As the morning faded into afternoon, Princess Celestia held her tiny daughter and smiled as she rocked her. “My darling little Morning Glory, I love you so much.” She cooed gently and kissed her daughter all over her chubby face, making the filly giggle. The filly’s silver coat glittered in the light like a mirror, as did her pale purple hair and pink and blue streaks. The princess smiled at her daughter then spoke to her. “Oh if only your daddy could see you.”
From Celestia’s left there was chirping and squeaking from her nephew, little Prince Moon Wind. His dark blue coat was puffed up as he reached over, trying to get to his cuddle buddy, Morning Glory. His black mane and tail shone in the afternoon light as he whined. Luna walked in with sleep in her eyes, upon hearing her little colt whine. She slowly came over and kissed her son’s head. Picking him up with her magic, they smiled at each other.
“Sister, are you ready? The Changelings will be here soon, and after that we go to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Luna informed her as she fed her son.
Celestia looked over at her and nodded. ”Do you think we should... take the children with us?” the white mare asked slowly.
Luna looked at her, then at their two small heirs. “I think so,” she said gently. “We should take them with us, for their safety. We can at least start getting them comfortable with having many strange Ponies around them.” She then rubbed her son’s mane, a somber expression on her face. As she paced around the room, still holding her son, she then added, “But we should not be hostile to the Changelings. I’m curious as to what they want. You must admit Tia, this is rather dangerous for them. Bold, but dangerous all the same.” Moon Wind yawned and nuzzled into her as he started to nod off again.
“Don’t be nervous, Luna. We have guards, no one will harm you again, not even him,” her sister said soothingly. “We have nothing to worry about.”
Luna stopped and bit her lip. “W-what if he comes back?” she asked, her voice shaking from a memory only she had the misfortune of seeing. ”King Sombra, w-what if he comes back to...” Luna choked on her words as Celestia quickly went over and pulled her into a hug.
“Luna, I will protect you and our children until my last breath. He will not return to hurt you ever again,” Celestia vowed to her.
Celestia felt her sister’s tears falling upon her coat as they quietly embraced each other. Luna cried into her sister's shoulder, her mind trying to block out the painful memory. Using her magic, Celestia put their children in their crib, allowing her sister to grieve and lament without harming her child. Luna fell to the ground sobbing and shaking as her sister held her and whispered sweet words of encouragement and safety.
Luna couldn’t keep this in, Celestia knew that. It was unhealthy for her, and it was better for her to vent here than in other, public places. Luna’s breathing started to stabilize as she curled up as small as she could, using the breathing exercises her doctor taught her. Celestia brought a few tissues over and wiped the tears away.
“Don’t worry Wuna. I’ll protect you, no one will hurt you ever again.” Celestia said with a maternal tone to her voice
Luna said nothing as she moved under her sister like a scared filly. They sat together like that for a while. Together, safe, and among family.After a while, there was a knock at the door of the nursery. A guard quietly told them the insectoid queen had arrived.
“Thank you, Heart Guard. Could you please buy us some time?” Celestia asked with a soft-spoken voice, attempting to not disturb her trembling sister.
The guard nodded and bowed. “Of course, my Graces.” The stallion bowed again and closed the door, giving them a moment to themselves.
Luna stood up shakily and took a few breaths. She pulled a tissue from the tissue box to blot her eyes. Her eyes were still watery as she looked in the mirror. Both sisters looked a mess. Circles under their eyes, messy manes, and in Luna’s case, bloodshot eyes from caring for their children and their duties.
Celestia nuzzled her and smiled tiredly. “You heard Heart Guard, we must get ready.”
Luna nodded and floated up a brush. As she started taming her mane, her sister worked the tail, and it wasn’t long before the starry hair floated elegantly again. Luna smiled and shook her head, making her hair dance wildly through the air. The princesses both giggled at this before working on Celestia’s mane and tail. Soon, they both had their floating manes nice and neat.
Celestia picked up the foals and smiled at them as Luna put on the slings to carry Morning Glory and Moon Wind. Once the children were in and the princesses had on their regalia, they were ready to go. The children nuzzled Luna in their sleep from within their slings. This simple action calmed Luna more than anyone else could. Luna looked adoringly at their foals and could no longer resist the urge to cuddle them. The Princess of the Night soon made herself busy nuzzling the foals and kissing their faces as they squirmed in their sleep. She sighed as her sister calmly walked over and looked at her.
“Well sister mine, are you ready?” Celestia asked. Luna looked up and nodded.
“As long as you and the children are with me I should be fine.” She smiled, trying to convince her sister and herself of this lie.
Celestia sighed and nuzzled her. She then looked at her in the eyes and said, “If you would like I could do thi-” Before she could finish, Luna cut her off.
The Princess of the Night looked at her and puffed out her chest. “No! I… I can do this, I can’t hide away forever Tia...”
The Sun Princess smiled. “I’m glad you’re doing this, I’m very proud of you.” Celestia confessed, “In truth, I was a little afraid to go on my own.” She lead them to the door after the children were placed back in their slings.
“Afraid?” Luna asked. “You?” She didn’t seem convinced.
“Last time we were face to face, she got the better of me and put me in a… pod? Thing?” She said slowly, trying to think of the right word.
“Pod? Wouldn’t they have cocoons?” Luna inquired.
“Cocoon is a better word,” she agreed. “All the same, it was unpleasant.” The princess lifted her head and tried to look prim and proper. “But we cannot allow such things to cloud our judgement.”
“Very true, I remember waking up to you scrubbing yourself raw.” Luna said sternly “Regardless, they must have a good reason to come to us after what happened.”
At the end of the hall two guards stood at the doors, ready to open them. They bowed and opened the doors for the Royal Sisters, who put every ounce of confidence they had into striding up to their thrones. Before addressing the congregation that gathered in the throne room, they took their seats with the foals between them both.
Changelings were spread along the hall, quietly chatting and looking over at the Pony guards with a mix of fear and a sad kind of hunger. Luna noted how many of the changelings there were and there were a great many, that most of the Changelings were lying down and incredibly weak looking. They looked horribly emaciated, as if a soft breeze could knock them all into an early grave. The younger princess looked at her sister, who was worried about the Changlings state of being. In front of them Queen Chrysalis stood three guards, all with the same weak look as the rest had. A Changeling in chains was stood to the left of her, along with a severed horn in a cocoon of magic.
Luna’s eyes fell on the horn and stayed there, transfixed as she struggled, trying to figure out why that horn was so familiar. She could feel her heart racing and panic rise but she pushed them down. There was a quiet chatter before the queen's voice cut through the incessant talk. She took a few steps forward, setting the day guards on edge.
“Princesses, Thank you for seeing us. We know our presence is unwanted by you and your kin… So I would first like to apologize for the attack years ago… My people were starving and taking over seemed like the fastest solution. It was not my best moment I will admit,” the dignified Changeling explained with a modicum of shame and embarrassment.
“Are your people still starving?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, I’ve been forced to feed them my own love, although it will never be enough to keep give them their health.” The Changelings who could buzzed and chirped at their queen, seemingly saddened by the news.
“While what you did was, uncalled for and an act of war.” Celestia started.
“But we do understand why you did it,” Luna added and reached over, hooking her hoof around her sister’s foreleg. She had realized why that horn looked familiar. “I-is that all that’s left?” she asked nervously. Both Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis noticed immediately.
“No,” Chrysalis said and looked at the chained Changeling then the horn. “This one has something he would like to say.” A small drone with a broken horn was pushed forward and shook in his chains. He was sobbing.
“P-Princess… I’m so sorry.” the drone blurted out, his sobbing raking his form. “I never wanted to do anything to harm anyone! That… thing took over my body making me do horrible things to you and my own queen.” The drone broke down and sobbed even harder. “P-Please… I beg you. Do what you will to me, but let me save those who are left!! It was my fault, not theirs!” His glassy, tear-filled, blue eyes never looked at her as he spoke. Luna recoiled in horror, her grip on her sisters leg tightening and tears threatening to spill over.
“What is the meaning of this.” Celestia said in a deadly calm tone, getting between the Changelings and her family.
“Princess, as you know we can change our forms,” Chrysalis said, “and we can do unicorn magic to a degree. However, this horn had… Has a dark, powerful magic of its own.” She looked at the object in question with disgust. “It attracted my little one with its strong emotions, fused onto him, and used his body as a puppet for the soul inside,” she said and looked at Luna.
“Wait… so this small one was possessed by Sombra?” Celestia asked and Luna held the children close to her, on the brink of a breakdown.
“More than that. He was Sombra for all intents and purposes. Changelings are very susceptible to dark magic, and the darker it is, the less of a chance we have to fight it,” the Queen said.
“Why are you telling us this?” Luna asked, confused.
“Yes, and why is his horn broken?” Celestia also questioned, keeping an eye on them.
“We had to remove the offending horn as it was fusing to his own. Desperate measures had to be taken,” the Queen stated plainly. “And as to why we are telling you, I have three core rules that my children must follow: no murder, no getting caught, and most importantly, no rape. This Changeling broke this most sacred rule, and since you are also a victim, our traditions dictate that you must weigh in on his punishment.”
Then there was silence except for the sobbing of the guilt riddled Changeling, and the collective breathing of everyone in the room.
“P-Punishment...” Luna said quietly as her son cooed at her. “Wait...You said he did that to you too. Did you...” she hesitated. The queen moved as another Changeling pushed a stroller, black and spired with holes. It contained a single, red egg.
“This is my son. Sadly he can not hatch,” she said, reaching in to nuzzle her egg gently.
“Why ever not?” Celestia asked as the young queen wept quietly.
A Changeling guard stepped forward. “If I may,” he started politely. “We are dying because we have no more love to feed on.” He looked at his queen then at the princesses. “Our queen is feeding us her love, and she does not have long in this world. Our mother will have the shortest and last reign over our people.”
“Shortest?” Celestia asked, stepping down closer to them, her guards going to her side with the exception of Heart Guard, who stood in front of Luna. The Changeling guard made no move.
“Yes, she has only been our mother for the past four years, since Our Lady Cocoona passed on from the same fate. When she is gone we will start to follow her into the summerlands. The oldest first until only the eggs are left, and they too will wither and die, having never known this world at all.” His explanation made his queen let a single tear escape and brought tears to all the Ponies in attendance. “And when we die, all our archive will be lost as well.” The saddened queen lifted her head and met Celestia’s gaze.
“To lose our archives would be a loss the world could never recover from,” she said with a mournful expression.
“An archive?” a voice from the doorway asked, making everyone turn to look. Page Turner, the Archivist, stood there with a trolley of books. His ears were straight up as he walked in uninvited and over to the Changelings. “You have an archive?” The Pony chuckled. “That’s rich.”
“What the buck do you mean by you?” a huffy Changeling asked as he walked up to meet the rude Pony. “Who are you?”
“Page Turner, Canterlot’s leading Archivist. I am the curator of at least two thousand years worth of history.”
The Changeling looked at him with an unimpressed expression. “I am Pen Epic, and I am the Queen’s Archivist. I guard collectively ten thousand years of all the history of the world,” the Changeling said bluntly. There was a moment where Celestia was afraid that Page Turner would do something rash. Instead, the Pony curator stared in awe for a moment, then squealed and hugged the startled Changeling.
“OH SWEET SKY ABOVE~!” Page Turner moaned to the heavens. All the joy and excitement from the Pony transferred to the Changeling, whose wings and body suddenly glittered with a vivid, white iridescence. He was beautiful even by Pony standards, and he looked like he was breathing fresh air for the first time. It seemed like time froze for him. Shock had rendered him speechless as he looked at his body, his true body. It was not the drone husk that he had been accustomed to. His brain kicked on as he pulled away from Page Turner.
Pen Epic ran to his queen and snuggled up to her, touching her horn to his, giving her what energy was given. Her color became brighter for a moment then dimmed again as her magic connected to the other Changelings, fueling them with what she could. She smiled slightly, thanking Pen Epic for the help. Pen Epic dashed over and hugged Page Turner as if he was trying to recreate the effect. As he tried this, Luna stood and talked to the guard protecting her and the children.
“His wings, they were so… amazing,” Luna commented in awe. She wandered down with the children and Heart Guard.
“It’s part of a Changeling's true form,” Chrysalis explained. “Right now we are all in our starvation mode.”
Celestia looked at them with pity then looked at the prisoner“Guards, please take him to the dungeon and watch over the poor thing,” she said gently. The Pony guard nodded and picked up the still crying Changeling, taking him away.
“And the horn, Princess?” a Changeling guard asked as he held the offending cocoon.
“It shall be destroyed. Worry not,” she said and nodded to another guard who took the cocoon away. “Now, as for the rest of you,” Celestia started, seeing that many of the Changelings began to move. They began hiding the smaller and weaker of them, fearing the worst.“You all shall stay here for the night so that we may discuss our future plans.”
Chrysalis looked up with a bewildered expression. “Future plans?” she asked, the confusion in her voice as evident as her expression.
“Of course.” Luna nodded. “You have done us a service, the least we can do is host you and your people,” she said, still a bit unsteady. Morning Glory reached up and tugged on her mother’s mane, wanting to be held. Celestia smiled and pulled her child out of the sling that held her, embracing the foal gently.
Chrysalis looked at the baby and took a step closer. “What a sweet thing. May I hold her?” she asked. At Celestia’s inquisitive look, she raised her hooves. “I-It’s just... I’ve never held a foal before... and I’ve heard the love they give is very powerful.”
“Would taking her love hurt her?” Celestia asked abruptly.
The ailing queen shook her head. “No, hurting someone who feeds us love would be counterproductive, and frankly, rather stupid,” the Queen bluntly pointed out. Celestia looked at her child who was cuddled against her, dozing off a bit. She then nodded, gently exchanging the child from one to another. Now the bug queen held the infant who cuddled her just the same, uncaring of the major events that had just taken place. The big, green eyes blinked down at baby Morning Glory, who sleepily held up her hooves. Chrysalis shook her mane out of the way before leaning down and blowing a raspberry onto the baby’s belly.
Morning Glory squealed with laughter and wiggled in her forelegs. The Queen’s wings glittered with the same iridescence, although she had a beautiful, green body - not white like Pen Epic’s. Her body gleamed like a gem as she smiled at the giggling babe, making faces all the while. She eventually paused and her color started to drain as she gave the love to her subjects yet again. A couple of the Changelings laying down slowly got up with the help of others, and a small Changeling stumbled his way over to their queen and nuzzled her.
“Ah, Chrysalis?” Celestia started. “May I ask another couple questions?”
The bug mare looked at her as the small Changeling took the baby back to Luna, helping her back into the sling. “And what would that be?” she asked as she regained her composure.
“What happened to you and your people to cause the starvation? And where do you come from?” she asked with a curious tone.
“That, Princess, is a long story.”