For the next several days, the changeling mother would hear many tales about the recurring troubles that arose shortly after Celestia did what she promised to carry out. Not everypony felt at all safe with changelings being catered upon within the Canterlot palace walls, some even showed this regardless of the say so of others.

Most, after hearing word about the situation Chrysalis had gone through were willing to defend her, a surprising fact to the queen herself, but others remained willing to fight as well. The vast majority of the town along with neighboring cities and rural areas believed that with most of the changelings wiped out, they were no longer a threat. What they believed more of was that they wronged them indirectly, but no matter how anypony saw that, most agreed that this was a sin. One in which hardly nopony wanted to leave alone.

Still, Celestia received much controversy and backlash with nearly every interview and debate; some developed into full arguments only for her to assure them, “We have our eyes on the two, and there’s the thing. It’s only two. Not only are guards taking turns patrolling her room at every hour of the day and night, I have special unicorns keeping their magical eyes watching her with a spell. They can see every little thing she does. But honestly, we all know she’s not going to try anything at this point.”

Naturally, this still brought questions and fear amongst the ponies, but not so much that they would deny housing the hurt being and her only child. As stated before, not everyone was willing to welcome Chrysalis, or Coad, but Princess Celestia wasn’t about to let disagreement from some sway her judgement when most honestly didn’t mind the notion.

As for the guards that stood outside the door and occasionally came in to idly talk with Chrysalis, those weren’t really for the safety of others. Yes, that’s why they were assigned, but they were actually placed close to the queen in hopes of them developing a certain degree of liking, maybe even love for the changeling.

Along with their company were the night time bat ponies coming through the balcony window late in the evening, checking up on her majesty to see if everything was alright. They’d stay from time to time, and talked with her to see what was on her mind. Chrysalis thought this was Luna’s orders, but in truth, bat ponies were naturally attracted to her, and some confessed they socialized with her of their own accord.

But, the one that gave Chrysalis the most attention out of all others was Luna. Every morning along with each evening, the princess of the night would arrive, never being late, and always appearing happy to show up. Within only a month, Princess Luna became the queen’s closest friend, and Coad enjoyed her company as well. However, one day, Luna arrived to find Chrysalis less joyful than normal.

It’d been about a month of her taking residency within Canterlot, and with each passing day that went by, Chrysalis grew more and more uplifted. Only on rare occasions did she become saddened by the pile of losses in her life, and this day was one of them.

Luna knocked as the sun was going down, and entered with a smile. Queen Chrysalis, however, didn’t return the same expression. She’s been crying, and at that time, she was holding onto Coad while they young one slept. Luna walked up to the bed and asked, “Is… everything alright in here?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “Not exactly, Luna. It’s Coad… She’s been getting love, but…”

Luna blinked. “Yes?”

With a deep sigh, Chrysalis resumed, “Not from the right source… You see, I explained to you how changelings reproduce, right? Well… almost all her energy has been coming from me, and only me.”

Luna nodded. “She needs that energy to come from someone else… So that her love for you can become… uh…”

Chrysalis finished for her, “Fertilized, and then it’s transferred to me. Thusly, Luna, the cycle begins. She hasn’t been getting enough love from others to do so, yet. And, I fear she won’t, because so far, it’s almost unnatural love. It needs to be freely given, and I’m scared that these ponies, even your royal bat ponies won’t be able to love her the right way.”

Luna looked down at the slumbering filly. “They need to spend quality time with her…”

Chrysalis explained further, “It doesn’t need to be the kind of love that a couple make, just a sort of family bond, and I hate to say it, but I doubt the stallions that visit me throughout the day are going to be able to do that correctly.”

Luna just kept staring at Coad, thinking. After some time passed, Luna lifted the blanket from Chrysalis for a moment to join her. The princess pressed herself against the changeling’s back, leaned over her shoulders and lightly pecked Coad on the head, making her yawn.

Luna laid with her friend, hugging her tightly, and promised, “I’ll love her… With time, I’ll find ways to play with Coad, and bond. How’s that sound?”

Chrysalis looked into Luna’s glossy eyes, and smiled. The room stayed silent that night, and Luna felt it necessary to stay with Chrysalis the entire evening. The following day, she’d take her majesty’s kid out to the garden and devise ways to either entertain or play with the child, and over time, do exactly as she swore.

It wasn’t easy, and took much more than a month or two, but as the filly grew into a young adult, Luna was able to share her love with the changeling. It would be much more than a year before more changelings popped up, but the day would eventually come when Chrysalis could leave Canterlot’s safety. She always knew that was fast approaching, and accepted it long ago, but one thing she would always be was an ally to Princess Celestia, and a very dear friend of Princess Luna.

Author's Note

Coauthored with RainbowBob

This story is complete, and I'd like to thank my readers for reading, and RainbowBob for editing. Don't forget to tell me what you thought of the story in the comments.