“Chrysalis has something very important to discuss with her husband.”
Suggested by K9Thefirst1
Tirek lowered the coffee mug to the table, trying with all his might to restrain the sudden jitters that had suddenly struck his hand. “A baby?”
“Well, not immediately.” Chrysalis chuckled nervously, her eyes darting around the room. “Believe me, I’m looking forward to a little peace and quiet around here just as much as you are, but I was thinking…”
“Chryssy.” He cut her off gently.
She focused on him, her shining eyes trying to look determined, but betrayed by minute flickers to the side. “Yes?”
“Maybe you should start over.”
“What do you mean?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I just sat down, took a sip of coffee, and you blurted out that you wanted another baby.” His lips curved into a small smile. “You’re usually more subtle than that.”
Chrysalis took a deep calming breath and shook her head. “You’re right. It’s just… I’ve put a lot of thought into this and I’ve been putting off talking to you about it, but with graduation around the corner we’ve just been so busy and the time hasn’t been right, but then you sat down and I thought ‘well, there’s no time like the present,’ but now maybe I came off too strong and you…”
“Chryssy.”
Chrysalis’ jaw snapped shut and she took another breath. “Sorry.”
“After all these years, you know you don’t have to be nervous around me. Not about anything.”
Chrysalis nodded, took another breath, and sipped her tea. “Raising Cozy Glow has been a joy, hasn’t it?”
“The most rewarding thing I’ve done in centuries.”
“And it’s been quite the experience providing parental support to the old hive, yes?”
Tirek’s smile widened. “Very much so. They’ve enjoyed having a surrogate father as much as I’ve enjoyed having so many surrogate children.”
“Yes.” Chrysalis returned the smile. “But now they’re having little ones of their own, passing down the lessons you’ve given to them. And Cozy…”
Tirek winced, his eyes cutting to a nearby photograph of his adopted daughter. She’d grown into a beautiful mare, as brilliant and cunning as any before her. She was currently on her senior trip to Neigh Orleans, a special visa from Celestia herself allowing her temporary reprieve from her banishment.
Beside the photo’s frame was the program for an upcoming graduation ceremony.
“For the first time, it’s going to be just the two of us.”
“It sounds fun.” He reached across the table and took her hoof in his hand. “We can take longer trips. Explore the frontiers of Equus, just like we always wanted.” He smirked. “And, it goes without saying, that having the house all to ourselves, free of any possible interruptions, also has a certain allure to it.”
Chrysalis suppressed a lovely shiver as she sampled the familiar taste of her husband’s want. “You’re right, of course, but then what?”
He cocked his head. “Then what?”
“After we’ve spent years surveying and exploring. After we’ve seen every sight unseen by Equestrian eyes. After we’ve thoroughly ruined every inch of this house.” She shrugged. “Then what?”
Tirek leaned back and reached for his coffee. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“You and I are going to be around for centuries to come.” Chrysalis sipped her tea. “In my case, I may never age. Years and years lay before us, my love, and all of them devoid of what has given us the most joy in life.”
Tirek began to catch on. “Being parents.”
“I know we don’t like to talk about it, but we are going to outlive Cozy. And her children. And, more than likely, our great grandchildren a hundred times removed. With all this time ahead of us, would you really be happy in never hearing the laughter of children, of our children, ever again?”
Tirek shook his head. “No. No, I wouldn’t.” He drank his coffee. “So, do you want to adopt?”
“Not exactly.” Chrysalis shifted in her seat.
Tirek chuckled darkly. “Well, we can’t just go and snatch some little one from their crib, dear-heart. This isn’t the old days.”
She kicked at him under the table even as she laughed as well. “No, no foal-napping, but there are… there are other solutions.”
“Such as?”
Chrysalis tried to prolong the moment with another drink, but found her cup bone dry. “A few months ago, Ocellus wrote me a letter.”
“Not surprising.” Tirek muttered into his coffee.
Chrysalis ignored him and continued. “She’s been exploring the caverns of Shift since she graduated, and recently she found a passage that had been sealed for a very long time.”
“How long?”
“So long that not even I have any memory of it, and I was Queen for almost a thousand years. At the end of the passage, she found a chamber filled with shed pieces of chitin. Each piece was inscribed with passages written in the old tongue. She wanted my help translating.”
“What did they say?” Tirek leaned forward, very interested.
“Most of them are a record of how our kind came to the valley in the first place. A few contained information on abilities that have long been lost to us.”
“Such as?”
“Such as the power to change our shade in place of our shape, enabling us to hide in plain sight without having to change.”
“Like chameleons.” Tirek nodded. “Fascinating.”
“I thought so too. But not as fascinating as another discovery we made.” She took one last breath before getting to the heart of the matter. “It would appear that it is possible for a Changeling to crossbreed with another species.”
Tirek blinked slowly. “How?”
“Using an intense form of focus, something only the oldest and most powerful of our race could manage, we can alter our very biochemistry to match that of another species. Every cell becomes imperceptibly the same as another creature’s. The ultimate disguise. Only a certain section of our brain retains its Changeling nature, thus allowing us to return to our original form at will.”
“Incredible.” Tirek gaped at her, a smile spreading across his face. “So you, if you wanted… if we wanted, to make a child together, you could become a centaur for the duration of the pregnancy?”
Chrysalis nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I could. But there’s one small issue.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want to become a centaur for that long.”
Tirek’s grin faltered. “But… but you said…?”
“Ocellus’s find led me to do some experimenting of my own. That’s how I found out that it’s infinitely easier to change a few parts of myself through that purpose than all of me.”
Tirek began to catch on. “Like…”
“Like a womb, one perfectly suited to carry the child of a centaur to full term.” She shrugged. “If I happened to find a centaur receptive to the idea.”
Tirek lowered his mug to the table and pushed away, his face blank and unreadable.
Chrysalis’ confidence cracked a bit. “What’s…?”
The magic materialized between his horns and snatched her before she could scream. He yanked her wholly across the table and into his waiting arms. He held his wife tight against his chest and laughed. “I love you so much.”
She cooed as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I take it you’re my receptive centaur?”
“More than receptive.” He pulled her away to look into her eyes. “I love being a father, but moments like this remind me why I love being your husband just as much.” He saw the tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?”
“Of course I am, you big red dolt.” She swatted playfully at his chest even as she sniffled and tried to wipe her eyes clear. “I never dreamed that there was even the possibility of something like this for us. That we could create something that was equal parts you and me.”
“A baby.” Tirek marveled. “We’re going to have a baby.”
“Well, not for a while.” Chrysalis added.
“Of course. We’ve got some traveling to do first, don’t we?” A thought occurred to the huge centaur. “Do you think Cozy will be okay with it?”
“Of course she will.”
“How can you be so sure? Hundreds of distant half siblings is one thing, but this? A proper flesh and blood brother or sister? How would she feel…?” Tirek trailed off as realization sank in. “You’ve already told her.”
“Weeks ago. She’s over the moon at the idea.”
He smirked as he inched his face closer to hers. “You’re so devious.”
“And I always will be.” She whispered as her lips met his. When they parted, she nuzzled his nose playfully. “Are you excited?”
“Beyond excited.” He pecked her lips. “Now, even though we’re not going to do this for some time, it doesn’t me we can’t… you know…”
She grinned as she licked her lips. “Practice?”
“Exactly.” He eased her down onto the table’s surface and kissed her once again. “And, to make sure we get this right, I think we’re going to need lots of practice.”
“That’s what makes us such good parents.” Chrysalis’ giggle became a moan as her hulking husband began kissing down her neck.
“What does?”
“We’re always on the same page.”