The corridors of Canterlot Castle seemed especially quiet to Ella as she followed her escort Dawn Shine towards Celestia's private study, the butter-cream colored earth pony with a light-blue mane and tail, brown eyes, and a feather-duster cutie mark setting a moderate pace for them both, as if the mare didn't want the human to strain herself.
Always so considerate, Ella thought to herself with a smile. She had always liked how gentle Celestia's head of household was, and thought that the little pony looked especially adorable in her little French maid uniform. She already saw all ponies as overwhelmingly cute since coming to this world, but the almost comical appearance of the mare's outfit only added another layer of it so that it now borderlined ridiculous; like dipping candy into a bowl of sugar.
Ella herself was wearing a black column skirt with A-lines around the midriff to allow room for her expanding belly which was also wrapped in a sea-blue sash. A white cloak with a light-green liner was affixed about her shoulders with a silver broach; the hood of the cloak raised to cover her golden hair. The entire ensemble, of course, was another design from Rarity, who did not even try to hide the fact that the color schemes she continued to design for her reflected those of a changeling, something that Ella found immensely amusing.
Ella had been surprised when she had returned home early from the hospital only to find a sky chariot and an escort waiting for her outside her home in Ponyville, with an invitation to join Celestia for an afternoon tea, an invitation which she was happy to accept, knowing from experience that it meant she had an update for her on Flash and when he would be returning from his latest mission; that, and Celestia was a joy to be around.
She had been a little frustrated when Nurse Red Heart had sent her home early once more from her job at Ponyville General, but she really didn't have a choice in the matter, being that Red Heart was both her boss as well as being her OBGYN. Ella still couldn't get over how quickly the dedicated mare had studied and absorbed the medical manuals Flash had fetched for her from Earth so that she could take up the role, but Ella knew that it was for the best. With the strong likelihood that the two babies she was carrying would be anything but normal, human doctors from a very non-magical world would not be an option lest an obvious discrepancy be noticed in a routine checkup, like wings.
Yes, that had been the latest marvelous discovery during the magic enabled ultrasound that she underwent at the beginning of her second trimester, confirming a longstanding theory of Twilight's that the pegasi magic which Flash inherited from his mother Bright Skies had affected his entire biology, even down to the genetic level. Her resulting geek-out, or 'Twilighting' as she learned her friends called it, was the stuff of legends. Flash had ended up hiding in a closet just to get away from the young alicorn's obsessive need to conduct further research.
Still, the happiness that the incredible discovery had given her young husband was truly touching, so happy he was to learn that his children would potentially have something that he never had but longed for, the ability to fly.
"Here we are mistress Ella," Dawn Shine said, stopping outside and holding open the white and gold doors of Celestia's private study, "Princess Celestia will be with you shortly." Ella smiled,
"I told ya before Dawn, you don't have to call me that." She replied, her Brooklyn accent still noticeable even after being in Equestria for almost a year.
"Right, sorry mistress Ella, I mean, Ella! Sorry!" She blustered, looking down nervously, a slight blush in her face.
Ella chuckled, reaching down to gently scratch behind one of Dawn's soft ears, causing the little pony to look up in surprise, but at the same time, unable to hide the obvious delight visible in her eyes resulting from the pleasant sensation.
I could probably take over this world through the power of scritches, Ella mused to herself. Curious, Ella widened her perception, allowing her changeling senses to observe Dawn Shine's aura; it was positively blossoming with various emotions in a veritable cornucopia of colors: the bright gold of joy shot through with little streaks of the pale blue of uncertainty, the light green of curiosity, and all wreathed in the light pink of love and appreciation. It smelled like a mix between flowers, crushed spices, and fresh pastries; like warm cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. The taste was-
Ella blinked and withdrew her senses, snapping herself out of the moment before she could get carried away.
"Heh, thanks for your help Dawn, I'll go wait for the Princess now." Ella said while withdrawing her hand. The little pony smiled and dipped her head,
"Of course Ella, I'm sure she'll be along shortly."
Closing the door, Ella leaned her back against it, sighing as she removed her hood and stared up at the ceiling.
"That was too close," she murmured in admonishment to herself, remembering what a bad idea it was to open her senses so freely without an appropriate food source on hand when she was hungry, or in this case, starving. It created an unnecessary temptation, never mind a potentially dangerous situation. Ella shuddered, remembering what happened to her when she had tried to simply ignore her new hunger when she had first gotten her magic; she ran her tongue over one of her small fangs, something she did without thinking whenever she got like this.
Ordinarily, Ella knew she could make it around a week between feedings on a full tank of love before her hunger began to make itself known. But with the growing energy demands of her pregnancy, she felt like she could barely make it a day now before starting to feel peckish; and Flash had been gone for more than two days now. For just as the twins had inherited their father's magic, they had apparently inherited their mother's, which created its own unique set of challenges; the amount of love they could consume from her in the course of a single day was impressive to say the least, to the point that passive feeding on whatever ambient love was floating around could no longer cut it. She felt them stir,
"I know babies, momma's hungry too," Ella said with a small, tired laugh, resting a hand on her belly. "Hopefully your father will be home soon and then we can all eat." Twilight and her other friends were normally a reliable fallback, they were always more than happy to share their love when Flash wasn't around. But they had been kind of busy the last few days and besides, Ella didn't like the idea of just popping in for an unannounced visit just as an excuse to feed.
Oh hey Applejack, how ya doing? Me? Oh nothin much, I just happened to be in the neighborhood, say, I know you're busy and all but if it ain't too much trouble, do you mind if I snack on you? Don't mind me!
"Yeah, that's totally not creepy at all," Ella said with a sigh, pushing herself off the door to walk about the study. The curtains had been drawn about the windows, casting a shadow over most of the room, but she didn't mind. Even the darkest nights were like daytime to her with her night vision. She was already familiar with the space, but still enjoyed looking around. There didn't appear to be any new additions in the floor to ceiling bookshelf that made up the back corner of the room behind Celestia's desk, which appeared less cluttered than usual. The white wingback chairs and glass tea table were still in their usual places, as was the large, white and gold trimmed padded dais by one of the windows.
Feeling a bit curious, Ella stepped over to it and ran her hand over its soft, silky surface; it felt nice.
Celestia probably wouldn't mind if I sat here for a bit, she thought while sitting down, sinking into the soft material. The minutes went by, marked by the steady tick of the stately grandfather clock on the other side of the room. The relaxing sound combined with the comfort of the dais began to make the young woman feel a little sleepy. Ella thought about getting up and walking around to stay alert, but the dais felt warm, and she was already feeling a bit chilled because of her hunger.
Ella pulled her cloak a bit more tightly about her while stifling a yawn. Boy, it's been more than twenty minutes, she must be busy. She hesitated at first, but then slowly laid down on her side, tucking her legs up underneath her cloak. That felt nice, very nice. It couldn't hurt to just rest her eyes for a bit, right? She didn't want to be caught on Celestia's private lounge when she entered the room, but felt assured that she would sense the Princess' aura approaching long before that happened and would quickly compose herself. After all, she wasn't going to fall asleep, she just was going to rest a little, yes, just a little rest...
Warm.
Ella felt so wonderfully, supremely, warm and comfortable. That was the first thought to cross her sleepy mind. It felt as if she were cuddling a cloud, such was the softness that surrounded her, except that this cloud was warm, and seemed to be cuddling her in return. It smelled nice too, like fresh earth, clean air, and wild flowers. It also seemed to be exuding a most fragrant love, love that tasted so sweet and smooth, like the richest hot chocolate-
Like a pane of glass shattering, Ella's eyes abruptly snapped open, her head popping up in a tangle of golden bed-head between some very large, primary feathers of the purest white.
Celestia didn't even turn her head, calmly turning the page of the book laying in front of her crossed forelimbs with her golden magic; Ella could see the smallest wry smile curling one side of her mouth.
"Good afternoon, Ella," Celestia said, her voice gentle and mild, "I trust you're feeling well rested?"
"...eeep..." came the young woman's most eloquent reply, her face turning as pink as the motherly love she could see radiating off of the Princess in great waves; she shrank back under the wing.
Celestia emitted a small chuckle, closing her book and turning to look down at the comparatively smaller human cowering in embarressment under her wing at her side. She smiled warmly,
"Forgive me if I surprised you my dear, but you looked a little chilled when I walked in, and I didn't want you to catch cold in your condition." Ella noticed that the Princess had removed her crown and other regal adornments, it didn't make her look any less majestic.
Catch a chill, right! Grab a blanket? Posh! We have soft cuddly pony monarchs with fluffy wings for these sorts of things! Ella swallowed nervously,
"Sorry for falling asleep in your spot, I didn't mean to," Ella said, finally managing to find her voice. Celestia's wing gently tightened it's hold on her, pressing her into the pony's warm side,
"There is nothing to apologize for my dear, you are always welcome to relax here." Celestia replied reassuringly, still smiling, though her eyes held a hint of amusement at the human's bashfulness; Ella could clearly see a flicker of green mischief ripple under the pink glow of the pony's love.
Ella's eyes widened as the love surrounding the princess suddenly intensified, nearly bowling her over in what she now realized was a free invitation to sate her hunger.
"You look positively famished my dear, please, I insist." Celestia said with an encouraging nod. Ella struggled not to gape at the sheer amount of affection presently overwhelming her senses that the Princess had for her. She had already grown familiar with how motherly Celestia was with the vast majority of her subjects since she had first arrived in Equestria, and how that love had been graciously extended to her from day one. But compared to what she had experienced back then, Celestia's love for her now seemed to have intensified by an exponential degree; she was loving her as if she were her own daughter. It was all too much.
Alright, I don't care if she's an immortal pony princess who controls the sun, she's getting hugs.
With a wordless exclamation, Ella flung her arms around the alicorn's soft, strong neck, burying her face into her soft coat; Celestia responded with a gentle caress of her lower jaw over the crown of the young woman's head.
"You know you really are best pony, you know that?" Ella mumbled into the pony's fur between great draughts of the love she was presently inhaling.
"Mmmm," Celestia hummed while continuing to nuzzle the human, "That's very kind of you to say my dear, but I figured that if I am the one sending your husband away all the time, that the least I could do is to ensure that you don't go hungry in his absence." Ella could only laugh softly at that one, now knowing the reason why Celestia had invited her over to the castle seemingly out of the blue. She sighed at the wonderful sensation of relief that came with her hunger being finally sated, and made sure to extend a tendril of the new energy out to the twins. To her surprise however, she sensed that they were now asleep, and only then realized that Celestia must have fed them too while she was resting.
Yup, definitely best pony. After a while, Ella relaxed her grip, but remained leaning against her, simply enjoying her comforting embrace. A thought caused her to smile,
"You know, Flash did tell me once that I hadn't lived until I slept under somepony's wing. I see he wasn't exaggerating, it was really...nice."
Celestia chuckled, "That sounds like Flash, in fact, after he out grew his mother's wing, it was a guilty pleasure of his to sneak naps under my wing whenever he could until he was eleven years old."
Ella laughed, "Really? Ha! Oh boy, I'm gonna tease him with that one for sure, haha! He really is still a baby pegasus at heart, ain't he?"
"I find it one of his most endearing qualities," Celesita agreed, amusement evident in her voice.
"Do you think he'll be back soon?" Ella asked to which Celestia nodded,
"Indeed, I expect he will return around sunset to present his report, would you care to wait with me for him?"
"You bet!" Ella said before adding in a more serious tone, "I just hope he hasn't gone and done anything too crazy this time, he gets into such trouble sometimes ya know?"
"I'm sure he's fine Ella, you'll see."
"He'd better be," Ella glowered.
Flash sneezed explosively, turning his head to avoid sharing it with anypony.
"You alright, sir?" Rose Dust asked.
Flash shook his head to clear it, "Yeah, just an odd feeling that's all."