The One Where Celestia Knows

Three Months Later

"Velvet, wake up," Night Light said as he rolled out of her bed. Velvet blinked awake. She was facing away from his voice. It was still pitch dark outside.

"Night, I'm going to turn around now," Velvet growled. "And you are going to be on fire. You are going to be in flames, and the only pony who can put you out, is me. Because that is the only concievable reason you would wake me up like this!"

"I'm sorry! But it's the Summer Sun Celebration today. We have to go watch the Princess do the Sunrise. You promised," Night Light reminded her as he quickly got dressed into his uniform. Velvet groaned and sat herself upright.

"Alright. Just give me a minute to -URP!" Velvet moved quickly for still being half-asleep. "BLARGH!" Velvet retched, reaching the toilet just in time.

"Another hangover?" Night asked, teasing. "Velvet, you know you shouldn't be drinking in your condition."

"You know it isn't, you bastard!" Velvet coughed and heaved again as she cradled her gravid belly with her hoof. "This is all your fault! You did this to me!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm the bad guy," he said, getting her a glass of water and a banana. "Here you go."

"Thank you," she said, taking them as she started to cry. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I yell at you like that. I'm just so saaad!"

"And here we go..." Night muttered as he sat through another round of emotional roller coaster.

Night Light stood beside Velvet with the other ponies in the Canterlot Castle plaza, awaiting Celestia's arrival in the dark of the predawn morning. Velvet's nostrils flared.

"Ooh, I smell something good," she said.

"Yeah, there's a table over there with donuts," another pony said.

"Donuts?" Velvet waded through the crowd.

"Vel, wait! The Princess is going to be here any second!" Night said as he followed after her. Almost on cue, Princess Celestia appeared on the raised platform.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," Celestia addressed the crowd, "It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this year's Summer Sun Celebration! This year is particularly special because..." As Celestia continued to speak, Night Light pushed through the crowd to Velvet, who was already helping herself to the complementary pastries.

"Vel, stop! Or at least, slow down! One at a time! Chew, for pony's sake!" he begged.

"... so without further ado, let the Summer Sun Celebration begin!" Celestia finished. She spread her wings and lofted up into the air, raising the sun behind her as she did. Night Light's voice obediently joined the chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahs' until she was finished. The Princess returned to the ground and took a bow to thunderous applause.

"Can we go now?" he asked Velvet. "This is getting embarrassing."

"But there's a midway!" she said. "Maybe they'll have fried dough!"

"Donuts are fried dough."

"Yeah, but it's in a different shape. Like funnel cake. OOH! I have an idea! Let's get some funnel cake!" she said as she trotted toward the food booths. He sighed and followed after her.

"Don't ruin your appetite tonight. You're having a dinner with the Princess."

"Pssh, yeah, in like, twelve hours!" she said. "Ugh, I'm hungry just thinking about waiting that long to eat."

"You just ate!"

"Yeah, I know but- OOH check it out!" Velvet pointed at a food sign. "We can get a giant pizza for just twenty bits!" She looked at him. "I need to borrow twenty bits. I swear it's not pizza related."

That evening, Velvet sat across from Celestia at the castle's royal dining table. Each were politely eating their entrees with quiet poise. Velvet showed tremendous restraint.

"So... what did you think of the opening ceremony this morning?" Celestia asked, making small talk.

"It was nice," Velvet answered before she continued to eat her meal.

"Just... nice?" Celestia asked.

"It was... really nice. Just like last year," Velvet said.

"Well, a toast to another year!" Celestia said, raising her wine glass. Velvet raised hers as well. Celestia took a sip of her wine as Velvet put her glass back down.

"Hmm." Celestia took another bite of her meal. "Did you have a nice day at the celebration?"

"Yes," Velvet said. Celestia waited on the details. They never came.

"That's good," Celestia said after a minute, remaining calm. "So what's new with you?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing new at all?" Celestia asked, probing. Velvet looked up from her food.

"... No." Celestia sighed, and picked up her fork again. But before she picked up another bite, she huffed loudly in frustration and slammed it onto the table, causing the rest of the dinnerware to rattle. Velvet froze and looked like a deer in headlights.

"Twilight, when are you planning on telling me?" Celestia asked, fed up with the charade.

"Tell you what?" Velvet asked, trying to keep her best poker face.

"That you're pregnant!" Celestia said.

"..."

"..."

"What!?"

"Don't play coy with me, young lady," Celestia said. "What kind of fool do you take me for? Have you even seen yourself?" Celestia pointed at Velvet's obvious baby bump. "And don't try to just chalk that up to the way you've been eating like a dumpster lately. Even though I watched you eat eleven donuts this morning. For pony's sake, you have teats!" Velvet blushed and covered her engorged mammaries with her napkin. "And you haven't touched your wine tonight." Velvet looked at the full glass of wine on the table. The last damning piece of evidence. Velvet looked down in shame, unwilling to looker her mentor in the eyes. Celestia sighed.

"I'm not mad," Celestia said at last. "I'm just disappointed."

"That I'm pregnant," Velvet said.

"Of course not! You are a grown mare. That is your business," Celestia said. "I'm just disappointed that you didn't tell me right away. That you felt like you had to hide it from me. And that you thought so little of me that I somehow wouldn't notice!"

"I- I'm sorry," Velvet apologized. "I thought that you would be mad because I wasn't married."

"That's not my concern," Celestia said. "My concern is, and always has been, for your well-being. Have I ever given you cause to doubt that?"

"No."

"Good." Celestia picked up her fork again. "I suppose we have two things to celebrate then." Celestia lifted her wine glass. "I'll forgive you for not joining me in the toast this time." She took a sip of her wine. "But please, eat." Velvet took her fork and stabbed a small bite of her salad. "Twilight, please, there's no need for manners. I'm sure you're famished, eating for two."

"I- I'm not really in the mood for salad," Velvet said, pushing her plate away. Celestia nodded and picked up the dinner bell on the table giving it a hard shake. The team of waiters arrived through the double doors.

"Yes, Your Highness?" the head cook asked with a bow. "Are we ready for dessert?"

"We are," she answered. The other waiter rolled in the dessert cart. Velvet watched it intently as it rolled in.

"What will be your pleasure? he asked.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked.

"Yes," Velvet said. "Leave the cart."

"I beg your pardon, Miss?"

"You heard her. Leave the cart," Celestia commanded. The waiters bowed quickly before they abandoned the cart and they scurried back into the kitchen. "Don't be shy." Celestia's horn glowed and she pushed the cart with her magic, stopping it beside Velvet. "You needn't feel self-conscious. An expectant mother is a beautiful thing. Regrettably it's something that I've never experienced. To me, you're like the daughter I never had. So, please, dig in."

"Thank you, Princess." Velvet said, grabbing two hoof-fulls of danishes. To start with. She began to aggressively eat them. Celestia was content to let her gorge herself while she finished the rest of her salad. The room was quiet but for the washing machine sounds of Velvet chewing.

"If I might ask, who's the father?" Celestia asked. Velvet stopped chewing for a second before she grabbed another brownie to stuff her mouth, avoiding an answer. Celestia was nothing if not patient. She waited a few minutes more. "Do you...not... know who the father is?" Velvet coughed and sputtered at the question. "Are you... okay?"

"Why wouldn't I-?" Velvet blanched, "Oh, OH! No! He didn't- I mean I wasn't-" She wiped her mouth. "I know who it is. He didn't... It was consensual," she assured her. Celestia released her breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

"Well that's good, at least," Celestia said. "I'm... I'm not trying to pry. But I would like to know who it is."

"It's my business, isn't it? You said so yourself," Velvet said.

"I did say that. But I do feel somewhat entitled to know whose foal I'm feeding," Celestia said. Velvet looked at the cupcake in her hoof, and the rest of the devastated dessert cart. She looked at the roof over her head. She thought about the warm bed that waited for her in her bed chambers. None of it at cost to her. She looked at Princess Celestia, sitting across from her. "Is it somepony I know?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Is it a fellow student?"

"No."

"Is it-"

"It's Night Light," Velvet said.

Celestia blinked.

"Your guard!?"

"Yes! My guard!" Velvet yelled, standing up from her seat. "He's the father. And he's my special somepony! He's kind, and sweet and he's a gentlecolt! And he's promised to do right by me! We're going to get married. Even if that means that he has to quit the Royal Guard and I have to resign from being your protege! I know you said I couldn't get into a relationship with him. But I don't care! I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to! So if you don't like it, you can take back your food and your castle and fuck right off!" Velvet screamed as she grabbed the dessert cart with her magic and threw it at the wall across the room.

Celestia sat perfectly still. She looked down at the bits of cake that had splattered onto her white fur. She brushed it away with her hoof and took a sip of her wine.

"I'll begin the preparations for the wedding," Celestia said calmly.

"What?" Velvet asked in breathless confusion.

"The wedding. The preparations for it. I'll begin them." Celestia elaborately repeated. "I'll even officiate it myself."

"But you said-"

"That my concern is, and always has been, for your well-being," Celestia said. "And if this is what you choose, then I will support it. And you." Velvet looked at the wrecked cart and sat back down, ashamed of her reaction. "After all, who am I to stand in the way of true love?"

"I'm sorry," Velvet apologized.

"It's okay," Celestia said, looking mournfully at the smashed chocolate cake. "But in the future, if your mood swings must destroy food, throw a vegetable instead?" That made Velvet giggle. Celestia laughed with her.

"Okay. I promise."

"Now then, Have you at least seen a doctor yet?" Celestia asked.

"No."

"That is unacceptable, Twilight!" Celestia scolded. "I am mad about that! You are smarter than that to place your health in jeopardy."

"I've been careful," Velvet said, pointing at the wine she didn't drink. "I know what I'm doing."

"I'm disinclined to believe either of those statements, given your current circumstances," Celestia said. "You need to have a medical examination at once!" Velvet looked at the hands of the grandfather clock by the wall.

"It's after-hours. I'll make an appointment tomorrow."

"Nonsense! You can be seen to this very evening!" Celestia said as she rose from the table. "Come, follow me." Velvet followed Celestia downstairs.

"There's no need for me to go to the Canterlot General emergency room!" Velvet protested.

"Not at all. That's not where we are headed," Celestia said as the walked towards the lower portion of the castle's east wing. Celestia pushed open the door under the sign that said 'infirmary'. The pony behind the reception counter had their nose buried in a newspaper.

"The infirmary is closed for the evening. If you have a medical emergency, please go to the Canterlot Gener- Princess Celestia!?" he gasped, discarding the paper and standing upright.

"It's Doctor Celestia tonight," she corrected. "I'm just making a quick house call. We'll be in exam room one for just a few minutes and then we'll be out of your mane." Celestia ushered Velvet down the hallway to the exam room and let her inside. She followed in after and closed the door.

"Doctor Celestia?"

"Yes."

"You have a doctorate?"

"I have several. In fact I have every doctorate that Canterlot Medical University has to offer. And I have my licences to practice their respective fields of medicine. Including OB/GYN." Velvet stared at her in disbelief. "Come on now. Up, up." Velvet got up onto the exam table and sat at the edge.

"Princess, this is-"

"Doctor."

"This is embarrassing," Velvet said.

"There's no need to feel embarrassed. However, this is necessary. Now lie back, please." Velvet did as she was told. Celestia gave her a quick visual inspection. "Hmm, that's unusual," she said.

They were words that a pony did not want to hear during a medical exam.

"What! What is it!?" Velvet asked.

"Just relax," Celestia said. She turned and get a swab from the supply drawer. She levitated the swab and rubbed it along the inside of Velvet's vagina. "It's just a bit of milky discharge residue. It might be nothing, or it might just be a minor yeast infection." She turned in her chair rubbed the swab on a glass microscope slide. She turned on the monitor and focused the lens.

The screen was filled with the image of what appeared to be hundreds of tadpoles.

"Oh," Celestia said. Velvet's face turned crimson. "Last night, I take it?" Velvet covered her face with her hooves. "Well, that explains that. You can let him know that he has a good count of strong swimmers." She turned off the screen and spun back around in her chair with a tube of conductive jelly and an ultrasound probe. "This will feel a little weird," she said spreading a bit of conductive jelly on her belly. Velvet winced at first, but it warmed up in short time. Celestia turned on the monitor and pressed the ultrasound probe to her belly, moving it around a bit trying to get a good image. "Aaand... let's see... Ah, there we are!" Celestia said, pointing at the screen. "Do you see?"

Velvet strained her eyes at the screen. It looked like a Rorschach painting. She started to cry.

"No," she cried. "I can't see it! I can't see my own baby! I'm a terrible mother!"

"Twilight! Look. Right here!" Celestia said, pointing at the very center of the screen. Velvet wiped her eyes and looked again at the dark spot that Celestia's hoof was pointing at.

"What? That lumpy potato-shaped thing?" she asked. Celestia nodded excitedly. "Well yeah, I saw that!"

"That's your foal!" Celestia said.

"That's my foal," Velvet said. Celestia hit the print button. A sheet of paper printed out the blurry black & white sonogram image and slid it into a stock card paper frame that had the title 'Baby's First Picture'.

"Here you go," Celestia said. "We're all done here. Come on, let's get you home so you can show your 'special somepony'."

The clock chimed the hour as Celestia escorted Velvet back upstairs to the dining hall. The kitchen crew was just finishing cleaning up the mess from the dessert cart. Night Light arrived promptly after them to collect Velvet from her dinner as ordered. Celestia walked over to him.

"Lieutenant," Celestia addressed him. He stood a bit straighter at attention. "You have a tailoring appointment tomorrow morning at zero nine hundred for a tuxedo fitting."

"Whatever for, Your Highness?" he asked as Velvet appeared from behind the princess. His professional demeanor belied his desire to hug and kiss Velvet as soon as he saw her. She, however, shown no such restraint. She practically tackled him with her hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Why, for your wedding of course, Lieutenant," Celestia said. Velvet gave him the card. He opened it and looked at the sonogram picture inside. Celestia smiled. "Congratulations."