Celestia and Storming Winds were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their friend Chrysalis. Storming Winds gently nuzzled his wife's cheek with his muzzle as she used her magic to brush her mane. Looking at her swollen belly, she sighed contently as Storming placed a gentle wing over her belly, rubbing her stomach. Celestia closed her eyes, saying to her husband softly, “Our foal will be strong, just like their father is. Strong and wise.”

“Yes, I believe you are right, my dear.” Storming sighed, helping his wife to her hooves as he continued, “I can’t believe we have not seen Chrysalis in over twenty years. I wonder what she's been doing all this time?”

“I would like to know--” Celestia stopped when she felt her baby kick. Looking down, she laid her front hoof over her belly as she continued, “Eh, I see our little one wants to know, as well.”

Storming chuckled, saying as he walked to the bedchamber door, "I'm not surprised. We've talked about her quite a bit, so I'm sure our foal is excited to meet her."

Celestia came up behind him, again feeling her little one kick inside her. “Oof. I swear, our little one is just as lively as their father is.” Celestia looked up and smiled, continuing, “Now, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Let's get some food before Chrysalis gets here.”

The two royals walked side-by-side. Celestia smiled warmly as they passed a guard, who saluted both of them. Looking to him, she said to him gently, “Please have the royal sous chef cook something for both myself and my husband. I think, with it being such a beautiful day, we will dine in the royal garden today.”

“Yes, Your Highness, right away. Shall I tell the new chef to prepare your normal seat in the garden, or would Her Highness prefer to sit by the pond to watch the fish and listen to the birds?”

"The usual is fine, thank you," Celestia said. As the guard trotted off, the royals headed further down the hallway, looking at all the different stained-glass windows. Throughout the journey, Celestia couldn't help but notice that Storming Winds had a small smirk on his face, as though he were thinking of something funny. Celestia was confused, but she stayed silent.

They stopped in front of one window that was covered up with a banner that bore the emblems of Celestia's and Storming Winds's cutie marks. The marks--Celestia’s sun and Storming Winds's black cloud with a yellow lightning bolt jutting towards the right, a silver cyclone making up the base of the cloud--shown brightly in the torch-lit hallway. Celestia smiled when she looked up at the window, then continued to walk towards the royal gardens with her husband in tow. Getting there a few moments later, both were surprised to see a little filly that looked like Queen Chrysalis sitting at a table, playing with a ladybug.

“Why, hello there, Your Highnesses,” A soft, sweet-honey voice came from the right. “It is good to see you both today, and oh, what a fine day it is.”

Celestia looked around, yet saw nopony in sight. She looked to Storming Winds, who simply shrugged. Walking up to the little filly, Celestia used her magic to pull out a chair in front of her, noticing right away that the little filly paid no attention to her, too busy staring at the ladybug in front of her. Celestia sat down, saying to her little guest gently, “What is your name, little one?”

“Mommy told me never to speak to strange ponies,” the filly replied, not taking her eyes off of the ladybug.

“Ah, I see. Well, your mother is right. You shouldn’t speak to ponies you don’t know. So, how about I tell you my name, then you tell me your name?”

“Celestia, her name is Crystalis, and she is six years old,” the sweet-honey voice said, and again, Celestia looked around yet saw nopony in sight. “She is my daughter. I have brought her here to meet you both. I thought it would be good for her to meet somepony that's a good friend of mine.”

“Okay, Storming, I am going to go lie down. I think being pregnant with our first baby is causing me to hear things.”

Storming Winds looked to his wife, then chuckled slightly, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Crystalis. The ladybug flew up onto her snout, then flew away. “Awww, I was hoping she would stay and tea with me and Mommy,” the little filly whined playfully. Celestia, confused, said to Crystalis, “I, uh, would love to have tea with your mother, little one, but I don’t see her.”

Smiling, Crystalis looked up, then pointed her right hoof towards a small bush just behind Celestia as she giggled out, “Mommy is over there.” Celestia looked behind her, only to see a bush with purple flowers on it and nothing more. Turning back, she said with a slight smile on her face, “You have a wonderful imagination, Cry--”

“But I am here, Celestia. Come see for yourself.” Celestia’s eyes went wide when she heard Chrysalis’s voice. Looking back, she again only saw the bush and nothing else. “Okay, I need to cut down on the mustard and fish sandwiches before bed. This is the third time I've heard Chrysalis's voice, yet I still do not see her.”

Chrysalis stepped out from the bush as Celestia turned to face her husband, the latter unaware of the former's presence. Just as Celestia was about to say something, she heard a soft but sweet “Boo” from behind her, causing her to jump and take to the air. Chrysalis looked up and grinned widely to her friend as the alicorn landed safely back on the ground. Holding a hoof over her chest, Celestia said in a slightly shaking voice, “Chrysalis, you scared me half to death! Don’t do that!” Seeing a smirk on her husband's face, Celestia playfully frowned. “You knew about this all along, didn’t you, Storming Winds.”

Crystalis fell over laughing as Storming Winds also laughed, saying “Yes, honey, I knew Chrysalis was in the castle, but I wanted to surprise you, since you have not seen her since your time in Ponyville.”

Shaking her head, Celestia walked back over to the table and sat down, grumbling, “Alright, well, if you two are done playing jokes on me, I would like to get to know your daughter, Your Majesty.”

“Better watch out for Miss Cranky Wings, Storming Winds. She might turn you into a toad,” Chrysalis said jokingly as she took a seat with her daughter in her lap. “Now, as I was trying to say earlier, this is my daughter Crystalis. She's eight years old. As for why I wanted her to meet you, well, I need your help, Celestia.”

“What can I do to help you, Your Majesty?”

“I need you to watch my daughter for me while I go on a very dangerous and important diplomatic mission to the dragon kingdom. One of the dragons has taken it upon himself to seize my land and claim it as his own. I would prefer to avoid war if I can, so I've asked for an audience with the king of the dragons. But, with this being as difficult as it might be and as dangerous as it is, I don’t want to take my daughter. Please, will you watch her for me while I go to the dragons in the hopes of preventing a war?”

“Of course I will take care of her for you. In fact, I would like to take her to Crystal Rigde. That way, you won’t be that far away from her, only a few hours by flight.”

Standing up, Chrysalis nodded, then looked at her daughter, saying to her gently as she nuzzled her gently, “You be good for Aunty Celestia, my little flower. Mommy will be back soon.”

“Alright, Mommy. Can I play my flute while you're gone? I wanna show Aunty Celestia how good I am.”

“Of course, little flower. Now, I need to go.” Chrysalis unfurled her wings. Taking to the air, she looked back, at Celestia who looked up at her.

“She’ll be good for you. I promise. I'll come to Crystal Ridge in a few hours to pick her up, Your Highness.”

Storming Winds and Celestia waved their goodbyes to Chrysalis before the two headed inside with Crystalis in tow, the filly laughing and giggling as she skipped about. Celestia smiled, saying, “I can’t wait to see our own little one do that, Storming.” Turning to face him, she continued, “How about you stay here? I'll take her to Crystal Ridge. We can see Foal Mountain, and from there, we can see the entire valley. I think it might do her good to see it.”

“I agree with you, my dear. While I would like to go with you, I have a mission of my own to attend to, so you two go and have some fun.”
Celestia nodded, walking over to Crystalis and saying to her gently, “Hey, Crystalis, how would you like to see Mount Foal today before we go see Crystal Ridge?”

“Yeah, I wanna see that!” The little filly beamed a big smile. “When I grow up, I wanna see everything in Equestria!”

“Really? That's a lot for a little filly to want to see.” Taking Crystalis up in her wings, Celestia placed the little filly onto her back as she continued, “Alright, you hold on. I'll carry you to my chariot, then we can take off.”

“WEEEEEE!” Crystalis squealed as Celestia walked down the hallway towards her chariot. “This is fun!”

A few hours later, the two were standing on a cliff overlooking a vast, green valley. Crystalis cooed in delight when she saw how green and beautiful the valley was. Celestia stared in just as much awe as the little filly next to her did. On the way back down from the mountain towards where they had left the chariot and three of Celestia’s royal guards, the two heard a loud, mournful howl. Crystalis’s ears perked up as she excitedly said, “Timber, is that you?” Before Celestia could stop her, the little filly ran forward, Celestia trying to run after her.

Crystalis barreled down the unstable path. Losing her footing, she tripped and tumbled screaming over the cliff's edge. Celestia quickly used her magic, but to her horror, she completely missed the little filly and was forced to watch her fall out of sight. Unfurling her wings, Celestia dove down after the scared filly, trying desperately to catch up to her. Again, she used her magic, this time catching Crystalis in her magic.
Before Celestia could celebrate, she heard a loud screech from her right. Her eyes went wide when she saw a dragon flying right towards her. She thought quickly and prepared to teleport, but the dragon was flying far faster than she expected, and with a single, powerful swing of its claws, it slammed Celestia into the mountainside. The collision with the mountain caused Celestia to lose hold of her magic as she fought a losing battle with unconsciousness. The last thing Celestia saw before passing out was Crystalis falling to her death.

Waking up a few hours later and seeing that the dragon was gone, Celestia looked around, then dove off the cliff, again landing in the valley below. Using her magic to heal her wounds, Celestia looked around as she called out for Crystalis, getting no reply each time she called. It only took her a few hours to find the lifeless body of the little filly, fully broken from her fall off the cliff.

Before Celestia could do anything, she heard from above her, “Celestia what hap--” Chrysalis landed in front of her daughter's lifeless body, her eyes going wide when she saw the wreck of her daughter's lifeless body in front of her. Chrysalis knelt before the body and said, “Crystalis, speak to me! Please!”

Celestia said, “Chrysalis, I--”

“What have you done?” Chrysalis stepped forward, nuzzling her daughter. As tears began to fall down her cheeks, she looked up at Celestia, a look the pure hate on her face as she screamed, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Celestia stepped back, her own eyes going wide from fear and shock of what she was being accused of.

“Chrysalis, I didn’t do this. I--”

Before Celestia could finish her sentence, Chrysalis fired her magic at Celestia, blasting her through several trees and knocking her unconscious once more. Taking her daughter's lifeless body in her magic, Chrysalis took to the air, saying as she wept for her daughter, “I will do whatever it takes to avenge your death, my precious, little flower. I will have blood for blood.”

---

Celestia was lying in bed, finally relaxing after the birthing. Though part of her was ecstatic about finally giving birth--and to twins, no less!--another part of her kept thinking about Crystalis's death that fateful day several months ago.

Storming Winds walked into the room, a wet towel in his hoof. He walked over to her and gently pressed the towel to her forehead. Celestia took little comfort in his gentle touch, saying weakly, “The foals. Are they alright?”

“Yes, my wife. Our daughters are healthy and safe. You just sleep. I will take care of everything.” Turning the guards that stood by her bedside, he continued, “Let nopony enter here until further notice.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” one guard stated while he saluted Storming Winds.

“What about your daughters, Your Highness? They may be healthy now, but they both need their mother. Shall I send for a nurse to tend to them?” the other asked with a concerned look.

“Yes, send for Gold Heart. She will help us.”

The guards left, and Storming Winds spent the rest of the day tending to royal business and his newborn daughters, while Celestia slept fitfully, unable to escape the tragedy of Chrystalis's death even in the land of dreams.

Next Chapter: A Deal with the Dazzlings (Edited by and Titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 35 Minutes