Tired. It was now a state of being for Twilight. Her and Discord got barely any sleep as the newborn woke up on several occasions. Now, after going through the fiasco of feeding her, the family was on their way to Canterlot with only 3 hours of sleep at the most. Her mother, who stayed the night at Ponyville, told her that 3 hours of sleep was going to be her new sleep schedule until at least she was one, maybe two.
Her and Discord took turns napping on the train, trying to catch as much sleep as possible to make up for what they lost. Whoever woke up got to watch Penumbra while the other slept. The filly seemed to have calmed a bit from this morning, watching the scenery roll by. They were both waiting for the train to grow legs or something.
After two hours, the train slowed to a stop at the glistening capital of Canterlot. From the window, Twilight could see the detachment of guards Celestia told her would be waiting. According to the princess, the nobles were highly against two things currently: Discord and Cross-Breeding. So at that moment, Penumbra was at the top of the list for Equestria’s nobel’s, meaning they had to sneak her into the castle since word of the new heir already reached Canterlot ears.
Reluctantly, Twilight covered up the child in a foal carrier she had strapped under her. She then cast a quick shield around her, invisible so as not to seem too suspicious. Discord laid a claw on her shoulder before rendering himself invisible.
Upon exit, the guards bowed deeply before continuing to follow the princess down the streets. Twilight had been guarded previous times before, but the fact that she was not one being targeted made her uncomfortable. She reached up and stroked the bundle on her chest softly, gaining a small giggle in response.
She stopped in front one of the news stands. She dropped a bit in the jar before taking the newspaper off the rack.
A picture taken from their wedding earlier that year was in the cover. She took a deep breath before actually reading the article:
Royal Heir, or Royal Disaster?
It was reported that early yesterday afternoon, the royal couple of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Discord, Lord of Chaos had birthed their first heir. Penumbra Sparkle was birthed around 9:20 yesterday morning, by means unknown since witnesses in Ponyville said they never saw Twilight pregnant, though a noticeable absence of chaos was noted as Discord remained indoors the last 3 months, coming out only occasionally and not for long.
Rumors have already spread about whether or not that the next heir to the throne will be anything like her infamous father. Nobel’s of Equestria’s congress have already expressed their disgust of the matter and have briefly discussed it’s legal properties before being shut down by the princess. Needless to say, the political backlash already seems to have started, few even talking of impeachment, but those mutterings were nither confirmed or repeated.
Some Equestrian families are in an uproar, condemning the idea of a hybrid in the royal family. We know for certain, though, that the possibility of a shut down in Equestrian Government is possible until things settle.
“Ponies sound happy about this.” huffed Discord, swatting the paper on the ground. Twilight didn’t make an attempt to pick it back up she continued forward with a sigh.
“Equestria has always been afraid of foreign creatures. Other countries have even went as far to call us the most xenophobic country due to the fact that we normally freak out and attack anything foreign to us.” She shook her head. “Sadly, that combined with you past offenses against Equestria makes them terrified of Penumbra, as she is unknown and heir of the Lord of Chaos.”
“I do wish I did make a better place for Penny to grow up in, but her birth wasn’t really planned to begin with.” There was an audible sigh next to her. “It’s not something I proud of, but I will try to fix it. Before it gets too bad.”
“I mean, we’ve almost made it to the castle without any issue,” said Twilight with a faint smile. “And nopony really batted an eye at us, so I guess that means we are in the clear, right?” Before Discord , the guards in front of her stopped almost causing her to run into them.
Pushing past them to get in front, she was confronted with 4 ponies barring the path ahead. Their mane’s were cut similarly to that of the royal guard, but they wore no armour except for the fact that their Cutie Marks were painted over. The Arms of Chaos was painted over it instead, a giant red X over it made her worried.
“Sergeant, who are these ponies?” asked Twilight, quickly adding extra wards around Penumbra as she put her to sleep with magic. She took off the carrier and handed it to the rearmost guard.
“Servants of Equestria, Princess.” said the sergeant, shifting his spear so it was easier to access. “We were aware of their upbringing shortly after Tirek. Since then, they have made multiple rallies against changeling’s and Lord Discord, warning the ponies of them. They have stayed mainly in Canterlot, but have supposedly moved to other major cities as well.”
“Any of them ex-military?” asked Twilight, eyeing the one unicorn in the group.
“A few, mainly guards who were discharged for disorderly conduct. A few for speaking against the Princess and making threats against you while in earshot of higher command.”
“Perfect.” mumbled Twilight. She knew she didn’t get the most popularity, since she was the newest edition to Equestrian Hierarchy, but she never knew it would get this bad. “Prepare yourself, if anything happens, I want Penumbra to be your top priority and getting her to safety. I am more than able to handle myself.”
Despite being invisible to everyone, Twilight could feel Discord watching her as she stepped away from the guards and towards the group of ponies, stopping a quarter of the way so that there was only ten feet between them. Twilight quickly glanced around, noticing that the halt of her party caused onlookers as they were curious of the situation.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke. “I was informed by my guards of the form of group you are part of, may I ask what the Servants of Equestria want with me that they halt our travel to the castle?” It was odd speaking this way. Formal, neutral, yet powerful. Something both her brother and mentor Celestia taught her so she could one day hold power over her own guards, army, or other.
The unicorn, a mare with an orange coat and a blood red mane stepped forward. “You know what we have come for, Twilight. You have offended Equestria for not only mating with the beast known as Discord, but for reproducing. Equestria is ashamed of the creature half-breed you call a daughter.” Her eye twitched, but Twilight kept her cool knowing it would worsen the situation.
“I would rather prefer that you keep my newborn out of this. And I also believe it is law that a pony can love and mate with whomever they desire, no matter the species.” Her voice lowered, bowing her head so that her horn was only a quick movement away from being perfectly lined up with the unicorn in front of her. “Please, step aside and let us through. Attacking royalty is against the laws and can result in severe penalty.”
“We don’t care about your rules, Winged-Whore!” There was a collective gasp, Twilight reeling back at the insult in shock. Before she could retort, the unicorn threw down her head, releasing a bolt of magic in her direction. Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, not having time to throw up a counterspell in time.
The bolt stopped just before her, condensing in on itself into a red orb. Discord appeared into existence, the glare he held at the unicorn enough to back down even the Dragon King. With a squeeze of his claw, he dispelled the magic as he stepped in front of Twilight.
“I think,” started Discord. “That you should leave. I will not allow you to cause any harm to my wife or daughter, and it is only because of them you are alive, so I suggest you leave before this gets any worse.” The deepness of his voice shocked Twilight. It was deeper than normal, sending a chill down her spine as it sounded almost sinister.
Not wasting anytime, the ponies quickly scrambled away, the unicorn throwing a glare back at Discord before disappearing behind an alley. “Should we pursue them, Princess?” asked the sergeant, returning Penumbra to her.
“No,” said Twilight, strapping the babe to her chest. “Let them run. Hopefully they learned their lesson and won’t try again. Besides, if they do, I prefer to have my guards with me and not all over Canterlot.” The guards bowed before taking up positions around her. Discord gave a heavy sigh as floated back next to Twilight before the continued down the street towards the castle.
“Thank you.” said Twilight softly. “But you do realize that a spell of that caliber against an alicorn would only knock me back, since my magic resistance is higher than most ponies, right?” The draconequus chuckled.
“I still think all of you ponies are hopeless.” He poked her in the stomach. “Especially you. Everything needs to be exactly perfect or you go into a complete mental breakdown.”
“That was completely justified on my part.” said Twilight with a huff, shoving him away. “How else am I to react when I am suddenly dumped on that…you’re pregnant with our child? I think it was the perfect reaction for the time.”
Twilight let out a small sigh of relief as they made it to the castle. She made note of the higher security, checkpoints at the gates, and flying sentries. “Penny is only a day old and caused plenty of chaos. Daddy is so proud of you.”
“That’s what I am afraid of, Discord.” said Twilight with a sigh. “I don’t want to lock away her chaos tendencies, but right now it is putting everyone on edge that she has the ability to do things beyond you.” The family walked up the stairs into the castle where they were met by Celestia.
It was one of the few times that Twilight saw her former-mentor truly tired. The elder alicorn smiled faintly, what looked like bags had formed under eyes, hinting that she probably hadn’t slept that night.
“We got plenty to talk about.”