//------------------------------// // 280. Impregnable by Knight of Cerebus // Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab // by Fuzzyfurvert //------------------------------// by Knight of Cerebus *** "Twilight, I am afraid I have some...news." Celestia settled on the best way she could describe the situation. While the situation itself was not inherently bad, it certainly did fill her with a kind of mortal terror. Twilight looked up from her book in a heartbeat, her reading discarded for the sake of a Level-C crisis. While the situation was not inherently bad, Celestia was afraid, and that was cause for alarm. "What is it, Princess?" "Canterlot--and Equestria--are still safe. No major nobles have been harmed or--caused any harm--and the polls suggest we are still in the good faith of the population at large." Twilight was at once more and less relaxed by this news. While it did mean that the situation was not compounded by any issues, it also meant Celestia was stalling. Celestia only stalled around her when she was very, very frightened. It also meant the problem was likely personal in nature, which meant the nature of their current relationship could be in danger. Like on the night she had confessed to a very confused (and then later very overjoyed) librarian in the midst of a reading project. The memory brought a warm smile to her face, but she quickly discarded it. Celestia, for her part, used the flash of a happy moment from the past (not an uncommon occurrence around a lover with an encyclopedic memory) writ large upon Twilight's visage to launch into the problem at hoof. "No, the issue is more dietary in nature." Twilight raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, all the stress was venting away. All the things that could have been impregnated by a healthy dose of chaos were safe, and it was only a minor nuisance that Twilight found frankly quite adorable that Celestia was bringing up. Celestia awaited the incoming sarcasm with a mixture of loving exasperation and sympathy. "Seriously?" "My cravings have returned, Twilight. You may have noticed that they have gotten worse over the months. Recently, they have taken a turn for the strange." Twilight knew that this was not the heart of the problem, but she was happy to indulge in a chance to talk about the source of Celestia's ever-so-cuddly body shape. "We can elect to change the menu for you, Tia. Even if that time you ordered us both peanut-butter and icing covered lobsters will likely make it to 'historical event' by the end of the century." "They were tasty." Celestia protested with feigned indignation. The two of them chuckled. As they were coming down from the laugh, Twilight braced herself for the bombshell. Celestia often liked to break the ice with a laugh. "I'm pregnant." If Twilight were a world wide leyline web program, a white box above her head would have informed Celestia that 'Twilight.exe has stopped responding'. "...Twilight?" This was new. Twilight did not freeze up unless a great ball of panic was about to be unleashed upon the world. Sure enough, "Blugh--what--How?!" "Well, Twilight, when two little ponies love each other very much, they--" "Require male and female components to generate a gamete from a sperm cell and an egg cell! This is not possible! With SCIENCE! Science has betrayed me, Tia!" "Well...yes...but..." "I guess I have to contact biology textbooks and tell them that they're all wrong because TWI AND TIA BUCKED AND NOW THEY'RE HAVIN' A LITTLE BUNDLE OF JOY!" Twilight's hoof swept in a grand arc. The sound of the guards dropping their spears in surprise did not deter her. "Yes, Twilight, but--" "I have to look this up! Are there books on parenting?! Yes, of course there are, you lend them out all the time! Stupid! Stupid! Argh! What about baby supplies?! You haven't been smoking, drinking or hitting your stomach repeatedly, have you?!" She summoned a stethoscope from her lab with a flourish of salmon coloured magic, pushing Celestia up onto her back legs and pressing the metal device against her. "Twilight--" The purple pony was focused on the horror, and while Celestia did love how cute her panic attacks could be, this time she needed her partner to be the pillar of rationality and support that she so loved. Twilight was having none of it, at the moment. "Hmm...seems healthy. I hear nothing bad right now. We're gonna have to regulate your diet, though--yes, you already said that. What about maternity leave? Luna can't rule the country by herself. Maybe we should transfer the embryo to a magical containment field and supply it with nutrients? What if I were to just accelerate the process near the end months using magic. Would that harm the fetus? I need to run some tests on it to make su-- "Twi-light." Celestia said with a firm scold. She knew the instinctual fear of being scolded by a teacher--whether or not said teacher was currently her teacher--would be enough to snap Twilight out of her downward spiral of panic. "Yes?!" Twilight's head snapped up, and as soon as she saw Celestia smiling a wry, soothing grin at her she knew exactly what had just happened. "Sorry, I--what were we talking about?" "I'm having a baby, my love. We're having a baby. Whatever the mechanics of the situation or the obvious concerns, we--we're going to be parents, Sparky." Twilight swallowed. She the hoof she had held against her lover's belly went from clinical precision to the gentle touch of family. "Parents..." She said slowly, stroking the belly with gentle movements of her hoof. "Yes...we are. Do you think we're ready?" Celestia's smile widened, and they both knew that they had reached the same answer to Twilight's question.