Chapter 63

2-6-15, 7:57 P.M.

After their rather emotional conversation, Jeremy had agreed to lay low on Earth for a while longer, provided that they kept him updated on events on their end. To their credit, his wives had made very sure to keep their word: He received texts almost every night detailing every new exploit the nobles were attempting in their efforts to prevent his family from having kids. Some were comically easy for Celestia and Luna to defeat, but some had proved harder to outwit, to the point where the issue had taken over the Day and Night Courts.

“We haven’t seen a debate this popular since Twilight became a Princess,” read one text from Luna.

“This reminds me of how Courts used to go before Luna returned,” another from Celestia went.

Jeremy usually responded sympathetically, or with his own ideas on how to combat whatever anti-coupling legislation they were trying to push through.

Meanwhile, he was going through his second semester of college. So far, it had been once again rather uneventful, though he was starting to explore a bit more. To occupy himself while his wives were away, he had buried himself in his studies. He was just finishing up his physics homework when, to his surprise, Queen Chrysalis walked through the portal in the closet, peeking out to make sure his roommate wasn’t there before opening the door.

“Hey, didn’t expect you. What’s up?” Jeremy asked.

Chrysalis grinned. “Well… We were talking, and the other two agreed that since I don’t play a part in Equestrian politics, I was free to visit you and keep you company.”

Jeremy leaned back, stretching out and relaxing. “That sounds great, actually.” He gestured for Chrysalis to join him on the bed, and she gladly did so, her wings buzzing quietly as she flew up onto it.

As Jeremy got on, the bed squeaked in protest, and Chrysalis giggled. “Gaining some weight?” she taunted.

Jeremy grinned. “I think it was a delayed reaction from your getting on, actually,” he retorted, and Chrysalis laughed.

With their usual banter done for the moment, the two moved on to Jeremy’s favorite activity – cuddling. He ran a finger along Chrysalis’ ear as they lay together on the bed, and she quivered slightly.

“Oh… those fingers of yours… I missed those,” she quietly mumbled.

Jeremy laughed, moving his hand along her neck before he started rubbing her belly. “So… what did the hive say when you said we were going to have kids?”

Chrysalis stifled her own soft laughter. “They asked if they could ‘help’.” Jeremy burst into barely restrained giggles, practically vibrating with suppressed laughter.

“And what’d you say to that?” Jeremy asked, still chuckling slightly.

Chrysalis turned to face him. “I said that you were mine… and I, yours,” she answered. Jeremy gave out a soft “aww” in response.

They lay there for a moment longer, saying nothing, until a scream interrupted them, causing Jeremy to bolt upright.

“That sounded like Luna,” he declared, and Chrysalis pushed him back down onto the bed.

“I’m very sorry, but you’re going to have to trust in me. We can’t afford you making things worse, and I promise to report back to you,” she hurriedly replied.

Jeremy looked at her for a second while his internal rational side fought his emotional one, finally barely winning. “…Okay. Be back soon?” he pleaded, and Chrysalis grimly nodded, speeding off with a buzz of her wings.

She was back just a few minutes later, trying to hide a grin. Jeremy looked up as soon as she arrived, wondering what her expression was about as she flew right back into bed with him.

“…So?” he asked.

Startled, Chrysalis looked up at him guiltily. “Right, right. Um… How do I say this…?” she pondered.

Finally, after some prolonged giggling, she appeared to have come up with an answer. “So, Princess Luna was answering questions from that same group of protesters, you know the ones…” she began. Jeremy nodded. “And, one of them called you a ‘royal pet’, and she… well, how does it go on Earth? ‘Flipped a table?’” she finished, looking at him for confirmation.

“Yeah, that’s the correct phrase, I think,” Jeremy answered.

Chrysalis smiled, pleased at having gotten it right. “Anyway, that’s why she screamed – it was actually “how dare you”, but it got muffled from this distance.”

Jeremy nodded once in dawning comprehension. Chrysalis chuckled for a moment before continuing. “As for the noble… he’s been dismissed from the court, for a very long time if he’s lucky.”

Jeremy smiled, but then frowned. “But wouldn’t that be bad for Luna’s reputation?” he asked.

Chrysalis shook her head. “Even the other nobles knew he had gone a step too far – from what Luna told me after the fact, the others immediately distanced themselves from him.”

Jeremy laughed. “Point for us, then,” he concluded.

With that, they went right back to cuddling, Chrysalis leaning into his forearm and her wings softly twitching as she gave out a hum of contentment.

“Ah… this is the life,” she muttered softly, fangs gently pressing into his forearm.

“Wait ‘til I’m out of college,” Jeremy sighed.

Chrysalis laughed. “By then you’ll be a father…”

Jeremy looked down at her, nestled perfectly in front of him, the fluorescent light creating an iridescent sheen on her dark gray carapace and her teal hair, and was almost compelled to shed a single manly tear at her beauty. Instead, he buried his face in her hair, taking care to avoid her horn.

“Can’t wait,” he mumbled, curling up around her, and Chrysalis looked up at him in surprise before smiling herself.

“I love you,” she whispered, and Jeremy circled a finger around the green rings that lined her belly.

“I love you too,” he whispered in return, and kissed her on the forehead. His only regret about these moments was that they didn’t happen more often.

It was a full hour before Chrysalis shifted and wriggled out of his grip, and Jeremy sat up as he rubbed the lethargy out of his eyes.

“We need to do that more often…” Chrysalis remarked, stretching as Jeremy hopped off the bed.

“Yeah, that would be nice…” Jeremy noted.

“You know what? I used to think of love as what you did before: Acts of heroism, the valiant knight in shining armor,” Chrysalis mused. “But now… I think love is quieter than that. Like… like a soft, small flame, instead of a sudden explosion…” she trailed off. “Sorry, I’m no poet,” Chrysalis apologized.

Jeremy smiled. “No, that was great. It reminded me of an old human saying: The candle that burns twice as bright lasts half as long.”

Chrysalis grinned. “That was it! I heard that somewhere before…”

Jeremy stepped out for a moment to brush his teeth, eyes still half-lidded from sleepiness and contentment. When he came back, Chrysalis was waiting, the door to the portal open.

“Come see me again sometime soon?” Jeremy asked, trying not to sound like he was begging.

“As soon as I can,” Chrysalis promised.

With that, they shared a quick kiss and Chrysalis slowly stepped through the portal, Jeremy reluctantly closing the door behind her.

With that, he turned off the lights and jumped into bed once more – but now something felt wrong. With Chrysalis absent, he felt alone in his bed – the closest Jeremy could liken the feeling to was being a single object in a container that should normally contain hundreds. As he ruminated about this some more, it occurred to Jeremy that he was lonely – and that Chrysalis’ visit, instead of rectifying that situation, had simply made it worse. Like an addict, he was now suffering from withdrawal – but instead of a drug or food, his cravings were of the sight, and touch of his wives. Grumbling, Jeremy rolled over in the dark.

As he tried to ignore this feeling, he became aware of that peculiar mental separation that connotated projected feelings from one or more of his wives – it had been hard to discern earlier, because it was the exact same feeling as he had been having. Jeremy would have telepathically replied, but he didn’t know what to say. So, instead, he called up a memory – their first night together as a group of four, and the resulting splash fight in the royal bath. Instantly, a smile was brought to his face as the happy memories played out in his mind, and the subtle shifting of his wives’ emotions told him that they too were reliving that joyful night. Jeremy, having successfully distracted himself, drifted off to sleep…

2-10-15, 9:17 A.M.

All had been quiet on the Equestrian front – this was not for lack of response, as Celestia and Luna had assured him that the fervor over their having children had died down some. Celestia had been successful in convincing her subjects of the merits of the notion, despite the efforts of the nobles – who were also beginning to come around. Luna, meanwhile, had set the cause back slightly by her outburst – as Jeremy predicted, the nobles turned around and made this a bigger deal than it should have been. A few words from Luna made them reconsider, and Jeremy had to appreciate the effectiveness of her public speech skills.

Speaking of which, he’d only found out rather recently that Luna had actually learned to drop her archaic mode of speech in public quite some time ago, in favor of modern parlance. Celestia assured him that her using her customary language around him was to be taken as a sign of her comfort more than anything else, as she had apparently professed to be relieved to be able to speak ‘normally’ whenever she was around him without fear of ridicule. Jeremy, as per usual, sent her a quick cutesy text about this when next he got the chance, and Luna responded with a blushing comment about how ‘he needed to stop, or she’d come over there and make him stop’. Jeremy merely laughed as he read the response, before setting out for classes.

Classes themselves were as boring as ever this semester, with the only interesting one being a design course in materials science. To Jeremy, it was not much more than an excuse to play around with 3D drawing software, though he did enjoy the class and instructor. Midway through the class, he received a text, and pulled out his phone to answer it. The teacher didn’t object – it was a very informal class, and Jeremy was doing just fine on his work.

The text was from Celestia, and consisted of one short sentence: “Please come over here when you get the chance”. Jeremy was mildly concerned by this, but if they weren’t willing to interrupt his classes, then it couldn’t be all that critical. Mentally shrugging, he typed a quick response and went back to his work.

It was a few hours later before he went over to Equestria, cautiously stepping through the portal. Some guards looked at him, startled, and he shrugged. “Got a message from Celestia,” he said by way of explanation, and after some hesitation they let him through.

Princess Celestia was waiting, as usual, in the throne room, and greeted him with a friendly smile, which he returned.

“Nice to be back,” he mentioned, looking around. Celestia awkwardly chuckled, before gesturing him over.

“Well, the nobles have agreed to allow us children – after we promised that the child wouldn’t turn out like Tirek, would be a full-blooded pony, et cetera, et cetera.”

Jeremy gave a genuine smile. “That’s good news! So, when do we… get started?” he asked, trying not to laugh at his own innuendo.

Princess Celestia chuckled. “Why don’t we discuss that in a less public area?” she gently reminded him, and Jeremy blushed with embarrassment. Celestia got up off her throne, daintily stepping down the stairs before leading him to her private room.

Luna was waiting there, looking as though she had gotten up far too early – which, Jeremy supposed, she had. To his mild surprise, Queen Chrysalis was also present, looking apologetic.

“Sorry I couldn’t see you over the weekend, something came up,” she informed him, eyes downcast.

Jeremy waved a hand in dismissal. “Makes sense.”

With that, the four took seats around the floor in a circle, and Jeremy was pleasantly reminded of earlier times.

“So, I just informed Jeremy of the recent breakthrough, and now we’re here to discuss when and how this is going to take place,” Celestia announced.

Chrysalis chuckled. “Personally, I think we should just get it over with, already,” she purred, licking her lips as she stared at Jeremy. Jeremy repressed a giggle at her expression. Princess Luna appeared to be deep in thought, speaking only after a moment of group silence.

“What about this weekend?” she asked. Jeremy nodded.

“As usual, that works. Any objections?” he asked, and the other two shook their heads. “So, what about transforming me into a pony – is that all worked out?” he asked curiously.

Celestia simply shrugged. “We think we have everything down, but we’d have to try it out first. I’d ask Twilight, as she is far more capable and meticulous than I, but…” Celestia trailed off, blushing.

Jeremy laughed. “Your student’s going to have to know eventually,” he reminded her, and Luna chuckled.

“Tis’ what we said, ‘Tia. She’s a fully grown mare, after all,” Luna added.

Celestia looked away, only blushing harder. “Fine, I’ll ask. I suppose a visit is in order, at any rate – it’s been quite some time since we’ve last seen each other,” Celestia gave in.

“Anything else to discuss?” Jeremy asked. The three mares shook their heads, and Jeremy nodded. “Then it’s settled.”

He was about to say something else, but was promptly tossed on the nearby bed by Celestia’s magic. After taking a second to recover, he propped himself up on his elbows and surveyed Celestia.

“Alright, what is it?” he asked.

Celestia tackled him so that she was also on the bed, wings spread out before wrapping themselves around him protectively.

“Chrysalis got hours of cuddling. I want hours of cuddling,” Celestia declared excitedly.

Jeremy had to refrain from bursting out laughing as he wrapped an arm around her, Luna and Chrysalis watching before Chrysalis turned away in mock disgust.

“Come on, Moony,” Chrysalis flatly stated. “Maybe there’s something to do over at the hive.”

With that, the other two left Jeremy and Celestia to their own devices.

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