Flipping through page after page, going through book after book, Celestia found little information on the care of human babies. It made sense, in a twisted way. As most humans were born into slavery, the babies would rarely be treated properly. Writing books on that topic would be pointless. The scant few free humans would also have no reason to write books on something that could easily be passed down by word of mouth.
With a sigh, Celestia slammed the book shut. She walked back to the side of her adopted son, currently feeding from a small bottle full of warm milk. Thankfully, Celestia at least knew that humans were mammals, the young of which feed on milk from their mothers.
Like a lightning bolt, an idea struck her mind. Due to their fingers, humans were great for jobs that required dexterity. They had the fine control of unicorns combined with the ability to cook, previously possessed only by earth ponies. Several years back, the castle had brought in some humans to help with the cooking, speeding things up enormously. If she could ask for one of them to help raise the child...
Shaking her head, Celestia decided it was still too risky to show Leo to anyone. The outrage that would come with the adoption of a human into the royal family was something she wasn't ready to deal with yet. For now, she'd just have to raise the baby as well as she could on her own. Yes, keeping it a secret wou-
"Princess, I have those extra sheets you req..."
Both maid and princess eyes widened in shock, neither side saying a word. Sometimes, even the best laid plans go awry.
"I suppose I have some explaining to do..."
"... and, as such, I have decided to adopt Leo and raise him as my own."
The entire castle staff was speechless. After the blunder with the maid, Celestia knew that the truth had to be revealed. And revealed it was, but not to the public. She'd even brought little Leo with her to the reveal, his sleeping form identifiable on the podium.
Concluding her speech, she added, "I hope that you will treat him as you might treat me. No matter the species, we all deserve kindness. However, if some of you would wish to leave because of this, I'd understand."
At first, nobody dared speak. After what seemed like a silent eternity, a few disbelieving whispers and glances we're exchanged amongst some of the ponies. Celestia's hope started to fall much like her sun in the afternoon.
When all seemed lost, the same maid who had walked into Celestia's bedroom stood up. Finally, Celestia recognized her. She was one of the youngest maids in the staff, coming from a long family of servants who'd worked in the Canterlot Castle for as long as it had existed.
"Princess! I think... I think Leo is a wonderful addition to the royal family! My family has stood by your side for as long as we have existed, and that won't change with me. I'll support any decision you make!"
Her courage having been depleted, the maid quickly ducked out of sight, attempting to hide from the many pairs of eyes in the room. A quiet muttering of approval spread through the room.
One of the older and grizzlier guards nodded his head, walking to the front of the guards to address them.
"She's right! Who are we to judge the Princess? Without her, I'd be out on the streets! Three cheers for Prince Leo, I say!"
The guard's emotional urges rallying the room, all broke out into cheering for the new human prince. Even those who didn't like humans much found themselves swept into the mood and cheered. While the ponies weren't paying attention, a single tear of combined relief and gratitude slid down Celestia's cheek. Leo was awakened by all of the yelling, loudly crying in an attempt at lowering the noise level. The servants all lined up, each taking a closer look at their new prince while he continued to cry.
Eventually, the Princess picked up the baby, his tears ending as soon as his grey eyes met Celestia's magenta ones. Leo giggled, one hand absently reaching up and grabbing some of Celestia's dazzling mane. The translucent strands slid out of his hand, rejoining the others.
Leo's future seemingly secured, Celestia left the applauding crowd, headed to her room. Thankfully, the ponies at Canterlot Castle had been much kinder and more tolerant of humans than most.
Seven years passed. As no one was quite certain of Leo's true age, his birthday was celebrated on the anniversary of the day he had been found. In seven years, Leo had grown into a healthy and happy boy, constantly finding ways of getting himself into trouble. However, there was one golden rule which he'd never dare break: Don't leave the castle.
Currently, Leo was secretly watching the guards train. They were out in the courtyard, as they always were. A few months back, Leo had found some sturdy vines growing underneath his window. They lead down to the top of a terrace, where Leo would sit nearly every day and observe the guards train. The deadly clash of steel on steel fascinated him, much to his mother's distress.
Hearing several loud knocks on his door as well as a feminine voice calling out for him, Leo scrambled back up the vines and into his room. He opened the intricate door and his pegasus nanny, Golden Feather, entered.
"Leo! What took you so long? Such an undisciplined child! ..."
While she seemed angry, Leo simply smiled and gave her a hug. Her angry facade melted away, and she reciprocated the smile.
"You always see right through me, don't you?" she said while shaking her head and sighing. "Your mother is leaving on another diplomatic trip to the Griffin Kingdoms. She's instructed me to take good care of you while she's gone."
Leo pouted, hating the fact that his mother had to leave again. As she was constantly busy as the ruler of a country, he already didn't get too spend too much time with her.
"Goldie, when is mom leaving?"
"In an hour, I'm afraid. Anyways, tomorrow we-"
While Golden Feather continued talking about his schedule for the next week, Leo formulated a plan to see his mother one last time before she left. While it had always been forbidden to him, he would sneak out of the castle and find Celestia. None of the possible dangers of his poorly thought out plan bothered him, if he even realized any of them to begin with.
Having finished her lecture, Golden Feather took a quick glance out the window.
"My, my! It's about time for a bath and then bed! The time sure flies..."
She closed the window, turning back around to face Leo.
"I trust that you can handle bathing by yourself? You are a big boy now, aren't you?"
Leo assured her that he could handle it, and bid her a good night. Once she had left, he opened the window again and prepared to descend down the vines.
"Going somewhere?"
Startled, Leo whipped around to find Princess Celestia standing in the doorway.
"Mom!"
He ran up and gave her a big hug, which she returned.
"I wanted to see you before you left... I'm sorry."
Celestia chuckled at her son's devotion.
"Did you really think I'd leave without coming to see my favorite son first?"
Leo gave her an annoyed look and dryly said, "I'm your only son..."
Feigning surprise, Celestia responded, "Oh! Is that how it was?"
The two continued the cycle of teasing until Celestia knew she had to go. While Leo was sad to see her leave, he knew it would only be for a short while. After all, she'd promised to take him out of the castle soon. As scary as Canterlot seemed, excitement drowned out any fear Leo might've had of the outside world.
If only he knew how it truly was.
Author's Note
Baby Leo is growing up!
I'm really sorry about my long absence, guys. Various things came up and I completely forgot about this story. Now, however, I'm back in action! Raawr!
Next episode, we'll be introduced to a very special character! Who could it be?!?
The prologue will be finished soon, and we'll be moving on to the juicy story.
Ta-ta for now!
Celestia shivered, taking a brief moment to send more magic to her horn to increase the power of her warming spell. Her recent diplomatic mission to the Griffin Kingdom had gone well, well worth standing the cold. Of course, Celestia wouldn't have had to stand the cold if she had sent a diplomat to deal with the Griffin King, but he was slow to trust and refused to speak with any pony other than Celestia herself.
Currently, Celestia was on board a carriage drawn by several burly Earth pony guards. The cold climate of the Griffin Kingdom made flight extremely uncomfortable for Pegasi, limiting the effectiveness of a flying chariot. Rather than subject her Pegasi guards to that, Celestia had opted for ground travel.
When the carriage came to a sudden, grinding halt, Celestia almost shot out of her seat. There were scant few reasons that the carriage would be forced to stop, and she feared the worst.
Calling out to one of the guards, she asked, "What happened? Why are we stopped?"
The guard snorted in disgust.
"There appears to be a human blocking the road, Princess. Nothing to worry about. We'll get her out of the way soon."
One of her brows arched in curiosity, Celestia pondered on why a human would be in the Griffin Kingdom. The climate made life terrible for anything not used to extreme cold, to which humans obviously weren't. Adding insult to injury, the Griffins have, historically, been very antagonistic towards humans. Their society considered slaves as the very bottom rung of society, and as the whole human race had been enslaved...
Thinking about the word "enslaved" made Celestia feel ashamed. For the past four hundred years, the only emotion she could feel when looking at a human was shame. As hard as she had tried to convince the scared pony population and aristocracy that nothing deserves the fate of slavery, she had ultimately failed. While it was an act of self-defense, it was a misguided act of self-defense.
Deciding that she should check on the human, Celestia stepped out of the carriage. The guard whom Celestia had previously spoken with urged her to go back inside, but she paid him no heed.
She gazed out in front of the carriage, spotting the human laying in the snow around fifty meters in front of her. Oddly enough, he was dressed in minimal clothing, a bundle of clothes pressed to his chest. Obviously, something was amiss.
Celestia quickly made her way over to the side of the human, asking him what they were doing out in the cold.
The human lifted his head, revealing that he was actually a she. She was trembling, her lips blue and skin pale. The cold was taking its toll on the woman, and if she didn't get help fast, she would die.
Her eyes stared into Celestia's, quivering slightly as they started to water.
"Please..."
Only able to choke out one word, she slowly sat up and presented the bundle of clothing to Celestia.
Shaking her head, Celestia tried to help the human onto her knees.
"That can wait. We have to get you help."
Almost succeeding to stand up, the woman weakly smiled at Celestia before collapsing back down.
"No... Too late... for me. Please..."
The words visually paining her, she once again presented the bundle of clothing to Celestia. Celestia knew that it was futile to try and help her now, but she still wanted to carry out her last request.
Right before Celestia took the bundle from her hands, some of the clothes parted and she saw what was inside: a baby. It appeared to be asleep, and after a quick check, warm as well.
Casting a sad gaze downward, Celestia watched life finally slip away from the mysterious woman as she collapsed down for the last time.
Ordering her guards to leave the carriage and bury the human, Celestia went back inside and sat down on her large, plush seat. The baby woke up, looking up at Celestia as if expecting something. Now that they were open, Celestia got a look at the baby's eyes. They were stone grey with small streaks of blue, contrasting with the sparse black hair that covered its head.
Realizing that she didn't even know the baby's gender, she quickly checked inside the bundle. One blush later, she realized the baby had a bundle of its own. A boy, it seems.
"Now what should I do with you...?"
The baby seemed to frown, as if he didn't understand the question. A horrible thought crossed Celestia's mind as she stared into the baby's green eyes.
If she gave the baby away to an official, they'd most likely sell it into the slave market. The slavers would train him from his childhood, completely ruining any chances the little one had of being a kid. He'd be sold off as soon as possible, working at a mine or farm for the rest of his life.
Brows furrowed with determination, she was set on not letting that happen. If she couldn't save the whole race, at least she could save this one. It wouldn't atone for her failure, but it'd be a start. There would be many risks, but it didn't matter to her. The dying woman didn't just give Celestia a baby; she gave Celestia a chance.
Smiling at the baby, Celestia lightly rocked it back and forth.
"I don't even know if you have a name. Would you mind if I named you?"
She took the baby's smile as an affirmation, and began thinking of possible names. Human names tend to not have much meaning behind them, instead, humans are named after historical/famous figures or family members. Sadly, Celestia knew very little of either when it came to the grey-eyed infant she was holding. There was only one human she knew by name: Leonidas, the leader of the first generation of humans.
"I think I'll call you... Leo. Is that okay?"
A brief moment later, baby Leo's giggling spread through the carriage, warming Celestia's heart. For the first time in hundreds of years, Celestia felt tears streak down her face, dripping onto the ground. When she had been forced to banish Luna, she'd cried for many days. However, one cannot seem vulnerable for so long. Eventually, Celestia had been forced to steel her heart, casting away the loneliness and grief that came with banishing one's own sister - and very possibly, only friend as well. The baby had lowered her defenses, cracked the floodgate which held her emotions at bay. Several tears later, they all came pouring forth as the floodgate collapsed.
Finally, after so much time alone, she had something of a family again. Although Luna could never be replaced, Leo could certainly help fill the gap in her heart.
Her tears and sniffles ending, Celestia began to hum a light melody to the child. Her tune combined with the light rocking motion soon put the young child to sleep, lightly yawning before curling up in the clothing.
