Twilight groaned as she started to wake up. She could barely make out voices arguing through the hazy fog that filled her mind. She did not know how she ended up where she was, just the events leading up to her sudden unconsciousness.
Opening her eyes, Twilight had to blink a few times before the room she was in came into focus. She instantly recognized the shelves filled with scrolls as Celestia’s Private Study. In front of her stood the two princess sisters. Celestia looked visually upset, walking back in forth. Twilight only ever saw her this way when she is extremely upset.
“Pranking, Luna?” questioned Celestia, looking at the younger sibling. “I leave you two alone for a few hours and you spend your free time pranking the castle?” Luna looked unphased, shrugging off her sister’s question.
“We were bored and needed something to do.” said Luna calmly. “She agreed to it, though it took a little convincing.” Celestia just let out a sigh before plopping herself on the floor. Looking over, she noticed Twilight was awake.
“Good to see your awake.” said Celestia, moving over to the younger unicorn. Twilight tried to move, but noticed she was bound. She could also guess she had a magic limiter. “Those are for precautions.” said Celestia, answering her question before she could say it. “I know you are confused, but we can’t have you go telling everyone what you saw just yet.”
“But why am I the one that is bound and not that witch!” snapped Twilight. Celestia just let out a sigh, taking a seat in front of her.
“It’s not as simple as that, Twilight.” said Celestia. “Trust me, if I could, I would have had her thrown in cuffs the minute she stepped hoof in my hall, but unfortunately, things are more complicated than that right now.”
“Complicated how?” asked Twilight.
“In ways you could only imagine.” said a voice from behind her. Walking to where she could see her, Chrysalis took a seat next to Celestia. “If I had my way, I’d stay in hiding for the next twenty years until things relaxed and continued with getting love the safe way, however something came up that neither of us really could expect.”
“What could be so important that you would become allies with the changelings?” said Twilight, glaring at her mentor.
“Pregnancy.” said the two of them in-sync. Twilight froze, staring at the two of them in shock. She went through many situations in her head, trying to calculate how something like this could happen.
“I.. but how?” muttered Twilight shaking her head. “You are both mares. Unless…” Twilight whipped her head to glare at the changeling queen. “You! You planted eggs into Celestia to gain control over Canterlot!” Chrysalis blinked a few times in shock before shaking.
“That’s not even how changelings work.” said Chrysalis. “Besides, I’m the one pregnant. Before you ask, changelings adapt to who they are mating with, this includes pregnancy if the ‘father’ is a mammal.”
“That still doesn’t explain how it happened.” said Twilight, shaking her head. “Unless you two actually… you know… “
“No!” exclaimed the two of them. Celestia let out a groan, dropping her head for a second. “Look, you heard of the theory of mares getting pregnant from strong magical connection, normally caused by two horns locking together while using a large amount of magic, right?”
“Yes.” said Twilight, perking up. “The chances of it are low, and in some cases causes birth defects due to the fact that natural conceivement was not involved.” Celestia noticed Chrysalis’ physical discomfort at the news. She wanted to comfort the mare, but not sure how her reaction would be. Instead, she gently bumped her side to get her attention, giving her a reassuring smile. The changeling smiled slightly but still seemed concerned.
“Anyways,” said Celestia, turning her attention back to Twilight. “We have yet to decide how we are going to approach this situation. We can’t hide it, and we can’t ignore it either. For now Chrysalis will live her till the foal’s birth and the less ponies that know of her existence, the better.”
“You are aware that a child between two leaders normally marks the merger of countries, right?” questioned Twilight.
“It wasn’t my idea to get pregnant.” said Chrysalis, slightly annoyed. “However, we already agreed that we will try and mend things for the sake of everyone. If not for the fact that we will have to raise a foal together.” Twilight just let out a sigh, shaking her head.
“I still don’t agree with any of this, but I just doubt I can change any of this.” said Twilight. “But can you guys let me go now? I already missed my train so I better get back home to my parents and buy another ticket.”
Twilight left after promising that everything she heard would be kept a secret from anyone else. After she left, Celestia found herself craving dinner as she missed lunch due to events earlier. Luna bid the two of them farewell, as she went off to start raising that moon before sleeping away her fatigue.
Dinner was uneventful. Afterwards, Celestia went back to her study to finish some paperwork before the next day, Chrysalis coming along only so she could have something to do. As she started to comb through her piles, the changeling sat herself in a corner, picking a book off one of the many shelves.
After a moment, Chrysalis sat the book down with a heavy sigh, turning to the princess. “Is she right?” asked Chrysalis. “Is there a chance that our foal will have birth defects?” Celestia was quiet for a moment. After a while she set down her quill before facing the changeling.
“Birth defects are a high risk in foals of interspecies parents, as well as magical conception.” said Celestia with a solemn nod. “The best we can do is hope for the best.”
“But what defects are we talking about?” said Chrysalis, a touch of concern in her voice. “Physical deformities? Mental diseases?” Celestia could see the fear that was hidden in her eyes. She never thought she would see such emotion from the Changeling Queen, let alone feel slightly afraid herself.
“Listen, I am sure everything will be fine.” said Celestia soothingly. She scooted herself so she was sitting next to the Queen. “Even if we don’t put aside our differences, I will help you raise this foal despite all that.” Chrysalis gave a small smile before chuckling.
“Look at me, getting worked up about things out my control.” said Chrysalis with a soft sigh. “I got to thank you Celestia. While we might not be good friends, hell, a few weeks ago we were trying to defeat one another, but I am glad you are at least willing to try to help me through this.” Celestia giggled, wrapping a wing around the changeling. Chrysalis jumped at the touch, but went with it as she was unsure of her own emotions.
“As I have said before, we have to get along for the sake of our people and for our child.” said Celestia, giving the changeling a squeeze before letting go. “But we still have a few challenges ahead. We have to find a way to patch up the wound left from the invasion. Twilight was right, this in a way has solidified a merger that we are not ready for quite yet.”
“Then I suppose we should prepare for one.” said Chrysalis with a shrug. “It was essentially what I was trying to achieve, albeit a bit forced. If we could integrate changelings into normal life and make them somewhat excepted, just living in town with ponies could be enough to feed changelings.”
“That is the goal, then.” said Celestia with a smile. “However, we still need to explain to the public that I somehow knocked up the Queen of Changelings, so that will be interesting.”
“Just say I seduced you and we had a night of fun.” said Chrysalis. Celestia let out a sigh, shaking her head.
“That would gain the opposite reaction we want.” said Celestia. She let out a chuckle before falling onto her back. “We will figure out this mess eventually. One way or another.”