the works! We could also go to the medical schools and let them know of the increased demand. We’re going to need a lot more doctors trained in with that many foals, after all—”

Apogee fell in a dead faint.

...Or at least, she would have. Rex caught her at the last second, then gently lifted her to begin carrying her off. Gleaming and Cadance snickered as they watched them head off to the guest rooms.

“Put her in one of the suites!” Cadance called to Rex.

Gleaming put a hoof around Cadance. “Think we overdid it?”

Cadance shook her head. “She needed that more you’ll ever know.”

“Mmm.” Gleaming rested her head on Cadance shoulder. “So Luna is pregnant, too. That’s a surprise.”

“Not as surprised as our citizens will be when we tell them about this whole deal,” said Cadance. “Think we’ll get a good number of volunteers?”

Gleaming shrugged. “It’ll depend on how we present it.”

Cadance sighed. “This is gonna be a tough sell...”

Gleaming took a deep breath, taking in the scent of Cadance’s mane. “Do… do you think it’s wrong that I’m more concerned about the wellbeing of our own foal than with the thestrals? Does… does that make me a bad pony?”

Cadance turned so she could look Gleaming in the eyes.

“No.” She leaned in and touched their horns together. “It makes you a parent.”

And at those words, all the feelings from earlier resurged in a mighty swell.

“Cady…” Gleaming kissed Cadance hard, pulling her in tight with her hooves trailing south. Cadance responded in kind, her hooves tracing circles around Gleaming’s stomach. They groped each other in the silence of the empty throne room, their gasps and grunts amplified in the vast chamber.

The broke with a gasp of air, a tendril of saliva still connecting them.

“Resume?” asked Gleaming

Cadance gave her rear a squeeze. “Resume.”

They disappeared together in a magenta flash.