Princess Emerald, Daughter of Solaris

With the royal couple expecting a baby in the next eleven months, Solaris was overjoyed when the spell had worked and Trill was indeed pregnant. The alicorn had already gotten a head start planning everything for the year, making a separate calendar for his beloved's pregnancy, already jotting out the estimated time their foal will be born from the long day of conceiving. That memory will forever haunt him, trapped under a predatorial, heat driven changeling mare for nearly half a day as she had her way with him over and over until there almost seemed like there was no end to pleasing her, but it wasn't as bad as his past experiences as he got over it quickly. Along with writing down diets he wanted Trill to go on for the next several months, he found her a book on what she should expect during a female pony's pregnancy, the symptoms she read terrifying her to no end.

A couple days after discovering her carrying a foal, it was early in the morning, the sun barely on the verge of rising in the sky. Trill felt her stomach twist and growl, groaning as she forced herself awake and stood up. She quickly began to feel the urge to vomit, quickly making her way to the bathroom and leaned over the toilet, throwing up into the bowl from her first day of having morning sickness. Solaris heard her retching, unable to close the door in time before her stomach decided whether or not she wanted to rush and expel the contents of her stomach, squinting his eyes open as his ears folded back against his head with each disgusting retch she made.

"Trill? You alright?" he asked.

"Ugh...Fine! Just puking my guts out!" She spat, groaning in agony as her stomach still felt nauseous. "When did I eat carrots? I don't like eating anything else besides chocolate."

"You're going to have to change your diet for the foal, Trill." Solaris sat up, knowing the sun will be up at any moment as he approached the bathroom, seeing Trill leaning over the toilet. He rubbed her back, hoping it would help ease her nausea a little until it went away. "Along with the food you're going to have to eat with the love I give you, you can't drink any kind of alcohol."

"What!?" she exclaimed, looking back at the alicorn in shock. "You mean I can't drink!?"

"Consuming any kind of alcohol can cause health problems for the baby, so I took the liberty of telling the kitchen staff to keep any and all alcoholic drinks stored away for the next year." Trill groaned in annoyance, her cheeks suddenly puffing out as she aimed her head back in the toilet, throwing up again.

After about ten minutes, her stomach finally settled, feeling a bit weak as she grumbled, spitting into the bowl as she tasted her own vomit. "I'm starting to regret doing this now...But, I think my wild frenzy last week was only the first of so many other ideas I have in mind to make sure you suffer as much as I do."

"Sorry," Solaris apologized. Trill walked over to the sink and grabbed some mouthwash, taking a swig of the mouth cleansing liquid, swishing it around in her mouth to get rid of the disgusting taste in her mouth. She spat it out, sticking out her tongue as the minty flavor replaced the vile taste in her mouth. "You ok now?"

"I'm going to be having morning sickness for the next couple months, so I guess it's a maybe." She walked past the stallion and headed for their shower, feeling really fatigued after just waking up abruptly and vomiting. As she turned on the water, Solaris walked in to join her, today an important day with all of the events he needed to attend in Canterlot. The warm water rushed down over them, but as Trill began to relax, she felt his hooves wrap around her, sensually rubbing her belly. "What are you doing?"

"I just can't wait until the time comes," he said, planting a kiss on her neck. "I know it's going to be a bit rough for you to go through, but it'll be over before you know it, and it won't be as bad when our baby begins to grow and start moving in your womb." The changeling rolled her eyes, finding it odd how she was carrying the baby, yet Solaris is behaving like an excited mother who was expecting. She sat down, feeling his hooves moving all around her stomach, feeling him nuzzle her cheek as she closed her eyes. "I love you."

"Mhmm," she mumbled, slowly falling asleep as her tired body began to give in to her sudden fatigue.

"You alright, hon?" he asked, feeling her lean back against her and hearing her snore a little, passing out in the middle of their shower. "Huh. She fell asleep...You're still pretty tired, huh?" He didn't need an answer to know that, and Trill was going to be exhausted every day, and eventually go through mood swings that'll wind up driving both of them crazy. Solaris gently washed his unconscious mare while she slept, turning off the shower after getting himself cleaned as well. Once he was sure she was dried off enough with a towel, drying himself off using his draconic fire to heat dry the water off his coat and mane, he carried Trill back to bed and laid her down, giving her a small peck on the lips. "I'll see you in the evening."

He tucked her under the covers, hearing her mumble something in her sleep as he left the room to begin his royal duties.

For the next week, it was the same morning routine for Trill whenever her nausea kicked in: wake up, hurry to the bathroom, throw up until her stomach has settled, clean her mouth, then head to bed. It was hard for her to get back to sleep sometimes, even with Solaris around to comfort her. Today, she laid in bed, feeling really lethargic and moody. The alicorn had walked back into the room in the afternoon, having finished meeting with an ambassador from the minotaur kingdoms about some trade agreements. With nothing else to do for the day, he began to write letters to his family in the Crystal Empire and his other relatives in Ponyville.

"Hey, Trill? I think we should tell everyone about the good news," he suggested, licking another envelope and writing down the address for one of his relatives before placing it in the pile with the others. "My schedule is free of any duties in about a month, so we could invite everyone to the castle and surprise them all."

"Oh, joy," she grumbled. "In fact, why don't we tell all of Equestria that I'm going to end up being a fat tub of lard in the next few months!?"

He turned from his desk to look at Trill in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna look fat!" she shouted. "My stomach's going to be the size of a giant beach ball, and everypony's going to call me 'Queen Fatso the Tubby!'" Trill suddenly began crying, flailing her legs all over the bed like a foal having a temper tantrum. "I don't want to be fat! I'll look ugly and you won't love me!"

"Honey, what is wrong with-?" She suddenly sat up and glared at him, realizing she was having mood swings. "Ohhh. Now I see."

"You see?" she questioned, leaping off the bed and stomped over to him. "So I am getting fat!? And you didn't even tell me!?"

"I said no such thing," he assured. "You're just having a some mood swings, and you're not going to be fat. You're going to have a big baby bump, and I'll still love you."

"Really!?" she said excitedly, another mood swing as she hugged him tightly and nuzzled him. "You think I'll still be sexy with a big belly? Or do I look better skinny?" She began purring in his ear, giving him light nibbles on the sensitive appendage as her tone began to turn sultry. "You think it's safe for us to screw each other senseless with a baby in me?"

"U-Uhh...W-Well, it's safe as long as we're careful?" Solaris guessed, needing to find the book he got for Trill to read through to be sure. "B-But, I still kind of want to abstain from sex for a while longer. You know, after that whole fiasco with putting you into a heat cycle."

"Don't deny that you enjoyed that." Trill growled seductively, her hooves rubbing along his chest, slowly trailing down his stomach. "You loved being dominated by me. Maybe I should tie you down to the bed, prevent you from using magic, leaving you helpless as I tease you until you can't take anymore and beg me to finish you off." Solaris shuddered at the thought, wincing as her fangs nipped his neck as idea began arousing him. Her hooves slowly found their mark, the alicorn giving in to the surprisingly enjoyable fantasy, even if it was terrifying at first. He suddenly squeaked in pain as her hooves gripped the his very sensitive orbs, and hard, staring at her as she looked at him with anger, not lust. "Unless you think I'm some kind of monster and you don't want anything to do with me after I'm carrying your child!"

"T-Trill, l-loosen your grip th-" He squeaked higher as she began to squeeze even harder, his body bending over in pain as he tried not to move and increase it even further.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Solaris! You think I'm some kind of hideous monster and you don't want to have sex with me anymore!" With no way to stop her, Solaris quickly teleported away from Trill using his fire breath, getting far enough away to no longer feel her hooves on his crotch, panting heavily as he appeared by the bed, rubbing his nearly crushed tenders to try and ease the pain. Trill snapped out of her angry mood swing, gasping in shock at what she nearly did. "Oh my gosh. Solly, I'm so sorry."

"I-I'm fine," he whimpered, trying not to move, keeping his tail tucked between his legs.

"No, you're not." She growled, smacking herself in the forehead with her forelegs. "I didn't think I'd act so violently. Stupid mood swings."

"It's ok, Trill. I know you didn't mean it." She still felt awful, approaching the bed as he slowly began to move his hooves away from his crotch. "Next time, I'll make sure to watch out when you have those mood swings."

"Are you ok?" Trill asked. "I didn't...crush them, did I?"

"No. I would have felt it, and that would not be a good pain." The changeling winced, a little thankful her mood swings ended really quickly. "Anyway, as exciting as that few minutes were, you think you want to tell everyone we're expecting an extra pair of little hooves?"

"...Maybe...But what about my mom?" Trill shuddered, imagining how Chrysalis would react if she found out she somehow managed to get pregnant from her alicorn husband. "She's not exactly fond with the get-togethers you all plan. She was even a little miffed at your proposing to me out of the blue when we all had dinner together."

"We're going to have to tell her too." She whined and plopped her head down on Solaris's shoulder. "Hey, maybe she'll like being a grandmother to a half pony, half changeling foal."

"Yeah, sure. Just like how she liked giving birth to and raising me and several other siblings of mine." Trill sighed, rubbing her hoof against the sheets on their bed. "I'm also a little worried how Canterlot and all of Equestria will react when word gets out that I'm somehow able to carry their prince's foal."

"...I didn't really think about that," he said. "I guess it'll be quite a surprise to them. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Right. Waiting." Trill rolled over onto Solaris, sitting in his lap as she looked down at him. Even after almost getting his balls smushed by her from her angry side in her bout of shifting moods, he smiled at her and rubbed reached a hoof to rub her stomach. She couldn't help but giggle, always feeling him wanting to rub her belly to try and feel around for their foal. "You are so obsessed with doing that ever since that test came back positive."

"I can't help it," Solaris admitted. "And I'm going to do this every day until I can feel it kick and reach out to my hoof."

"You're a really big sap, Solly." She leaned down and rubbed her nose against his. "But you get me all sappy too sometimes." They shared a small kiss, her hooves slowly wrapping around his neck while his grabbed her waist, pulling her closer as they stared in each other's eyes. As much as Trill wanted more, unable to act like her old self from being so tired all the time and her earlier bout of mood swings, she was content with the pleasant moments along with Solaris in bed, their lips pressed gently against each other as they occasionally shared a light kiss, never looking away from his blue eyes. "You sure you're ok down there?"

"I've had injuries worse than painful gropes to my testes, but I'm fine now," he reassured, sensually rubbing her hips as he licked her lips.

"Mmm...Ok..." She looked over at the desk, feeling her husband give her peppered kisses against her cheek and neck, seeing the pile of letters he had made. "Were you going to send those out before I got in a cranky fit?"

"Mhmm," he mumbled, nodding his head as he move his lips up to kiss her ear.

"You want to hold off on that for a little while?" Trill asked. Before Solaris could ask why, she began to slowly move down, trailing kisses down his chest as she looked up at him. "I want to give you a little apology for angry me hurting you earlier. That sound fair?" She saw his cheeks turn red a little, giggling a little as she moved lower. His face and eyes said no, but his body's reaction to the offer told her otherwise. "I'll take that as a yes."

Weeks passed until the first month of Trill's pregnancy had come and gone. The changeling still wasn't used to her symptoms throughout the month, but it was only going to get worse from there. She didn't like reading through that book to aid her in what to expect, but being halfway into the second month and having Solaris be there, even with her random mood swings that made him want to hurt him, she could get through this. But now that Solaris had nothing scheduled to him and his letters sent to their families, they were going to break the good news to them all, and she was dreading to know how her mother would react.

Out in the wastelands, slowly gaining life with the small town set up near the entrance to the changeling hive, ponies and changelings went about their work, ponies transporting large crates filled with love essence to feed the changelings and sustain them. Exiting her hive was the queen of the changelings herself, Chrysalis making her way to the train scheduled to leave for Canterlot as she prepared herself to visit the city she tried to conquer before and helped save.

"I detest these family get-togethers," she grumbled. "I have no idea what news Trill and Solaris have to give us, but it better be worth it."

As she stepped up to the platform, a Royal Guard stood at attention as she approached. "Queen Chrysalis, His Highness, Prince Solaris, has ordered me to make sure you and the rest of his guests are to board the private car so none of you are disturbed by the other passengers."

"Oh, joy. He remembered I don't like company. Yippie," she cheered in a monotonous tone.

"Actually, you are not going to be alone in the car before we reach Ponyville," he said, making the queen tilt her head in confusion.

"Who's already in here?" she asked. "Don't tell me the Crystal Empire royal family is on here."

Chrysalis walked inside the car, suddenly smacked in the face with a pie out of nowhere. "Hi, Chrysie! Been a long while, hasn't it!?"

Growling, she wiped the whipped cream off her face, glaring at the chaotic draconequus already warping the inside of the car to his liking. "Discord..."

"Look at you! You haven't changed a bit in the last couple years after Solaris and Trill's wedding!" Chrysalis ignored Discord, sitting in the far front row of the car, flinching as she heard a flatulent sound come from beneath her seat. The draconequus burst out laughing, the changeling not amused by his chaotic antics as she pulled the whoopee cushion from underneath her, flinging it back at him. "I should have warned you about sitting there. I was going to trick Butterscotch into sitting there, but it's too late now."

"Keep your magic away from me, or else I'll have to kill you," she warned.

"Good luck with that, Chrysie." The train began to move as it headed on its way through the barren wasteland. Discord hovered down next to the disgruntled mare, groaning angrily as she had to share the whole ride to Ponyville with the lord of chaos. "So, you have any idea what the young couple have that's good news?"

"No," she replied.

"Me neither. I'm actually surprised Solaris managed to find my place when he delivered my letter through that dragon fire of his." Discord snapped his fingers, summoning a cotton candy cloud. He took a bite out of it, offering some to Chrysalis, but the growl she made told him no. "So, how was your morning?"

"Go away, Discord." He chuckled and nudged the changeling's side.

"You need to learn to lighten up. Equestria is safer thanks to Solaris..." The draconequus's cheery demeanor turned into sorrow, sighing sadly. "It's still a bit hard for me...hearing what had happened to Fluttershy. She was the first friend I ever made, and she liked me even after I tried to trick her when they freed me...I didn't think the last time I'd ever see her again was back in Saddle Arabia after we escaped from the temple."

"Please don't tell me you actually fell in love with her," Chrysalis droned.

"Pth! No! She's just a dear friend! But she did make me Butterscotch's godfather if anything happened to her." Discord snapped his fingers, calling forth a photo that appeared in his paw. In the picture was Fluttershy laying in a hospital bed with Discord holding a thumbs up, holding Butterscotch as a newborn infant wrapped snugly in his tail. "After I found out she had died, I made sure the little guy was doing ok. He's a lot like his mother: a love for animals, silent but kindhearted, but he seems a bit more brave than Fluttershy was...Not by much."

"Good for you. Now, can you leave me alone and get out of my space." Discord frowned, dismissing the memorable photo.

"You don't like foals, do you?" he asked. She didn't respond, trying her best to ignore him as she looked out the window. "Fine then. Be a party pooper. You can stay in the boring party pooper section of the car while I stay in fun land that the others will surely enjoy more than your miserable plot."

With a snap of his fingers, he created a small room around the seat Chrysalis was in, turning it back to normal as he transformed it into a private room, leaving a sign outside of the door and calling it the "Party Pooper" room in big neon lights.

"We're going to the castle! We're going to the castle!" Cherry Pie chanted, bouncing up and down at the train station as she and the rest of her friends waited for the train.

The hyper daughter of Pinkie Pie stood alongside the rest of Solaris's surrogate cousins: Apple Seed, Gemstone, Prism, and Butterscotch. Chaperoning the teens were the former founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle with her gaming husband Button Mash. On the older unicorn's back was a little brown earth pony colt with light purple and auburn striped hair, sleeping soundly.

"It's been a while since we've seen Solly," Prism said. "I hope he's got something awesome planned."

"Well, he didn't call the Wonderbolts, and the whole team's on leave for the next month," Scootaloo said.

"He's probably been a little too busy as a prince and dealing with Trill," Sweetie Belle said. "I can't wait to show him our little colt, Virtuo." Her ears perked up, hearing beeping noises coming from Button Mash, rolling her eyes as he was playing that old hoof held game system he still kept as a colt. "Button, you remembered to pack everything for-"

"Right here, Sweetie Belle," the stallion interrupted, holding up a bag that carried baby supplies for their son.

"Hmm." She took the bag, opening it to see if there was everything they needed for their short stay in Canterlot. Inside were diapers, toys for Virtuo to play with, baby powder, wipes, formula, and baby food. "Yup. That's everything I asked you to put in."

"Every journey requires preparation, or else the party will suffer from lack of supplies or improper planning," he said, looking at the unicorn with a smirk.

"You are such a nerd." Sweetie leaned over to Button and kissed his cheek. "But you're my nerd."

"And you are my siren who took my soul with your enticing songs." The couple giggled and nuzzled each other, making the teens and Scootaloo gag.

"Get a room, you two," Scootaloo teased.

Eventually, the train arrived to a grinding halt, passengers leaving to enter the town while others walked in. Before the large group could board, the Royal Guard caught their attention as he exited one of the cars.

"Prince Solaris's family right this way!" he announced. "His Highness has given you transportation in a private car to Canterlot."

"Sweet! Let's go!" the teens hurried along inside while the adults calmly walked inside the car.

Cherry's tail twitched suddenly as soon as they walked inside, feeling her Cherry Sense kicking in. "Twitchy tail!"

She warned them too late as she ducked, pies raining down on the other four teens, Gemstone gasping in horror as her head was covered in whipped cream. "My hair! I just got this done for Solaris to see me in all my beauty! Now it's ruined!"

"Ya still have a crush on him after all these years?" Apple Seed asked, his mother's hat thankfully protecting his head as he shook off the messy surprise that landed on them.

"Discord!" Butterscotch shouted as he saw the grinning draconequus on the other side of the car, fluttering up to him and hugging him tightly.

"Welcome to the party train, everypony!" Discord pulled his arm down, making a loud whistling noise like that of the train inside of the car.

The sound caused Virtuo to wake up and cry, disturbed from his nap while Sweetie Belle levitated her son in her hooves, glaring at Discord. "Discord, really!?I brought the baby with me!"

"Whoops! Sorry. I'll set up a soundproof area." He snapped his fingers, creating a small room on the other side of the "Party Pooper" room with a with a "Quiet Room" sign hanging on the wall. Sweetie Belle and Button Mash entered the magically crafted room to calm Virtuo down. "I'm good with kids, but not babies. Forgot they don't like loud noises."

"This place is amazing!" Cherry exclaimed, bouncing into one of the seats, which ended up waving around as if it was a water bed. "Perfect entertainment until we get ourselves to Canterlot, where the real fun begins with Solly!"

"Does anypony even know what his letter meant?" Apple Bloom asked. "What kind of news does he have to give us?"

"Chrysie and I don't even know what's going on either," Discord said, pointing to the room opposite of the soundproof room. "But if everypony's involved, it's obviously important. So, while we wait until we reach our destination-" He snapped his fingers, turning the whole car into a giant board game."-who's up for a little LARP of Ogres and Oubliettes?"

"Ogres and Oubliettes? That's a lame nerdy game." He snapped his fingers again, changing all the ponies into different classes from the game: Prism was a rogue, Cherry was a jester, Apple Seed was a monk, Butterscotch was a cleric, Gemstone was a Dancer, Apple Bloom was a warrior, Scootaloo was an archer, and Discord was a wizard. Prism looked down at her rogue garments, having second thoughts on playing something live instead of on a board. "Huh. I take it back. This is actually going to be fun."

Button Mash poked his head out of the soundproof room, gasping in awe at the life-sized board game. "Ooh! Can I play too!?"

"Button, help me with Virtuo!" Sweetie Belle called out, the stallion groaning in annoyance as their son was still crying. "He's getting too fussy and I can't calm him down myself!"

"Yes, dear." He closed the door, obeying his wife, disappointed he won't join the others in their LARP.

The game began, cartoonish skeleton ponies drawn on large game pieces appeared around the mares, stallions, and draconequus, armed with fake swords or bows. "Alright, fellow heroes! Let us save the land of Chaotix from the evil clutches of the Dark Fiend!"

At the train station in Canterlot, Solaris fidgeted excitedly as he and Trill waited for their invited guests to arrive. The changeling, however, wasn't as excited. Mostly sick from her nausea earlier this morning and feeling greatly fatigued. She leaned against the alicorn, groaning wearily.

"Any minute now, we'll see everyone here and tell them later this evening." He giggled, unable to bear the weight much longer.

"Yay," Trill weakly agreed, sighing in exhaustion. "Can you please not move? I'm not feeling good today."

"You nervous or starting to get really sick?" he asked in concern.

"I don't know. Hard to tell with these stupid symptoms that don't seem to end." Trill rubbed her stomach, already beginning to feel a small bump begin to form on her skinny frame, not yet noticeable to tell she was pregnant from afar.

"Do you want to head back to the castle and rest? I can wait for them by myself," Solaris suggested.

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "I don't know if I can stay awake."

"Ok. I think there's still plenty of time to fly up to the castle and back before the trains from Ponyville and the Crystal Empire arrive." Solaris carried Trill bridal style in his hooves, flapping his wings as he flew up over the city and back to the castle. He made sure to keep a quick pace without irritating his love's tired and sore state, holding her tightly as they soared across the clear sky. The weather was already beginning to cool down as autumn drew near, the alicorn needing to make sure the temperature in the castle would stay warm enough for Trill and their baby. He arrived at their balcony at the top of the castle, gently lowering the changeling down on the other side of the railing. "Get some rest, and when you're feeling better, meet us in the dining hall."

"Ok." She leaned her head closer to his, the couple giving each other a small kiss before they parted.

Solaris made it back to the station in time as the train from Ponyville was about to roll up. It slowed to a grinding halt, hissing out steam as it blew its whistle, passengers exiting the cars and entering Canterlot. In the private car he provided for his family, he stared at them, slightly confused as most of them were wearing clothing that were worn from board game characters.

"Hey, Solly!" Prism greeted, walking out of the car, the clothing disappearing as soon as she stepped onto the station.

"Oh. Now I see what happened. Discord." The others came out as the spell from Discord's little game disappeared, the five young mares and stallions rushing him, the six ponies gathering in a group hug. "Hopefully the ride up wasn't too entertaining."

"It was super duper fun!" Cherry said. "Wished you would have joined in! You probably would have been a paladin and helped us slay the evil Dark Fiend while taking on his zombie skeleton minions!"

"Unless ya count him greetin' us by droppin' cream pies on our heads fun." Gemstone nodded her head, agreeing with Apple Seed as she made sure there wasn't a spritz of whipped cream in her mane.

"I don't understand why you invited him along with me." Everyone backed away from Solaris as Chrysalis stepped out, Discord slowly creeping up on her to pull another prank on her. "Discord, if you so much as do anything to me, I am going to kick you hard in the gonads."

"I'm not doing anything," the draconequus said innocently, hiding the giant water balloon behind his back.

"Ok, Discord, you had your fun on the ride here. Don't tick off my mother-in-law anymore than she already is." The changeling queen grumbled, despising called that, while Discord dismissed the water balloon.

"Just because you're married to Trill does not make me your in-law," she said. "Tell us what this news is so I can go back and continue running my kingdom."

"I'll tell everypony later this evening after dinner. Just be patient for a little while longer." Chrysalis huffed but obliged, as much as she hated waiting.

"Hey, squirt!" Scootaloo caught Solaris in a head lock, surprising the alicorn as she snuck up on him while he talked to Chrysalis. "You've definitely grown up into a stallion last time I saw you."

"I was at the Wonderbolts Derby watching you and the other Wonderbolts race a few months ago!" he said, quickly pulling her leg away from his neck.

"Oh, were you watching those races?" the mare asked. "Guess I wasn't paying attention from all the winning I've been doing."

"Ok, don't get a big head over that ego of yours," Apple Bloom warned, walking up to Solaris and hugging him tightly. "Good seein' ya again, Solaris."

"Same here, Aunt Apple Bloom." They broke away, the older mare rustling the alicorn's head, Sweetie Belle and Button Mash approaching Solaris with Virtuo held in the unicorn's magic.

"Hi, Solaris," Sweetie said, catching his attention. "It's been a while since you've seen us, but Button and I have an extra member of the family we want you to meet. This is our little colt, Virtuo. Say hi, sweetie!"

She held the colt out to look at him, the baby earth pony staring at him curiously as Solaris waved at him. "Hi there." The alicorn gently ruffled Virtuo's head, the colt giggling as his tiny hooves reached up to his. "I didn't know you and Button had a foal. How old is he?"

"Just turned one a couple weeks ago, and got a really big birthday party from Cherry Pie." Sweetie nuzzled Virtuo's head, the colt cooing as his mother gave him affection. "I would have invited you, but I didn't want to pull you away from your royal duties."

"Yeah. It's an important job, and I must have had a lot of work to do. Just be careful when Aunt Cadence comes around," Solaris warned. "She really loves foals."

While Solaris caught up with his other relatives, Chrysalis looked around the platform, expecting Trill to be waiting with him, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where is Trill?"

"Oh. She's back at the castle. She's still a little bit tired, so I let her sleep in." The changeling queen scoffed, finding it typical for her to wind up being a lot more lazy now that she was married to Solaris. "So, when she wakes up, I'll make sure all of you are entertained at the castle. I think the train coming from the Crystal Empire will arrive a bit later. Uncle Shining, Aunt Cadence, and Flurry are coming down too."

"Wonderful," Chrysalis murmured, hiding her grin as she would end up meeting Shining Armor again after his and Cadence's visit to her hive.

It was long until everyone invited to the castle had arrived, the earlier arrivals from Ponyville, the wastelands where the changelings live, and Discord making themselves at home, though Solaris warned the draconequus not to make it too much like his home. Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart arrived an hour later, the prince prepared for his little cousin's surprise tackle hug as he caught her instead the moment the doors opened in their car. Because of his uncle's handicap, Solaris provided a carriage for them to ride in to the castle so he wouldn't be in pain from walking the long distance from the train station to the castle.

The rest of the day was spent around different parts of the castle until Trill felt a little better from her tiredness and aching body. Cadence went crazy as she met Virtuo, practically swiping the colt away from Sweetie Belle to play with him a little. The infant immediately took a liking to her, the princess of love always having that effect on foals, whether she foalsat or met them the first time. And Flurry Heart had fun keeping the colt entertained when Shining Armor had to pull his wife away to talk with the former founders of the CMC, Discord, and even trying to spark a conversation with Chrysalis.

Eventually, as evening came around and dinner was served, Trill had finally arrived, looking a little better, but still achy. Once the food had arrived, a smorgasbord of foods for the two changelings and everyone else to enjoy, though the conversation had slowly dwindled to silence when Trill began eating. She grabbed basically one of every single bit of food and stacked them on several plates, even getting food that wasn't sprinkled with the glimmering pink magical essence of love. As she ate, she didn't even care if they were bland to her, her cravings telling her to eat anything that looks good. Solaris was the only one who didn't worry, knowing she had some really questionable cravings for the past couple weeks, and it was healthy for her and their foal. And so was the spread on the long dining table.

She was about to dig into her salad, sprinkled with pepper and a light ranch dressing, noticing the odd looks the adults and teens were giving her. "...Uhhh...What?"

"...Trill." The changeling princess looked at her mother, Chrysalis raising a brow at all the plates she had. "...You do realize you are eating food that doesn't have the added condiment your husband managed to figure out how to make, right? And none of them are made of chocolate?"

Trill slowly lowered her eyes down to her food, only now noticing what she subconsciously grabbed. "...Ummm..." She looked at Solaris, the alicorn grinning as he knew the reason for her odd choices. "...Solly's got me...on a diet?"

"A diet with food that is bland to us without any of these?" Chrysalis asked as she held up a shaker filled with pink magical energy. "Any time you tasted any of this food to test hiding your disgust when training to disguise yourself in a restaurant, you failed and spat it out or threw it up. You should be gagging right now."

"I can get used to food that isn't chocolate, mom," Trill muttered annoyingly, chomping her teeth down on her salad fork and ate her food. "At least I appreciate change, unlike you."

The queen growled, dropping the subject so she wouldn't raise her voice around the two youngest ponies too busy eating their own meals. Solaris could sense the tension between his wife and mother-in-law. They haven't really been on good speaking terms for a long while, which began a few months after their marriage. Maybe hearing the good news after delaying it all day today could change things. After the awkward moment watching Trill eat and dinner finished, Solaris stood up from his seat as he got everyone's attention.

"Everypony, I know you've all been dying to know why you've been invited to the castle from the news Trill and I want to give you all from the letters I sent," he announced. "First, I want to say I'm glad all of you are here, even if some of you don't want to."

"Just get to the news!" Discord shouted from the other end of the table, his voice purposely distant and echoed out of comic relief.

"Right. Delayed this for long enough." Solaris cleared his throat and helped Trill stand up, despite her complaints to continue eating for the bottomless pit of a stomach for her and the baby. "Anyway, the important news. Trill and I are having a baby!"

The whole room was silent, aside from the quiet babbling that came from Virtuo as he sat in his little high chair next to Sweetie Belle and Button Mash. No one could say anything out of the oddity of his good news he and Trill wanted to share, all of them staring at the couple. Trill let out a nervous laugh and nodded her head, confirming what he was saying is true.

"...Uhh...What?" Apple Seed asked, voicing everyone's opinion.

"We both found a spell in the Canterlot Archives that allowed a couple of different species to make a baby," the alicorn stallion explained. "And Trill, as of right now, is a month and a half into her pregnancy. We're going to be parents in another nine and a half months! Isn't that exciting!?"

Hearing Trill was pregnant now caught their attention, all of them shocked and confused except for Cadence as she recalled her odd eating habits. Chrysalis's jaw had dropped, not liking the news her son-in-law gave, Dicord's literally dropping onto the table.

"Hang on a second!" Cherry exclaimed, grabbing her glass of water and taking a big gulp. She immediately spat it out, making a delayed spit take. "Trill's pregnant!?"

"How'd I not see this?" Cadence whispered. The signs looked so obvious, but didn't think anything of it as her being sick with her exhausted expression and having a strange appetite. The pink alicorn's grin soon began to widen, unable to contain her excitement as she flew up in the air and squealed with glee. "I'M GONNA BE A GRANDAUNT!"

While the princess of love flew around, cheering wildly, the others slowly recovered from their shock, happy to hear the news, though how it was possible with the spell they used was baffling. Chrysalis, on the other hoof, was mortified. She was going to be a grandmother to a child born as both a changeling and a pony, and Trill was going to end up giving birth to a live foal a few months longer than their own kind's reproductive cycle. The changeling queen soon began to feel ill, her black cheeks turning green, her vision blurry as she lost feeling in her limbs.

"I call planning the baby shower!" Cherry called out.

"Aww, I was going to say that!" Discord whined, his dropped jaw growing legs as it ran across the table and stopped in front of Solaris and Trill's side. He appeared where his mouth was, slithering around the couple with a questionable gaze. "Are you sure she's pregnant and you're not pulling our legs?"

"I'm really pregnant, and I'm suffering from the worst of the symptoms," Trill complained. "Morning sickness, sore hooves, very violent mood swings when I wind up angry, strange eating habits that I'm surprisingly used to, it's all a nightmare to me."

"I'll be the judge of that." Discord snapped his fingers, now wearing a doctor's outfit and a stethoscope. He grabbed Trill and laid her down on an examination table that appeared out of nowhere. He put the earpieces on and grabbed the resonator, placing it on the changeling's abdomen as a screen popped up in front of him, though it was filled with distorted images no one could tell what was inside but him. "Hmm...I see...yes. Mhmm..."

"Should I be worried?" Trill asked.

The draconequus soon placed the circular disk over to the light bump on her belly, the screen suddenly blinking green with a check mark in the center. "Well, what do you know? She actually is pregnant! This calls for a celebration! And I call first dibs on the games for the baby shower, Cherry!"

"I can live with that," the earth pony mare said with a shrug.

"...I'm dreaming," Chrysalis mumbled, still in shock as she grew pale. "This isn't happening. First their relationship...then marriage-"

"And then comes the foal in the carriage," Shining said, finishing up the reality of the moment for the soon to be changeling grandparent. "You're going to be a grandma, Chrysalis...Well, you probably already are from other changelings you gave birth to, but now you're a grandparent to Solaris's foal."

"...Oh...happy day..." Chrysalis groaned, her eyes rolling back in her head as she fell out of her chair, passing out in shock.

After the weekend get together, with a majority of the family excited for the new baby to arrive, they all planned out when the baby shower will be held sometime in spring when it wasn't too cold for Trill to leave the castle as the colder seasons come in. They all made a promise not to tell anyone else about this until the time came for the foal to be born before heading back home at the end of the weekend. Chrysalis was still in a daze, her brain trying to process the "good" news she heard as she was begged in Solaris's letter to come to Canterlot, even after she left to head back home.

The next month and a half had passed as Trill was finally ending off the first trimester of her pregnancy. Thankfully, her nausea and vomiting had finally stopped, giving her some relief to know she won't end up puking her guts out early in the morning. The little bulge against her belly grew a little more during the time, though her lack of energy seemed to happen more often as she always wound up sleeping most of the day. She couldn't even find the energy to have any fun with Solaris in the evenings after he was finished with his duties.

Now that fall was here, the weather was getting cooler and the leaves in the trees were about to change from green to red, orange, and brown. Trill began to wake up a little late in the morning, Solaris already gone to run Equestria and keep it safe from any trouble, mostly from dealing with a couple nobles in a trifle over their businesses. She sat up with a yawn, smacking her dry lips as she crawled off the bed. She approached the calendar her husband set up to the day their child would be born, having already crossed off the end of her third month and starting on the fourth.

"Just about eight more months left," she said to herself. Trill looked down at her stomach, rubbing the small bump a little to feel their baby. Her stomach began to growl, her taste buds craving for something smothered in chocolate. "You have really good taste this morning. Let's see if the kitchen has some chocolate cake we can sneak out for breakfast."

Trill giggled as she made her way out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen to get something chocolaty to fulfill both her and her baby's cravings.