Chapter 52

11-3-14, 7:00 A.M.

Unfortunately, it was a school morning, so Jeremy had to get up early. As his alarm went off, he quickly silenced it, and looked over at his three mares – Chrysalis’ ear twitched, but apart from that they hadn’t stirred. Celestia should’ve probably raised the sun by now, and Jeremy debated waking her – after all, surely the populace must be wondering why it was still night if Celestia usually kept to a strict 6-and-6 schedule for movement of the sun and moon? Smoothing his rumpled pajamas, he ventured out into the castle hallways to see if any guards were awake to give notice. Just as he stepped out the door, an orange twinkle caught his eye – oh yeah, his ring. It was sitting on the dresser drawer with the other three, and Jeremy briefly debated putting it on. He decided against it, and turned back towards the corridor – if he did wear it, he’d have to invent an alibi for any curious human out at campus.

His fears about the daily schedule were alleviated when he saw the day guards conducting business as usual.

“Hello, sir. Where is Princess Celestia?” one asked.

“Asleep,” Jeremy replied with a grin. “I decided to let her be – last night was exhausting on all of us.”

The guard wisely nodded, and went down the corridor in the opposite direction – whether to wake up Celestia anyway or leave her be, Jeremy didn’t know.

He slipped into his room, hoping that his roommate was either still asleep or already gone – to his partial dismay, he was still asleep. Quietly, so as not to disturb him, Jeremy got dressed, picked up his backpack and left.

Classes were as boring as ever – the only interesting event was his receiving a less-than-satisfactory score on a homework assignment. All throughout the day, however, he couldn’t stop repeating the mantra: He was married. As such, there was an unusual energy in his step, and he even smiled and dropped a nod for the military guards who were making their presence on campus well-known.

By the time he got back, Ethan was awake and eating, though he didn’t appear to enjoy the vegetarian cuisine.

“So, now what?” Ethan asked, as Jeremy leaned against a wall for rest – it had been quite a long walk.

“Well, now that I’m married… All that’s left to do is sort out that militant group,” Jeremy responded thoughtfully.

Ethan smirked. “And then, everyone lived happily ever after.”

Jeremy chuckled, and left him to his meal.

Celestia was once again overseeing day court, and Jeremy greeted her with a much more enthusiastic wave than normal – then again, that wasn’t saying much. Celestia smiled back before continuing her business, and Jeremy continued up the stairs to Celestia’s bedroom.

Inside he found Luna, still asleep, with Chrysalis nowhere to be found. Apparently, Luna was sleeping for an extra-long time in order to properly run tonight’s court – Jeremy was mildly impressed that she had slept for over 18 hours already. It occurred to Jeremy that Luna would probably want to wake up in her own bed, so he gently picked her up and made to leave. As he looked down at her sleeping form, he was reminded of the very first time they had met – although both had been covered in blood and sweat that time, it didn’t make the memory any less striking. Luna kicked a little as she shifted around in his embrace, and Jeremy smiled, gazing down at her in adoration as he reached out to open her room.

Entering, he was once again reminded that Luna didn’t keep her room nearly as clean as Celestia, instead preferring to clutter the place with all manner of books, papers and equipment. Tiptoeing around a stack of books that looked a few hundred years old, he gently laid Luna down on her own bed, tucking her in. Before he left, he wrote a quick note to make sure she knew he had moved her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. Jeremy softly closed the door, and headed out into the already wintry Canterlot day.

His office fared no better than Luna’s room, the worktables as cluttered as ever with half-finished models and improvements. Having nothing better to do, Jeremy messed around with them for a few hours, losing track of time as he soldered, programmed, and tested. A few hours later, he was tired but satisfied, and placed the finished devices on an as-of-yet unoccupied table.

Venturing into the hive, he was pleased to see that it was as lively as ever – no tickle attacks in sight. Changelings were even friendlier than usual, trotting up to him to nuzzle him as soon as he was spotted. Jeremy returned this with an embarrassed grin – did his marriage make all these changelings technically his kids now? Heading up to the rhythmically pulsing green globe that housed the nursery, he wasn’t surprised to find Chrysalis doing some caretaking of her own, letting the adorably tiny baby changelings play with her hair and gently hissing a lullaby. Taking a seat beside her, Jeremy picked a wriggler up and placed it in his lap, where it promptly latched onto his finger. Its fangs were too nubby to pierce his skin yet, so Jeremy simply felt like he was being pinched as the baby changeling fed off of his love. After a moment, Chrysalis looked over, and smiled as she picked up the changeling with her magic.

“Enough, little one – you’ve had your fill for today,” she scolded gently, and the wriggler grumbled something in their language as it slinked off.

Jeremy watched it go with a smile. “As adorable as ever, aren’t they?” he mused aloud.

Chrysalis smirked. “Now, if they’d stop biting strangers…”

Jeremy laughed. “So, am I all these changelings’ father-in-law now?” he asked.

Chrysalis waved a hoof in uncertainty. “…If that’s how you want to look at it, then sure,” she finally answered.

Jeremy shrugged. “Works for me,” he replied, and went back to watching the rest of the babies.

There was a spurt of green fire, and one transformed into a miniature of Chrysalis herself. Jeremy gave Chrysalis a surprised look, and she levitated over the changeling in question, nuzzling it and giving it a gentle nip with her fangs. “Look at you, transforming already! You’ll make a fine addition to the hive,” she cooed. Jeremy looked on in amusement.

From there, the conversation quickly turned to the usual small talk.

“So, I noticed you’ve stopped coughing so much,” Chrysalis commented.

Jeremy smirked. “Got medication for it – apparently the different pollens of Ohio or something got to me.”

Chrysalis chuckled. “I’m just wondering when you’re going to come down with one of our diseases,” she replied.

Jeremy chuckled, and shrugged. Then he considered this. “Judging by what’s happened in the past when a disease moved from one species to another, that’s probably actually something to be worried about. Hmm, I’ll bring it up later,” he decided.

Chrysalis hummed thoughtfully as a stray changeling hung onto her hair with its teeth. “Say, do you feel like going out for dinner?” she asked casually, standing up and using her magic to gently lower the baby changeling to the floor.

“Sounds good, where to?” Jeremy replied, standing up as well.

Chrysalis thought for a brief moment, then smiled. “How about the sandwich place on the other side of campus? If I remember right, the milkshakes were delicious.”

Jeremy smiled and nodded. “Sounds good, let’s go,” he declared, and the two exited the hive.

Hours later, they walked back through the portal, laughing nonchalantly as Chrysalis levitated along her shake.

“Did you really have to buy two?” Jeremy asked, still chuckling.

“One wasn’t enough!” Chrysalis retorted, and reluctantly set the drink down.

While Chrysalis left to quickly attend to her queenly duties, Jeremy took a moment to take care of his homework, which had unfortunately piled up quite a bit. By the time she came back, he was engrossed in physics, and hardly looked up as she approached.

“An entire alien planet to explore and visit, and you’re doing homework,” Chrysalis mocked. It was an often-shared joke between them, and Jeremy chuckled.

“My GPA isn’t going to go up by itself, you know,” he replied as usual.

Chrysalis took a seat beside him, and Jeremy began to explain what he was doing. It was oddly helpful to talk to someone while working, he had learned.

Half an hour later, a burly changeling walked into Chrysalis’ room. “Yes?” Chrysalis asked, business-like as ever when it came to her job as queen.

“Thought Jeremy would want to see this,” the drone grunted.

Curious, Jeremy walked outside, and looked around. The forest was as dark as ever, and nothing remotely interesting was in sight. The drone pointed up, snickering, and Jeremy followed its hoof, promptly blushing to the roots of his coppery hair. In the night sky, Luna had rearranged a few stars into a heart shape, and made these bright enough to be noticeable compared to the rest of the stars – no one who looked up at night could miss them.

“…Really?” Jeremy said, laughing in embarrassment. He was delighted, sure – but it was just so cliché.

He stood there for a moment, surveying the newly formed constellation, and was reminded that he hadn’t visited his other mares all day.

“It would appear Luna’s calling my name,” he jokingly remarked to Chrysalis, who had also come out to see what had happened.

She smirked. “Well, at least she’s not writing “Jeremy + Luna forever,” Chrysalis replied to his earlier thought.

Jeremy laughed. “I ship it,” he joked as he headed back to the portal.

The two princesses were waiting in the throne room, a smirk on Luna’s face. The throne itself had since been duplicated to accommodate Princess Luna's presence as well, the second massive chair placed right next to the first. “Didst thou take a look at the night sky?” Luna queried, an indulgent grin on her face.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, grinning. “For a thousand year old princess, you can be such a teenager sometimes,” he teased. Luna laughed, and Celestia stepped off her throne daintily, walking over to him. “Seriously, though – you two amaze me with how childlike you can act. Not that I’m complaining, it’s all kinds of fun, but aren’t you two supposed to be super mature or something?” Jeremy asked, half-serious.

Celestia smiled. “It’s not often we get to have fun like that – as you’re quite aware.” She motioned for him to follow, and he curiously did so, waving to Luna as they exited.

They wandered aimlessly through the gardens, discussing the statues and sculptures within. Finally, they reached a pause in the conversation, gazing up at Luna’s sky. “Hate to bring up a less pleasant subject, but any luck on figuring out a nonviolent way of getting rid of our unwanted friends?” Jeremy asked.

Princess Celestia frowned. “Unfortunately, no… It’s actually quite the political problem. I’m tempted to just reveal my true form to them and threaten them with incineration until they desisted, but we all know how that would end. Any news from Mary?” Jeremy shook his head, and they continued onwards.

Finally, to Jeremy’s surprise, they took a right turn and ended up back at the start, in front of the palace doors.

“That really is a maze, isn’t it?” Jeremy pondered, looking back at the hedges and trying to figure out where they had been.

Celestia stifled a giggle. “It’s helpful when we feel like getting away from things for a while – the pegasus guards have learned not to bother us when we’re out here.”

Jeremy smirked. “Wonder how many sudden teleportations that took them.” Celestia gave an amused snort of laughter, and they entered the throne room.

Jeremy took a seat by Luna as Celestia retired to bed upstairs.

“So, how’s business going?” he asked casually.

“Slow,” Luna answered, clearly bored. She looked over at him, sitting on the floor of the raised platform the thrones were on, and raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t thou be sitting next to us?”

Jeremy looked over. “What, you mean in Celestia’s throne? No way, that’s hers,” he answered confusedly.

Luna sighed. “Jeremy, it is a seat. It was meant to be sat upon.” She pointed a hoof at the throne beside her, and Jeremy cautiously got up and took a seat on Celestia’s throne. Unsurprisingly, it was extraordinarily comfortable – after all, Celestia was perched on this thing for hours on end. He looked down at the throne, half expecting it to burst into flames. “What didst thou think she was going to do to you?” Luna teased.

“Well, I was partially worried about that kind of thing, but mostly this just feels weird. Like I’m suddenly royalty, and now I have to pass judgements on the citizens from on high or something.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “We promise to take care of that… if it ever occurs tonight,” she grumbled. Jeremy chuckled, leaning back into the throne.

A few minutes later, Luna called over a royal night guard, and gave him a meaningful glance. The guard saluted and left, returning a few moments later with a stack of paperwork. Luna lifted the whole pile up to her eye level, gazing at the first paper with a practiced eye.

“Proposals,” she explained at Jeremy’s questioning gaze.

“Mind if I help?” he asked, and she perked up.

“Please do, we could use the assistance.” Jeremy accepted the bottom half of the paper stack, and began flicking through them.

“So, what’s the administrative process for this?” he asked. “Do these already have prior approval from somepony else, or are they freshly submitted?”

Luna used her magic to crumple up one particular page into a ball before answering. “Most are pre-sorted by a team of royal advisors, however, the ones submitted by royalty come straight to us. Unfortunately, the royalty often submit the most ridiculous proposals – we have been trying to convince our sister to change the policy so that they too have to obtain prior approval.” Jeremy grimaced.

“I’m guessing she says no because they’d put up a ruckus if the law was passed?” Luna nodded. He sighed, and went back to his stack of papers, setting some of the more amusing ones aside for later enjoyment.

Hours later, Jeremy finished his pile and stood up. “I better get to bed, I have classes starting at ten tomorrow,” he reminded her.

“Of course – and we thank thee for the assistance,” answered Luna. Jeremy nodded once, and headed for the portal to his home universe.

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