Shift with the Tides

*Week 1 following the eclipse*

Celestia was giving a disappointed look to Luna, not that her sister could even see her expression, given how Luna’s face was halfway under the milky surface of her cereal.

“What did I tell you about staying up late, Luna?” Celestia scolded.  “And you were doing so well this past week, too.  Now you’re just going to start up the info-binging all over again.”

Luna’s ear flickered, and she jolted her head out of her breakfast.  “I was NOT ‘info-binging’, Sister.  I tried to get a good night’s sleep, I really did!  It’s just—I don’t know…I was having trouble sleeping.”

Celestia reeled her head back an inch in mild surprise.  “You?  Of all ponies, YOU’RE having sleeping issues?  That really is peculiar…”

“This is serious, Celestia,” Luna replied as she wiped her face clean of milk and soggy cereal, “The previous night, I felt a little strange too.  But last night, I felt absolutely awful.  I think I should see a doctor post-haste.”

Celestia gave a look of concern to her sister as she put a hoof up to her chin in thought.  “Hmm…well, it certainly wouldn’t do any harm.  We’ll go see a doctor later today, okay?  Until then,” Celestia took Luna’s bowl of cereal off the table and dumped it into the sink, “I’m going to make you a proper breakfast.  Now, are you feeling sick in the stomach?  Because in that case, I think it’d be best if I simply made you toast.”

Luna thought hard for a moment, considering exactly what is was she felt.  “No, it’s not stomach cramps, it’s more like…intestinal cramps?  Er, I don’t know, it’s in the lower area—the whole tummy area, not my stomach.”

“Abdominal cramps?” Celestia questioned, somewhat surprised.  “Perhaps it was something you ate?  With all the sugar you eat for breakfast, I wouldn’t be surprised if your biggest problem here was being a sweet-tooth.  Or…perhaps it’s something different…?” Celestia began slowly, looking at Luna out of the corner of her eye as she cracked two eggs into a beaker.  “Is it that…‘time of the—”

“Don’t think I don’t know how I normally feel during my ‘ladies days’,” Luna snapped back.

“Just making sure,” Celestia retorted with another concerned look.  “I mean, you are the younger sister, and I just wasn’t positive if you’d started—”

“I am NOT having this conversation with you,” Luna said definitively, stepping out of her chair and standing erect next to the table.  “If you want to continue this discussion, I’m LEAVING.”

“I meant no offense,” Celestia said in defense.  “Please, Sister, have a seat.  You still haven’t even eaten anything.”

Luna’s stomach rumbled loudly as the sizzling of eggs on the stove sounded.  Her eyes widened as the growling increased, and the moon princess sunk back into the chair, red in the face as Celestia looked back at her sister and smiled.

While ponies were naturally vegetarian, just about all still drank milk, and some even went so far as to eat eggs.  It was nothing looked down upon, it was simply a matter of preference—some ponies got their protein from nuts, some got it from eggs.  Of course, eating any meat was still a concept no one even considered, being as how they are all herbivorous ponies.

“Perhaps you could make it an omelet?” Luna asked passively.

Celestia chuckled.  “But of course.  What would you like in it?”  The sun princess opened up several cupboards next to her head, examining their contents.  “We have some celery, tomatoes, onions, a tad of bay leaf left…I forgot, do you like mushrooms?”

“No, Sister, only you do.  I find eating a fungus to be sickening and repulsive.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right,” Celestia replied, not taking her eyes off the ingredients.  She looked into the back of the spice rack, and picked up a small bottle containing a bunch of small red strands.  Looking at the label, Celestia said, “Luna, have we ever tried out this saffron that Mairocco gifted to us last summer?  They mentioned how rare it is outside of their country, so I don’t think we ever used—”

*THUD*

Celestia turned around from the stove and saw Luna lying on the ground; she wasn’t making a sound, but it was obvious just by looking at her that she was writhing in pain.

Panic mode immediately kicked in.  The bottle of saffron fell the ground and splashed out over the floor as the delicate glass containing the rare spice shattered.  Celestia leaped over the dinky wooden table and knelt down next to her sister.  She pushed away the table and chairs to give Luna some room, and Celestia turned off the stove before she forgot about it again.

“Luna!” the sun princess exclaimed, shaking her sister with her hoof to try and snap her out of whatever it was she was in.  Luna was shuddering, and she was covered with a cold sweat that dampened the part of the tile floor that she rocked back and forth upon.  “Don’t worry, Luna—that doctor appointment we mentioned?  It’s happening right. Now.”  Celestia grabbed the phone near the kitchen door and brought it down to her face, not taking her eyes off her beloved sister.  “Operator?  Yes, hello Bubbles—I need you to call for me a doctor.  …It’s Luna, she’s rolling on the floor in pain, and we don’t know what the problem is!  …Abdominal pain.  …Before you say anything else, no, it’s not that.  Now please Bubbles, you’re not a doctor, so just call one!  We’re in our kitchen right now.  …Yes, we’ll wait right here, thank you, Bubbles.”

Celestia hung up the phone and got down on the floor, lying down next to her pained sister.  “Oh my, you shouldn’t be in this much pain over something like…no, that’s not the cause.”  The white alicorn looked up from the floor to face eye-to-eye with her sister, who had hers shut tight in pain, “But then what IS the matter…?”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing wrong that we can see, Princess Luna,” the doctor said apologetically.  Luna opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor interrupted, “Yes, we KNOW about the massive pain—you’ve made that quite clear on multiple occasions—but it’s most likely just a part of your menstrual cycle, or perhaps it was something new you ate…?”

“Now’s not the time of the month for that,” Luna replied, sitting on the doctor’s table with her arms crossed.  Celestia was in a nearby seat, still looking concerned about her sister.

“Not the time of the month for exotic foods?” the doctor pony questioned with a cocked eyebrow.  It only took a single, threatening glance from Luna for the doctor to realize what she meant.  “—Oh, yes, that.  Well, my suggestion is that you wait it out for a few days and see if the pain changes at all.  If the feelings persist, don’t hesitate to call me again.”  With that, he walked out the room, leaving the alicorn sisters looking at each other.

“Are you sure this is something to worry over that much?” Celestia asked.

Luna sighed.  “I…suppose not.  Like that doctor said, we should only be concerned if the pain persists, right?  Besides, it’s not like the pain is chronic or anything.”

“It may not be chronic, but it’s constantly coming and going,” Celestia warned, “and that is just as bad as it being constant.  Not in the physical sense, but the psychological drain will get the best of you if you keep concerning over when and if another ache strikes you.”

“It’s only been three times,” Luna said reassuringly.

“In the past twelve hours,” Celestia rebutted.

“Nonetheless, Sister, we have royal duties to attend to.”  Luna jumped off the table and opened the small examination room’s door, and she turned around to usher her sister into the hallway.  “Hopefully, nopony got wind of this.  It’s best if we push this whole thing under the mat.”

Celestia slowly walked out the door her sister was holding open for her.  “Only this morning, YOU were the one worrying, and I was the one who thought it was nothing.  I’m still worried about you, little sister.”

Luna rolled her eyes at ‘little sister’ and followed Celestia out the room, closing the door behind her.

*Week two following the eclipse*

Luna opened her eyes slowly as the starry night sky outside her window greeted her gaze.  Luna glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it read 05:00.  ‘Ah, good, right on schedule—five days in a row, too.  Looks like I’ve finally gotten my biological clock re-adjusted.’ The alicorn pushed away her snug covers and slipped out of her bed and stood on the floor, facing her window.  As she walked up to the window, she glanced down at a piece of paper on her rounded wooden table.  ‘Let’s see…today, I have to raise the moon at five o’ six.’ She glanced back over to her clock, which now read 05:03.

Luna could see stray rays of light shining in over the horizon.  ‘Must be Tia already preparing her sun.’ Getting ready to take care of her own celestial body, Luna straightened up her back and stared at the large white moon hovering over the horizon.

‘And five…four…three…two—”

Luna had to hold back the sudden swell of vomit that shot up her throat, and she gulped it back down with a sickened look on her face, the feel of acid burning her esophagus making her eyes water.  Luna’s chest heaved again, and she made a run for her bathroom before it was too late.

As the revolting sound of stomach acid splashing against the water of a toilet rang throughout Luna’s room, the moon could be seen being lowered down as the sun began to rise.

Without even knocking first, an upset Celestia barged into Luna’s room a minute later, immediately looking at the lump of covers on the bed.

“Okay Luna, now this is getting simply ridiculous—”

Celestia stopped short when she heard Luna gagging from behind the bathroom door.  Celestia glanced back at the covers and realized it was just that—bed covers.  When Luna’s vomit hitting the toilet sounded again, Celestia walked up to the door and stood just beyond the doorframe.

“Luna?  Luna, are you okay?”

Celestia cringed as she heard Luna spit hard, just before saying, “I doubt it, Sister.  Something’s wrong—something HAS been wrong all along!”  There was the sound of a faucet being turned on, and of water running down into a sink.  “We’re going to go see that doctor again, and we are NOT taking ‘you’re fine’ as an answer!”

“Very well, Luna,” Celestia replied calmly.

“Celestia…I’m worried about what he’s going to say, though.”

The sun princess raised an eyebrow at her sister.  “And why would that be?”

Luna slowly opened her bathroom door as she looked down at the ground.  She was wiping off her mouth with a towel, and didn’t speak for several seconds.  Eventually, she gained the strength to look her sister in the eye as she said, “I missed my…my period.”

“…Most peculiar indeed,” the doctor said finally, scratching his chin with his hoof.  “Well, Luna, I know you may not take kindly to my next question, but…have you considered taking a pregnancy test?”

There was a dead silence in the room after he said that.  Celestia didn’t say a word, she only stared at Luna.  Luna was simply staring at the doctor, not an expression on her face.  “Are you suggesting that I’m pregnant?” Luna asked threateningly.

“Well, I’m not suggesting that it was something you ate,” the doctor replied.  “What this appears to be to me is the first symptoms of pregnancy—granted, the early symptoms can easily be confused with other causes, but it seems to be that you are experiencing excessive symptoms.  The abdominal cramps, the nausea and vomiting, especially so early on…I really think that you’re having extreme pregnancy symptoms.”

“There’s only one problem with your theory,” Luna replied coolly.  “There’s absolutely no way I could be pregnant.  I’ve never even had—”

“Luna, please, spare me the trouble and just take the test.”  The doctor handed Luna a small elongated device.  “Based on your current symptoms, you’re anywhere between two and four weeks—assuming you are pregnant.  Simply pee on the end of this stick, and it will give you the definite answer.”

Luna stared at the device as if it were infected.  Hesitantly, she eventually took it out of the impatient doctor’s hoof and stared at it again, getting a closer look at what was about to determine her fate.

“If you really haven’t had any ‘action’, then you have nothing to worry about, right?” the doctor said as she opened the door for the princess.  “Now then, just go into the bathroom down the hall, and come back when you’re finished.”

Time seemed to go at a standstill for Luna as she walked down the plain white hospital hallway.  ‘That doctor’s right; I have nothing to worry about.’  Her eyes widened as she continued to think, ‘But what if the toilet seat thing isn’t a myth?  Ugh, quit freaking yourself out, Luna!  There’s no possible way I’m pregnant…’

‘…But then why do I feel so unsure about myself…?’

After what felt like an eon, Luna finally reached the bathroom door, opened it, and walked inside, closing the door behind her.  It was a small white bathroom lit with a single hard-fluorescent light bulb on the ceiling.  The dark-blue alicorn turned and stared at her reflection in the nearby mirror.  ‘What if…what if I really AM pregnant?  What on earth would I do?!  Having a child…a child.  I would have my very own child.’ Luna actually smiled briefly at the thought, but then her mind went dark again.  ‘How would the rest of Equestria react?  It’s not like everypony would simply believe that I got pregnant on my own accord—or by accident.’ She shook her head to get out the bad thoughts. ‘Let’s just burn that bridge when we get to it.  Anyways, I have a stick to pee on.’ She examined the simplistic guide on the side of the meter. ‘One line means not pregnant, two lines means…pregnant.  Geez, I’ve been hearing that word quite a bit in the past couple of hours…’

She didn’t laugh, she didn’t cry, she simply stared.  Not wide-eyed or jaw-dropped, but with a plain face, Luna stared at the two small lines that had appeared on the meter, after she had used it.  Ironically, all the questions, the worrying, it all ceased to exist after her eyes fell upon the foreboding sight.  Not a thought was going on in her head.

Luna opened the bathroom door and walked out into the hallway, holding the positive test right in front of her face.  Making the short trip from the bathroom to her examination room, Luna opened the door and walked inside.  Celestia and the doctor both stood up and looked at the alicorn as she came in and sat back down on the table.

“Well…?” Celestia said, unable to tell what the answer was from her sister’s blank expression.

“It’s positive…” Luna replied, still staring at the meter hovering in front of her, mocking her.

Celestia covered her hoof with her mouth as she silently gasped.  “But…but how—”

“I DON’T KNOW, ALRIGHT!?” Luna yelled back at her sister.  The lights in the hospital room flickered slightly as she continued to stare down Celestia.  “I…I don’t know…”

“Well, I’m no expert on pregnancies, so I’m redirecting you to a different doctor now, Luna.  As far as your symptoms go, now that we know the cause, we have several suppression spells that can lessen the pain without harming the embryo.”  He opened the door and walked out the room; beginning to close the door behind him, he said, “You’re carrying for two now, and make sure not to forget that.”

Luna stared down at the floor in shame.  “We have to let Equestria know about this, Celestia.  The longer we keep this secret, the less credibility we’ll receive from our subjects once word gets out.”

“Luna, you don’t have to—”

“This is MY decision, Sister, and if I want the entire world to know, I will.”  Luna got off the table and walked up to her sister, her eyes slightly bloodshot.  “Just please tell me you’ll always be on my side.”

Celestia fought back tears as she nodded to Luna.  “You have my word.  Now let’s go back to Canterlot Castle—I suppose the best thing to do first is have a board meeting about…about your future child.”

Luna smiled slightly and nodded.  “Yes…my future child…”

The two alicorns walked out the room to prepare for the announcement of the century.