//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Daybreak // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// Daybreak was quiet the first night, but still, neither Twilight nor Chrysalis slept. They were too excited, too filled with energy. They sat up in bed together, basking in the existence of their daughter as they talked through anything and everything that came to mind. They talked about what needed to change, and what could stay the same. They talked about their duties. They talked about the future. They were both shocked when the sun came up hours later. It had seemed like barely minutes since it all happened, but there was the sun, and along with it the heavy reminder that they had important jobs to do. Daybreak was sleeping soundly at that point, but they still didn’t have an actual bed for her yet, so they decided to take her out into the throne room. They could trust any guests to be quiet, they figured. So, Twilight scooped up the infant and gently flew out the door that Chrysalis held open for her. The morning guards were already in the throne room, a stout stallion in the golden royal guard armor, and a tall mare sporting the dark blues of Luna’s personal guard. Chrysalis had wanted to change the armor the guards wore when she and Twilight moved into the castle, but Twilight was adamantly against it; She thought they should keep that tie to the sisters intact. The two guards looked their way to greet them, but fell silent when they saw Daybreak. “Good morning!” Twilight shot them a toothy grin and floated over to her throne, followed shortly after by Chrysalis. “Have we missed anything in the night?” “Um…” The stallion, a pale blue earth pony, mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. The other guard, a tall, yellow pegasus, looked at him, then back to Twilight. “Uh, I think what Seabeam is trying to say is, well… It doesn’t look like you’re the ones who missed something.” Twilight gave her a confused look. Then her eyes went wide, and she let out a small gasp. “Wait, did—” She turned to Chrysalis. “We told them what we were doing, right?” “Oh, no, not in the slightest,” Chrysalis told her. Twilight winced. “Why didn’t you say anything?” “I thought it would be funny if we surprised everypony. And I was right.” “I—” Twilight groaned. “Ugh, okay, whatever. So, Seabeam, Amber Dusk, it looks like you get to be the first ones to find out.” Twilight took a deep breath. “We decided to have a child.” “W-When?” Seabeam stuttered. “Shouldn’t we have, um… Noticed?” Twilight chuckled. “I used magic, silly.” The conversation was cut off by the massive doors to the throne room suddenly being thrust open. Rarity trotted in with a flourish, ready to begin her day, and the doors slowly slid shut behind her. “Good morning!” Rarity said in a sing-song voice. “How are my wonderful friends to—” She stopped in her tracks and gasped hard enough that it seemed she might faint. “Twilight! Don’t tell me…” Rarity could hardly get words out. Twilight grinned and nodded. Rarity squealed and hopped in place excitedly. She raced up to the throne faster than they’d ever seen her move before, and stood with wonder in her eyes as she gazed down at the sleeping baby. “Oh my goodness gracious, Twilight, she is precious! Why didn’t you tell me? I could have been preparing, I could’ve set up a nursery and made clothes and-and—” Rarity put a hoof over her chest and took several quick, deep breaths. “Have we killed her?” Chrysalis asked. Twilight laughed. “Sorry, Rarity. We would’ve told you, really, but, well… We only really made the decision yesterday.” Rarity swallowed hard and nodded, not taking her eyes off the baby. “I-I understand, darling. So, she’s a... changeling?” “Half,” Twilight said. That got Rarity’s attention. She looked up into Twilight’s face, then over to Chrysalis. “What?” “I’m really good at magic,” Twilight told her. “I feel like that should be impossible,” Rarity said, “but I’m not sure I care.” She turned back to the baby and grinned. “Have you thought of a name?” “Daybreak Nymph,” Chrysalis replied. “Oh, how lovely,” Rarity said. She reached out a hoof and, as gently as possible, stroked Daybreak’s cheek. It wasn’t gentle enough. Daybreak’s eyes fluttered open, revealing the stunning purple expanses for the world to see. Rarity was starstruck, too in awe to speak. There wasn’t silence, though, because a second later Daybreak opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail. It was a piercing, painful sound, halfway between a screech and a hiss, and louder than any of them could have imagined. “Aah!” Twilight would have jumped out of her seat if she wasn’t holding Daybreak. As it was, she leaned back in shock and knocked her head against the back of the throne. Wincing, she looked over to Chrysalis. “W-What’s happening?” Chrysalis shrugged. “Maybe she’s hungry? She should have plenty of love, though.” “She might not be able to keep going off of just love,” Twilight said. “Here, hold her, I’ll go find some food.” She gently floated Daybreak through the air and over to Chrysalis, who scooped her up and quietly cooed to her in an attempt to calm her down. Then, Twilight vanished in a pop of magic light. “I’m t-terribly sorry, Chrysalis,” Rarity muttered. She was barely audible past the deafening cries. “I didn’t mean to wake her up.” “It’s not your fault she’s crying,” Chrysalis said. “She’s a baby. Babies cry.” There was another pop, and Twilight appeared with a can of baby food and a spoon. Chrysalis got a grossed-out look on her face as Twilight started to feed her, but Daybreak didn’t seem to have the same reservations. She scarfed the food down greedily, quickly getting her fill, and afterwards stayed quiet. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, which was mirrored around the room. “Thank goodness. So, now we know she doesn’t just feed off of love.” “A shame, really,” Chrysalis said. “It would’ve been much easier.” After that initial hiccup, the day continued on relatively smoothly. Rarity quickly set herself to converting what used to be Luna’s bedroom into a nursery, and was in and out all day carrying supplies and decorations. With Rarity distracted, Twilight and Chrysalis had to do a lot more work, but it didn’t seem to be a problem. Daybreak watched their dealings curiously, and would play idly with whatever she could reach if she got bored. The guests were all so enraptured with her, in fact, that the day’s duties went far more smoothly than they normally would have. Those guests also didn’t keep quiet after they left, and it didn’t take long for the news to start spreading. By the time the papers got sent out at midday, they all had the same news on the front page. A royal baby, and perhaps even more shocking, a half-changeling one. Canterlot was abuzz within just a few hours. It was early afternoon, shortly after the papers went out, that a guard came into the throne room with an urgent look on his face. “Princess Twilight, Queen Chrysalis, there’s a bit of a… Situation.” Twilight had been in the middle of feeding Daybreak, and only glanced up for a second before turning her attention back down. Chrysalis picked up her slack and leaned forward to show the guard she was listening. “Yes?” Chrysalis asked. “The ponies of Canterlot are, well… They’re surrounding the castle. They want to see the baby, and the guards can’t even get out the front gate to do their jobs.” Chrysalis grimaced. “Daybreak isn’t here for their amusement. Tell them to leave.” “We’ve tried,” the guard said. “They refused to leave.” Chrysalis stood up from her throne. “Then I’ll deal with them myself.” “Wait,” Twilight spoke up, “we don’t need to scare them away.” “I’m not having a parade of onlookers traipse through here like some sort of zoo,” Chrysalis replied. “Of course not,” Twilight said, “but we can still show them the baby. I’ll just give a quick speech.” Patiently, she set aside the baby food and took to the air, Daybreak clutched to her chest. “You don’t need to bow to their every whim,” Chrysalis said. “I’m not,” Twilight told her. “I’m just being friendly.” “If you insist,” Chrysalis said, “but I’d rather this not become a common occurence.” Twilight nodded, and a few minutes later they were out on the balcony overlooking a sea of ponies, and a surprising number of changelings as well. They hadn’t set up anything special, they weren’t dressed up at all, Twilight had even almost forgotten her crown. There was no pomp and circumstance. The couple just went out and looked down at the crowd. Twilight stood tall in the center, and beside her Chrysalis sat back so she could cradle Daybreak. There was a slight uproar as they walked out. Daybreak clung to her mother’s chest, unsettled by the noise, and Chrysalis stroked her mane in an effort to comfort her. Twilight put a hoof up, calling for quiet, and before long the crowd settled down. “Good evening, everypony,” Twilight started.  She spoke loudly enough for the entire crowd to hear, but Daybreak didn’t retreat further. She recognized the voice, and so instead became curious and shifted around to look at Twilight. “I assume you’ve all heard the news,” Twilight continued. “Chrysalis and I have had a child, a beautiful daughter named Daybreak Nymph. I understand that you’re all curious, and you all want to see her, but please understand that we’d like her to have her privacy. We’ll do our best to provide the papers with information, but I’m afraid that personal visits are off the table.” There was a disappointed murmur across the crowd, but it died down before long. Twilight waited for it to stop before continuing. “I appreciate your understanding, and I hope you all have a wonderful day.” With nothing else to say, she gave a quick bow and walked back inside with Chrysalis at her heels. Once the doors shut behind them, Twilight let out a long sigh. “I still hate giving speeches.” Chrysalis nodded. “Thank you for being firm with them.” “Of course,” Twilight said. She walked over to where Daybreak could see her, bent down and kissed her forehead. “We chose this life. She didn’t.” “Oh, Twilight, thank goodness you’re back.” Rarity, seemingly out of nowhere, rushed over and started tugging on Twilight. “I need your assistance.” “Okay, okay,” Twilight said. “You don’t need to drag me.” “Yes, I know, but… Well, just come on.” Rarity led them over to the room that was to become the nursery and took them inside. It was far closer to being finished than they’d expected after only a day. There was a dresser, a changing table, a crib that was already filled with stuffed animals. Above the crib was a swinging mobile of glittering gemstones, and at one end was a chest that was presumably filled with toys. All that was missing, at least from Twilight’s point of view, was a baby. Rarity was clearly anxious, though, and rushed over to the dresser, which she’d set most of her supplies on. Hurriedly, she grabbed two pastel purple color swatches and held them up in front of Twilight. “Which one of these is better for the walls?” Twilight looked hard at the little cards, then looked around them and gave Rarity a puzzled look. “They’re the same color.” Rarity huffed. “They’re not even close. Here Chrysalis,” she said, floating them over, “what do you think?” Chrysalis poked one of the cards. “This one.” “Really?” Rarity brought the cards back to herself and stared at them. “But don’t you think it’s too… Drab? It’s so subdued, and don’t get me wrong, a subdued color can be perfect in the right situation, but here?” “Use the other one, then,” Chrysalis said. “B-But—” Rarity sputtered. “But it’s so bright! That’s why I wanted your input. Are you sure you prefer the softer one?” “To be honest, Rarity, they looked the same to me,” Chrysalis told her. “Wh—Bu—I—” Rarity threw the swatches on the floor and stomped a hoof. “This is serious! Daybreak is going to see this color every day, don’t you think it should be perfect? Surely you can—” “Guh!” Rarity was cut off by a sudden exclamation from Daybreak. All eyes shot to her and watched as she shifted around and reached out towards Rarity. “Oh?” Rarity walked over and stroked her mane. “I’m sorry, dearest, I didn’t mean to shout. I just got… A bit too frustrated. Forgive me?” Rarity tickled one of Daybreak’s hooves with her own, and Daybreak reached out and grabbed Rarity’s hoof with both of her own front legs. Rarity grinned for a moment, but then Daybreak opened her mouth, pulled forward and bit down on Rarity. “Ow!” Daybreak let go of Rarity at the exclamation, and Rarity hurriedly pulled her hoof back. “She… I… Why does she have fangs?” Twilight frowned and moved over to Rarity to look at her hoof. “I’m so sorry, Rarity, I didn’t know she would do something like that!” Chrysalis, meanwhile, clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Well, this isn’t ideal.” Rarity took a deep breath and composed herself. “It’s already, darlings, it… Happens. She’ll learn in time that that’s not the way to play.” “She wasn’t playing,” Chrysalis said. “Pardon?” Rarity asked. “She was trying to feed.” Rarity and Twilight both jumped back in shock. “What?” Twilight exclaimed. “But I thought she wasn’t feeding off of love!” “She wasn’t,” Chrysalis said. “I think… I think it was because Rarity got angry.”