//------------------------------// // Family Stress // Story: The Prince // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// I have a daughter. Holy moley I'm a father! Ever since we found out that Celestia was pregnant, I've been dreaming of this day--sometimes literally-and now it's here. A cute little alicorn filly named Nymeria. That brought the world's alicorn population to five now. What's more is that Celestia could still get pregnant. Who knows how many alicorns we could bring into this world? Though there was one thought that put a damper on the whole experience. Was Nymeria an alpha alicorn, or a beta alicorn like Cadance? Only time would tell, unfortunately. I couldn't stand the thought that Nymeria was mortal. I was going to watch the whole world die around me. I didn't need to see my daughter go with them. Given that the danger was mostly over, Dr. Scalpel allowed us to move the new mother and daughter over to Celestia's room, where she'd be more comfortable. That's where I was with Luna and Cadance, while Celestia and Nymeria slept. It had been a hard day for the both of them. I began to feel thankful that I had never gotten pregnant when I was a mare. I couldn't do what Celestia had just done. I don't know if I had the capacity to get pregnant, but I couldn't really see why not. "She's so beautiful!" Cadance squeed. "I know your doctor said he thought your foal was a colt, but I always hoped for a little filly." "I'm just glad nothing went wrong with the birth," I said. "Anything could have happened. I'm rather surprised that Nymeria was so early, but I guess alicorn pregnancies happen quicker than other pregnancies." "It would seem so." Luna stared at Celestia and Nymeria, her face unreadable. I frowned at her. "You okay, Luna?" Luna turned to me and gave me an obviously forced smile. "Of course, Antares. Why wouldn't I be? I am quite happy for you and my sister. So very happy. You have a beautiful daughter." "You've never been a good actress, Luna," I said flatly. "Or at least, I've known you long enough to tell when something's up." "It is nothing important," Luna said with a wave of her hoof. "I am happy for you. That is all that matters." "If you say so." Nymeria began stirring, and we forgot our conversation to watch her. I grinned and laid down in front of my daughter as she opened her eyes. She reached out and touched my muzzle with her teeny tiny hoof. I laughed at that. Nymeria yawned and nestled deeper into Celestia's forelegs. She seemed very content. I really hoped that she didn't get colicky. That could be really, really bad. Colicky foals are bad enough on their own, but a colicky alicorn foal? Who knows what would happen there? I suspected that we'd find out soon enough what would happen if she magically surged. Celestia or I would need to really keep an eye on her to make sure her surges weren't destructive. "She has scorpipony eyes," Cadance observed. "Does she have the tail?" I shook my head. "Nope. She has a normal tail. She got the eyes and the fangs from the scorpion genes. Maybe the omnivorous tendencies, too. We'll have to wait and see on that. Shouldn't be too long before she starts wanting to eat solid food, if Ara and Veritas are anything to go by. She doesn't seem to be hungry now, though." As if on cue, Nymeria's jaw started wobbling, and she began whimpering. Uh-oh. I just majorly jinxed it, didn't I? I flattened my ears in preparation for the wailing that was about to begin. If she was hungry, I couldn't really do anything about that. I wasn't a mare anymore! As if by some maternal instinct, Celestia's eyes opened and she looked down at the whimpering foal in her forelegs. She smiled lovingly and nuzzled her. "Are you hungry, little one? I can't blame you. You've had a long day." Celestia rolled on her side and levitated Nymeria down to her teats to being feeding time. "There you go." Nymeria instantly latched on and began suckling as if she hadn't gotten any kind of nutrients in the womb, which I wanted to call BS on. Celestia had the weirdest cravings from pregnancy. Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches? Jeez. "I think it would be best if we gave the new mother and daughter their privacy for the moment," I said, using my wings to start herding Luna and Cadance out of the room. "We'll be back soon, alright Celestia?" "Of course. This shouldn't take too long," Celestia said. I leaned down and nuzzled my wife. "We'll be back soon. I want to spend as much time with my daughter as I can. I'll be able to spend more time when this war is over. I'll end it soon for her, I promise." "Of that I have no doubt." The rest of us left the room, leaving Celestia and Nymeria to have some time together. I instantly began formulating plans for the end of the war. I had always wanted to end it as quickly as I could, but now that I was a father, the urgency went up a hundred fold. Purgle's mad schemes had killed tens of thousands of my ponies and injured many more. He wouldn't even get to look at Nymeria if I had my way, which I would. The gatling guns and tanks were ready to go. I'd already won the war, really. I just needed to make it official. "Antares, may I speak to you in private?" I turned to Luna, who was giving me a weird look. Not sure what that was about, but I gathered that she wanted to tell me. I shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, sure." "Excellent." Luna nodded to Cadance. "Go to the dining room. The two of us will be along shortly to join your for lunch." "Okey dokey," Cadance said, oblivious to Luna's mood. She skipped down the hall, humming a happy tune to herself. Content that we'd be left alone, Luna beckoned me to follow her. What the heck was going on? I complied and the two of us made our way to the throne room. Once there, Luna closed the door behind us and locked it. Okay, something is seriously up, because Luna never acts like this. If it weren't for all of the anti-changeling wards around the palace that Celestia and Luna had set up, I'd be worried that I was about to be shivved by Chrysalis. "So..." I looked around nervously. "What's up?" Luna wheeled around to face me, her eyes narrowed and her wings flared out. "Antares, I want a foal." Oh dear. I chuckled nervously and began backing away. "Okay. So... should I start researching adoption agencies for you, then?" "You know what I am talking about," Luna growled. "Yes, but I'm not sure what you want me to do about it." "Thou art the only one who can impregnate an alpha alicorn!" Luna roared. "I wish for you to impregnate me!" Okay, so don't let Celestia give birth when Luna's in heat. Got it. That plus her jealousy issues equals bad things. Good to know. "So... um... let's think about this rationally," I said, my gaze flicking back to the side door of the throne room. "Celestia and I are married. You're my sister-in-law. I can't really do that for you." "You can, you just wish not to," Luna growled. "You're right. I don't want to." I stopped backing away and sighed. "Look, Luna, I get it. This is just another way you feel that Celestia has gotten something you desire. Celestia and I talked a lot about this kind of thing during her pregnancy. Because of all this, she got to feel like a normal mare, not a powerful princess. She got to give life to the world instead of taking it. You want that. I understand that." Luna sighed and sadly nodded. "I have always wished for a daughter to call my own. One that I had carried and delivered myself. It would be a wonderful thing to adopt, but it would not be the same as holding a foal I had brought into this world myself." "I get that," I said cautiously. "But cornering me in the throne room and stopping just short of begging me to mount you isn't really the best way to do that." "You are right." Luna groaned and sat down to put her head in her hooves. "It is not that I am unhappy for you and Tia, but it still hurts. I am sure that I will love my niece more than life itself, but I would love to give her a cousin to play with." "Yeah, I get it. I mean I can..." I sighed and rubbed my temple. This was a can of worms that I really didn't want to open, but Luna was right: I was the only one who could get her pregnant. "I can talk to Celestia to see if she'd be okay with..." "Sharing?" "Oh, no, I really wouldn't put it that way." I groaned. "Just... let me talk to her." "Very well." Luna stood up and gave me seductive smile. "I hope for your sake that she agrees with it. I think you'll find that I am far better in the realm of physical pleasure than my sister." Luna must have noticed the look on my face from that comment, because she chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "I am just playing with you. Go speak to my sister." It took me a moment to snap out of the shock. "Oh... uh... yeah, right. That. I'll just go talk to Celestia, then." "See that you do." She's in heat, Antares. Just remember that she's in heat. She wouldn't do this normally. Just hold onto that fact for dear life. * * * * About half an hour later, I made my way into Celestia's room. Celestia was still on her pile of pillows, with Nymeria sleeping contentedly in her forelegs again. Celestia and I smiled at each other as I laid down in front of them. "How did it go?" "Oh, very well. She was quite hungry. For such a tiny pony, she has quite the appetite." "Yeah. How much do you want to bet that she'll always have a large appetite? She's an alicorn, after all. I can see her being very active." "It would not surprise me," Celestia admitted. "I look forward to seeing what kind of pony she will become. Will she be kind and gentle, or will she insist on joining the guard as soon as possible to go fight evil and right wrongs?" "Hard to say. Maybe she'll be a mix of both?" "It is possible. She could be a warrior poet." "Yeah, that would be interesting." I leaned in closer to my daughter and gently nuzzled her. "I think she's going to change the world, whatever she does." "Yes, I can agree with that. I will also be curious to see if any siblings she may have will take a similar path to her, or a different one." Ah. Right. That. Celestia must have noticed that my smile instantly fell, because she frowned at me. "Antares? Is something the matter?" "Uh..." I uneasily rubbed the back of my neck. "I mean... I'm not sure. That's up to you, really." "I see." Celestia curiously tilted her head. "What is the matter?" "It's Luna. She, uh, she wants a foal now, too. Kind of cornered me in the throne room and demanded that I give her one." "Oh." Celestia closed her eyes with a sigh. "I see. Yes, we have talked a few times about how she would go about being impregnated. Even before I became pregnant, she had expressed her desire to become a mother." "And since I got you pregnant fairly easily, I'm her best bet at achieving that goal." I grunted and rested my head on my forelegs. "If she wants to become a mother then I am all for that. I think it could be a really cool thing. But I'm not sure how I'd feel about getting her pregnant myself, which is the only way I can see. Even if we just used artificial insemination, that just takes out the sex portion of it. I'd still be the father, and Nymeria and the new foal would be siblings and cousins. That's a nasty can of worms I don't really want to open up. I mean sure, monarchies on Earth hundreds of years ago did that kind of thing, but what kind of example would that set for our subjects?" "It is complicated, I will admit that." Celestia rested her head on her pillow as she thought about it. "I think you give our subjects too little credit. Outside of a few small groups, none of them made a big deal out of the fact that Nymeria was conceived out of wedlock." "I still think 'siblings and cousins' is a step farther from that," I pointed out. "Even if we hid who the donor was, I think they're smart enough to figure it out. I mean, I'm not the first stallion you've slept with." Celestia shook her head. "Right. Not even close, I'll bet. None of them were alicorn stallions, and none of them got you pregnant. I think our subjects would realize that there is only one pony that could get Luna pregnant, and that's me." "Despite my wishes, I think you're right." Celestia nestled deeper into her pillow, and I could see her eyes starting to droop. "However, I think the fact that Luna had no other choice if she wanted to become a mother might help the public's perception, especially if you were merely a donor for artificial insemination, as opposed to engaging in actual intercourse with her." Her head snapped up and she glared at me. "Which I will not allow, no matter how much Luna wants a foal." "Noted. It's not something that I would want either." "Either way..." Celestia rested her head back on her pillow. "It is something that the three of us must discuss together. And even then after the war." "You're definitely right about the 'after the war' part." I smiled fondly at Nymeria, who was shifting around in her sleep. She must have been dreaming. "It's going to be over very soon, Celestia. Very, very soon. Then I can put all of it behind me and focus on being a good father." "I have no doubt that you'll make a wonderful father." Celestia grabbed one of my legs and nuzzled it. "Come home soon. Bring our subjects back to their families soon." Celestia's voice went darker. "And destroy Purgle. He must never be allowed to even see a picture of Nymeria." "That I can do." I slid my foreleg out of Celestia's grasp and stood up. "I will do everything that I can to make sure my family is safe forever. I predict that the war will be over within a week. I promise you, we will be safe."