The sound of birds all atwitter filtered through the window of Celestia's apartment, gradually leading the alicorn into wakefulness. Luna had left yesterday afternoon, leaving her to her devices, which basically consisted of her watching over the egg and reading. It truly was a pleasure to read for the fun of it, rather than poring over royal edicts and correspondence. Inspired by the current situation she had cracked the cover of a recently published novel featuring a changeling protagonist that Twilight had recommended. She'd lost herself in the book, all the while hugging her egg close, caressing it.

Her egg. Already she found herself bonding with it, with her. She wondered if the unhatched changeling grub was doing something to her as it absorbed her love and affection, or whether this was merely a consequence of her own motherly instinct. Whatever the case, she was happy. She yawned and threw off the covers, revealing herself and the egg. She smiled at it, stroking it for a moment, then got up and started her day.

"Out there, full of shine and full of sparkle, close your eyes and see it glisten, Celestia, listen Celestiaaa..." Celestia sang to herself as she puttered in her kitchenette, preparing a breakfast of oatmeal. The oats bubbled in the pot, and she spooned in some cinnamon and brown sugar to sweeten it. Her flank swayed back and forth as she hovered over the stove, monitoring her oatmeal, when her singing trailed off, ears perking up. Over the bubbling of the oatmeal she could hear a quiet sound...a soft, cracking sound. "What is that sound...ah! The egg!"

Celestia quickly turned off the stove and ran back to her bedroom, eyes wide. There, on the bed, was the egg, and it was alive. Cracks were forming all along it, and it wobbled back and forth as the life inside it worked to be free. Celestia hovered nervously over it, knowing that you weren't supposed to step in unless it was obvious it couldn't get it. "Oh Me, this is happening...this is really happening!"

Thankfully, Celestia didn't have to feel helpless for very long. In short order, all those cracks began to widen, and the glittering shell fell apart, revealing its contents. There, wriggling out of it, covered in slime and softly hissing, was a little grey changeling grub. Its eyes slowly opened, tongue tasting the air, and it paused, seeing the alicorn standing over it. For a moment, neither moved.

"U-um...hello little one..." Celestia said softly, and in an instant the grub came to life, wrigglecrawling across the sheets to see her. She sat down on the bed and gingerly picked it up, not minding in the slightest as the egg slime made a mess of her alabaster coat. "You're...adorable!" She cooed.

Celestia was of course no stranger to dealing with young foals, as she had run her magic school for unicorns, but her dealings with newborns were somewhat more limited. Though she had lived for millenia, she had never been put in charge of a newborn for more than a few minutes at a time. Now, this newborn was her responsibility. A heavy task, to be sure, but cuddling the little grub made her heart swell. No matter what happened, she wanted to be a good mom to her little changeling.

"Tia? Are you up?" Luna's voice came from the entrance to her apartment.

"Yes, in here!" She replied. "Come meet your niece!"

"Niece? What...oh." Luna's hoofsteps brought her closer, and then she appeared in the doorway, looking in at the scene before her. Her nostrils flared, and she pulled a face. "What is that smell?"

"Oh...it's probably the egg fluid." Celestia said with a shrug, looking down at the little squirming life in her hooves, the grub nuzzling at her affectionately. "Look at her, Lulu! Isn't she cute?"

"Um..." Luna approached hesitantly, looking at the grub. "...well, I guess she's got the face that only a mother could love."

"Lulu! That's not very nice!"

"What? I'm sorry, Tia, but I have to be honest. Mature changelings look fine, but their young seem to leave something to be desired."

"Just you wait, Lulu. I bet she'll grow up to be the loveliest changeling ever!" She nuzzled her little lovegrub. "Yes you will, yes you will, my little...oh, what am I going to call you?"

"Perhaps we should wait for Thorax before that. It's probably best for a changeling to have a changeling name, no?"

"I...suppose. Yes, I can see the logic in that." She tickled her newborn daughter, and the grub made a chittering sound that very much resembled a laugh. "D'awww..."

"Before you get completely lost in motherly bliss, Tia, maybe you should eat breakfast? I could smell the oatmeal from the kitchen when I stepped inside."

"Oh, yes! I had pretty much finished cooking it when I heard the egg hatching. It's probably quite cool by now. Do you think...do you think she'd eat some?"

"Uh...Tia, remember, neither you or I have any knowledge of this, but...oatmeal is very soft, and I've seen newborn foals eating it just fine. I don't see why that shouldn't also extend to her."

"Excellent! Oatmeal for mother and grub!" Celestia crowed, cradling her daughter in her magic, slipping off the bed and moving towards the kitchen.

Luna groaned and dragged a hoof along her muzzle. "Good heavens..."

* * *

After a breakfast of oatmeal (yes, as it turns out, her little grub did enjoy the soft, mushy oats as Luna had guessed) and a bath (Celestia had nearly left the apartment with egg slime on her), the two sisters were trotting down the path to the pier, art supplies in tow. The grub was nestled safely in her mother's mane, peeking out at the world around her, taking everything in.

While Celestia had initially been worried about the bright sun bothering the newborn's eyes, she quickly learned that her daughter had nictating membranes that slid down to protect the eyes from harsh light. That was a detail of changeling biology she'd never noticed in her dealings with them. Raising her was going to be quite the learning experience.

"Morning, Celestia!" Mixed Palette was already in her place, easel set up and palette loaded with paint. The other old-timers hadn't yet arrived.

"Morning Mixy!" Celestia and Luna replied, beaming back at the pegasus.

"My, you seem in an especially good mood this mor-what is that in your mane?!" Mixed Palette's eyes widened, seeing the grub peering out at her. She regarded her curiously, letting out an inquisitive hiss.

"Oh, this is my daughter, Mixy. She's just hatched. She's a changeling." Celestia reached into her mane and lifted her out, giving the little grub a nuzzle. "I think I'll paint her today."

"Your...daughter? My how things have changed from yesterday. Looks like what you needed finally found you, then." Mixed said with a nod. "You look positively radiant today."

"That she does. Motherhood agrees with my sister." Luna agreed, setting up her own easel and canvas. "She has even acted as a mother to me many times, what with me being the younger sister."

"Stop, the both of you, you're making me blush!" Celestia protested, rummaging through her paints. She'd need white and black to capture the grey of her grub, and purple for those wide, curious eyes.

Her paints at the ready, she turned to look for her daughter, only to find her clinging to her leg. "There you are!" She cooed, gently tugging her off and placing her on the stool she'd placed in front of her easel. "There, now try not to move too much."

"What in Celestia's name is that?" The gruff voice of a stallion reached their ears, and all three mares turned to see Timbre Tone hobbling up the pier, his art supplies following after him in his magic. "Izzat some kind of termite?"

"That is my daughter," Celestia replied, keeping her tone neutral. "She's a changeling and she has just hatched, so right now she's just a grub."

"Raising one of 'em bugs? Hmph." He snorted and moved to sit on his own stool, setting up his easel. "Ain't they the ones that attacked Equestria multiple times?"

"That is true, Timbre." Luna replied, dabbing her brush on her palette. "But that situation has since been resolved. Chrysalis has been defeated, and the rest of the changelings we are at peace with."

"Yeah well I still don't trust 'em." He groused, giving the grub the stink eye.

"I do hope you'd give my daughter the benefit of the doubt." Celestia replied, her tone remaining the same but her expression one of challenge. "She's only just been born, and..." She trailed off, looking down, seeing the grub once more climbing up her leg. "Painting you is not going to work if you won't stay still, sweetie."

"Fine, just keep 'er away from me." Timbre said, giving his final word on the matter. Celestia bristled at that, and Luna narrowed her eyes at him, but otherwise nothing more came of it.

Time slowly passed, with other seniors trickling in to work on their paintings, each expressing varying degrees of interest in the changeling grub. Thankfully, aside from Timbre, nopony else made a huge ado of having a changeling in their midst.

Introductions completed, everypony got to work, each depicting either the scenery before them or whatever scenes were floating about in their heads. While Celestia was trying to paint the grub (and failing, since she kept wanting to cling to Celestia), Luna focused on painting a portion of the night sky from memory. Black, blue, and purple formed the inky backdrop of her painting, and then she prepared her silver paint for applying the stars. It was in the middle of squeezing paint onto her palette that a scroll materialized in front of her, surprising her, palette and paint tube falling to the pier.

"Tia, looks as if Twilight has replied." Celestia's ears perked up, and she looked over at her sister. Luna picked up the scroll, unfurling it, reading it quietly. "Well, the bad news is that Thorax cannot come right now."

"That is indeed disappointing." She replied, pouting.

"Buuut...Twilight is sending one of her students in his stead. Ocellus offered to come and help out."

"Ocellus...ah yes, I do remember her. She's a sweet girl."

"Twilight also says she's going to look into things for us. Perhaps we will find out more about this plan of Chrysalis' eventually. All is well, and she sends her regards."

"I thought you said that bug was taken care of!" Timbre spoke up, looking between the two sisters with suspicion.

"She is, Timbre. It just so happens that she decided to leave her daughter to me." Celestia said, a note of pride in her voice, the alicorn almost preening.

"That thing is Chrysalis' brood?" He barked. The rest of the ponies had stopped painting, looking over at the grub with worry.

"I fear I have said too much." Luna murmured, heaving a sigh. "Everypony!" She exclaimed, getting their attention. "Worry not! Chrysalis is indeed defeated. This grub may have been laid by her, but she is just a child, and we have nothing to fear from her. I'm sure that my sister's nurturing will help mold her into a harmonious and peaceful individual quite unlike her birth mother." This pronouncement had the desired effect, the others calming down, nodding and murmuring appreciatively.

"Yeah, well, I still have my eye on 'er. I'll believe it when I see it." Timbre said with a snort.

"You will see it, mark my words." Luna whispered to herself, sharing a glance with her sister. "Looks like our little grub will have some proving to do."

Author's Note

Put on your Sunday clothes there's lots of world out there, get out the brilliantine and dime cigars