Celestia paced back and forth in her throne room while Luna, Anon, Twilight, and Javelin all stood around the throne, each with similar thoughts weighing heavily on their minds. After making her thirtieth pass, Celestia finally came to a pause and turned to her sister. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced by the younger alicorn.

"No." Luna stated, making Celestia frown.

"You haven't even heard what I was going to say." She replied.

"I don't need to hear anything you have to say. The fact that you're even considering helping her is ridiculous." Luna sat on her haunches and crossed her hooves, a move that was made much more difficult due to her baby bump all but blocking her hindlegs from extending.

"I'm not considering helping her, I'm considering helping her foals and ensuring they don't starve to death." Celestia corrected, giving her sister a huff.

"You realize that by extension, you're still helping her, right?" Luna deadpanned.

"Well what would you have me do? Let thousands of infants die?" Celestia exasperatedly questioned, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle.

"Chrysalis knew what she started when she invaded and impersonated Cadence. If her subjects are the ones that suffer for it, then that's her fault, not ours. You're asking me to support feeding our own ponies to the very group that invaded and almost enslaved us all just a year ago!" Luna snapped, a sudden fire in her eyes.

Celestia sighed, "It's not that simple and even if it was, those foals are innocent. They can't help what they are. We still know so little about changelings that for all we know, with some minor mentoring and care, they could be weaned off of their parasitic nature entirely. For all we know, changelings could learn to feed off of a shared love between friends and not steal it from unsuspecting ponies." She rebutted.

Luna scoffed, "Oh yes, make friends with the changelings. Let's all just forget that they invaded us last year. Why not offer them a hoof of friendship? Why not just offer up our entire populace on a silver platter because some parasites dying makes you feel sad." She fired back, a deep frown on her face.

Celestia grit her teeth, "Lulu, for the love of Faust. You know that I'm not even considering anything even remotely close to that! It is both of our duties to care for all the subjects under the Equestrian sun. If we accept Chrysalis's surrender, she and every one of her changelings will become our subjects. Either they will be prisoners of war or official Equestrian citizens, but regardless, they will be our responsibility. I will not watch as my subjects starve to death. I will not!" She exclaimed, her voice nearing a shout.

Seeing the growing tension between the siblings, Anon quickly rushed in between his wives and held out placating hands to both of them, "Celly, Lulu, calm down. Let's just take it down a notch, okay? You're both about to blow a gasket and I don't want to have to clean up the mess." He spoke up, drawing the gaze of both princesses.

Luna opened her mouth to retort, but Anon quickly cut her off, "Hun, you've made good points, but screaming at Tia isn't going to make them hit home any more than they already have," He said, before turning to Celestia, "And Celly, I know that you feel for the changeling kids, but we need to be a bit realistic here."

Once Anon finished, both celestial alicorns looked at him with mixed expressions of deep thought. Twilight was actually quite surprised by his ability to calm both sisters in just a matter of seconds, while Javelin simply chuckled once to himself.

"I love you both, so I don't want to see you fighting. Plus, think about the babies. Not the changeling ones, but ours. You're not supposed to get super stressed out this late into a pregnancy. I looked it up, so I know it's true. I need the both of you to chill." Anon continued, gesturing with his hands.

Luna rolled her eyes with a sigh, "I... suppose you're right, Nonny... but we can't just leave this matter unattended. We have to decide what to do with not just Chrysalis, but her entire hive."

Anon nodded, "I get that, I do. I just don't think that screaming at Tia is gonna help." He gently explained, cupping Luna's cheeks with his hands.

The lunar alicorn leaned into the gesture, her expression morphing into one of gentleness as her eyelids fluttered shut. As Anon rubbed soft circles in her fur with his thumbs, she let out a quiet sigh, before slowly reopening her eyes and pulling away with a nod of thanks.

"You're right, Anon," Luna said, before looking past him to Celestia, "I'm sorry, Tia. It's just frustrating to see you siding the way you are after what that mare did to us." She explained.

Celestia quickly made her way over to her sister and nuzzled her cheek, "Thank you, Lulu. I know, and I'm sorry... I just... for everything Chrysalis did to us, those changeling foals played no part in it. I don't think any creature should be forced to starve just because of what they're born as. I see this as a chance for us to not only save lives, but also to possibly start something new and beautiful. Of course there will be hardships and I'm sure Equestria won't like it at first, but... I truly do believe that the fire of friendship burns in all species. Perhaps we simply need to find it in the changelings."

Luna returned the nuzzle, but a look of apprehension remained on her muzzle, "I suppose you have a point... though, you do know that Chrysalis is trying to manipulate you by focusing on our foals, right? One of the first things she did when we walked in was point out that we're pregnant. She knows that a low blow like that would sting the most. We still can't trust her."

Celestia shook her head, "I trust Chrysalis about as much as I trust Discord to not make a mess every time we see him. I'm not saying we should just blindly trust her and give her full autonomy in Equestria. I'm simply saying that we should do something to help the changelings that are starving to death." She reasoned.

Luna tilted her head to the side, "And how exactly do you propose we do that? Ponies aren't eager to be feasted on by a race that invaded us a year ago, and there is no way in Tartarus that I'm allowing any changeling into Canterlot without a mana nullification ring. The last thing we need is changelings just running amuck, impersonating whomever they wish." She replied.

Celestia dipped her head in thought, giving Twilight all the room she needed to speak up, "Um, actually, Princess?" She said, gaining Luna's attention, "I have done some research into it after the invasion, and at least according to Gideon the Gray's book on changeling feeding behavior from two seventy three ANM, along with several other scholars from that time period, changelings can feed off of ambient love in the air. It's not as efficient as feeding directly from somepony, but assuming most of them aren't literally hours away from dying, it would allow us to bring in changelings and let them feed while also not literally feeding ponies to them. Speaking of which, I couldn't find any examples of what being fed off of even feels like in any of those books. Any castle staff and my brother were in a trance the entire time their love was harvested. I asked Shining if he could explain it, but he can't remember any of it." She offered.

"I saw them getting fed off of. Not gonna lie, that shit creeped me out." Anon admitted with a shiver.

"I'm sure it looked creepy, but how it looks and how it feels are two separate things entirely." Twilight replied.

Celestia pursed her lips, "Now that you mention it, I don't seem to recall anypony explaining the sensation to me. Chrysalis certainly never did and most ponies that fell victim back then didn't talk about it. At least, not that I'm aware of..."

"There is a possibility that it's painless. At least, if what Chrysalis said about the pods was any indication. Regardless, they would be feeding indirectly anyways, so if it is painless, then it'd be even less noticeable when they're only feeding off ambient love in the air." Twilight shrugged.

Luna raised an eyebrow while Celestia hummed in thought, "Well that... certainly does open up some possibilities." She muttered.

Anon rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, are you sure the ponies in Canterlot will see it the way you're seeing it right now?" He asked.

Celestia winced at the mere implication, before turning to look at Twilight.

The aforementioned lavender alicorn stuck her tongue out in thought for a few moments before an idea popped into her head, "Well, it's a long shot, but I'm sure if you explain to them that nothing is actually being taken from them, then maybe they'll be able to wrap their heads around it?" Twilight offered.

Celestia rubbed her chin, "That... might just be digestible enough for Canterlot. Luna?" She asked, looking to her sister.

Luna bit her lip and frowned, "Well... I suppose that could work. Regardless, we still have to negotiate terms of her surrender before we commit to any of this." She replied, shaking her head.

Celestia nodded, "Very well then. The only problem I see is how we ensure she's telling the truth when we ask her questions to ascertain her intent. We can't tell if she's lying..." She thought aloud.

A few moments of silence reigned over the group, each member lowering their heads in thought or agreement. However, Twilight soon perked up and a look of excitement crossed her face.

"Wait a minute! We can tell if she's lying!" Twilight exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.

"What? How!?" Celestia, Luna, and Anon all questioned.

"The Seeds of Truth!" Twilight happily replied.

"The Seeds of Truth?" Anon raised an eyebrow.

Twilight vigorously nodded, "Zecora used them to help cure Applebloom of her cutie pox last year!" She bounced in place.

"How do these 'Seeds of Truth' work?" Luna asked, mimicking Anon's expression.

"You plant them into the ground, and speak words that are true and pure. If you do, the seeds will grow and sprout a flower that cures cutie pox. Obviously, we don't care about that last part right now, but if we bring the seeds into the room with Chrysalis..." She trailed off, motioning for Celestia to finish her sentence.

"Then we can have Chrysalis answer our questions and we'll know if she's lying or not." Celestia finished, a smile forming on her face as well, "Oh, Twilight! I knew you would come up with a solution." She happily added, leaning down to nuzzle her former student.

Twilight blushed from the praise and happily returned the nuzzle before pulling away and finding Anon playfully rolling his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out at him but quickly withdrew the appendage as Luna spoke up.

"Alright then, how soon can you get these seeds and bring them here?" She asked.

"The fastest way would be to teleport, but I don't quite have enough magical strength to teleport there and back yet, so... an airship would be the fastest way." Twilight thoughtfully responded.

Luna and Celestia shared a nod, "Done. Go and bring those seeds back as quickly as you can, Twilight. The airship is already available for you, as a princess." The solar sister announced.

With an eager nod of excitement, Twilight turned tail and trotted off toward the barracks. Anon watched her go, shaking his head in amusement.

"Man, she gets so damn excited if you give her a 'good job'. Just like a puppy." He chuckled, looking over to Celestia.

Said white alicorn playfully rolled her eyes, "She has a bright future ahead of her and the perfect attitude when it comes to solving problems like this. You tease her too much." She replied, lightly batting at Anon with her wing.

"That's only because she kisses your ass too much. Last time I checked, that ass belongs to me. Also Luna, by extension." Anon crossed his arms and turned his nose up.

Javelin blanched at the crass nature of Anon's response, but Luna quickly chuckled and also swatted Anon with her wing, "Now, now. Let's try to keep our minds on track, here. Save that talk for... tonight, won't you?" She purred, wrapping her wing around Anon's waist and pulling him against her barrel.

Celestia shook her head, "Even after all this time, I still don't understand how your kind equated donkeys to a mare's flanks." She muttered.

Anon grinned as he scratched behind Luna's ears, "Right, right. So I guess we can ask some simple questions. What do we have to lose by accepting Chrysalis's surrender? Not much, right?" He reasoned, ignoring Celestia's remark while the lunar princess melted under his fingers.

Celestia enviously watched her sister before leaning closer and giving Anon puppy dog eyes. With a sarcastic sigh of acceptance, Anon reached over and scratched behind her ears too.

"The things I do for this family." He joked, a smile on his face.

Both Celestia and Luna snickered as they enjoyed the soft feeling of Anon's digits in their manes and behind their ears.

"For real though, I want an answer. I will stop if I'm ignored in favor of my fingers." Anon announced, making the princesses quickly shake their heads in protest.

"Fine, fine. I suppose... the worst case is that she betrays us when our guard is down." Luna offered.

"I know this is Chrysalis we're talking about here, but... are you so certain that she'd betray us if we saved her entire hive from death?" Anon questioned.

"She doesn't have a good track record." Celestia rebutted, tilting her head to the side to allow Anon to scratch the spot just behind her cheek that she loved so much.

"They... can't dream. I don't trust sapient creatures that... don't dream." Luna managed to say, as Anon found her favorite spot just behind her ear.

Anon paused his scritching for just a moment, "Wait, changelings don't dream?" He asked, quizzically.

Luna shook her head, "In my lifetime, I have never seen a changeling dream. I have searched, extensively after the wedding, but found nothing." She explained.

Anon halted his ministrations entirely, much to the dismay of both alicorns, and put his hands on his hips, "Huh... well that's certainly something else. Maybe it's cause they're part bug?" He offered.

Luna shrugged, "I haven't the faintest idea. Regardless, I don't trust them."

"Chrysalis will be kept under close watch and secured with a mana nullification ring. I think we could get by with just a small amount of changeling foals and drones coming in at a time, all under extremely close watch, mind you." Celestia responded, before sighing and massaging her temples with her hooves, "This all would have been so much easier if she just hadn't caused that conflict all those years ago." She muttered.

"Wait, what happened back then? I asked while we were down at her cell but nobody answered me." Anon spoke up, drawing Celestia and Luna's attention.

"I thought Raven told you about that?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.

Anon scratched the back of his head, "Well, I uh... may or may not have been asleep... for that specific part... just once." He sheepishly admitted.

Celestia chuckled, "Honey, I think I'm starting to see why Raven got so frustrated with you."

Anon sighed, "Well in my defense, she's boring as hell to listen to for eight hours straight," He replied, before turning to Javelin, "No offense."

Javelin rolled his eyes, "None taken. Even I get kinda sleepy during her lectures."

Anon laughed, "Don't let her hear you say that."

Javelin stifled a chuckle as Anon looked back over to Celestia.

"To summarize, Chrysalis used to be an ally of ours. Many, many centuries ago, changelings and ponykind were not enemies. We weren't friends, per say, but an alliance was formed out of necessity and things managed to stay peaceful between us for a very long time." The solar alicorn began.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here." Anon chimed in.

Celestia nodded, "Indeed. The changelings were our allies due to the war with the griffons and the minotaur invasion. We were losing ponies by the hundreds and our territory was being conquered year after year. The conflict lasted for centuries of on and off warfare; the griffons and minotaurs invading, us repelling them, and then they'd come back again in a decade or so."

Anon shook his head, "Sounds like the Hundred Years' War." He mentioned.

"It is known simply as the 'Long War'. It lasted from fifty seven pre Nightmare Moon, to two hundred and twenty five After Nightmare Moon." Celestia replied.

Anon slowly looked over to Luna, "So... that means..." He trailed off.

Celestia gave a sad nod while Luna looked to the floor, "The majority of the war was during Luna's banishment... With her gone, the minotaurs joined the griffons and invaded. We'd thought the fighting was over after killing the griffon king, but unfortunately, another young chick simply bided his time until he was prepared to strike."

"So, what happened with the changelings, then?" Anon questioned.

"Well, fighting a war on two fronts was a nigh impossible task, especially with everything else going on at that time... we were losing, year by year. At one point it got so bad that I was almost certain ponykind would be wiped from the face of Eques. Then, I met Chrysalis. Her strength surprised me, even then. We set about an alliance, albeit a... parasitic one." Celestia explained, a small frown on her muzzle.

Anon's eyes lit up in realization, "You offered her love in exchange for help fighting the war."

Celestia shook her head, "No. I offered her love in exchange for ending the war."

Anon tilted his head to the side, "Wait, isn't that the same thing?"

"Changelings aren't the best front line fighters, Anon. We've both seen that firsthoof." Javelin commented.

"They make much better infiltrators, as you've also seen firsthoof," Celestia continued, "So we arranged a deal. Chrysalis and her changelings abducted the entire military council and kings of both the griffons and the minotaurs. With the figureheads of both nations now under changeling control, they simply withdrew their troops and brokered peace deals with Equestria. Those deals have been the backbone of the peace that's lasted between Equestria and our neighbors ever since." Celestia elaborated.

Anon shook his head in disbelief, "Holy shit. That's like... the least and most diabolical thing I've ever heard. It's brilliant and also horrific and terrifying. What... what happened to the kings and council they abducted?" He asked, almost sure of the answer.

"They were fed off of until they died however many decades later. I was led to believe that it was painless... and if what Chrysalis said today is true, then it most certainly was." Celestia answered.

"Damn... so the changelings did all that for you just for a few meals to live off of?"

Celestia sadly shook her head, "Chrysalis was always a shrewd mare when it came to making deals. That's part of the reason I held a great deal of respect for her back then. She wanted much more than just the minotaur and griffon leadership. She wanted ponies to feed her hive."

Anon blanched, "W-wait a minute, you gave her ponies to feed on? Just like she's kinda sorta asking for now?"

Celestia bit her lip, "The deal wasn't quite so cut and dry. It was... more that changelings would be allowed to enter Equestria and camouflage themselves as needed to source enough love to survive. My intent was purely to allow them a very small portion of love from ponies- small enough that said ponies wouldn't even notice. It seemed a small price to pay for them literally saving our species from being conquered or worse... but then things became difficult."

"Difficult... how?" Anon asked.

"Chrysalis and her changelings started impersonating ponies to steal love from their spouses or families. At first it was small instances that could easily be repaired, but they quickly escalated into ponynapping and attempts at permanent replacement. It all came to a head when I found out that Chrysalis impersonated the duke of Trottingham and had him abducted. The political catastrophe that caused when it was revealed, almost sent all of Equestria into a massive civil war." Celestia answered.

"Jesus..." Anon muttered.

"I made the decree that she and her changelings were to be expelled from Equestria. Luckily, at the time... we were on good terms. She took her changelings and left, albeit with a small fight... she was a different mare back then. Cunning, but caring and... kind, even- if you can believe that. She cared far more for the safety of her hive than her own power and status, at least. She seemed so much more like she was eight hundred years ago, today." Celestia sighed, sinking to her haunches.

"Sister, she's trying to get you to agree to the same deal you had before, only this time she's tugging at your heartstrings to do it." Luna spoke up.

Celestia shook her head, "I'm sure she's trying... something. What that is, I'm not entirely sure yet. We'll have to see with regards to her foals and if they're actually starving or not."

"You make it sound as if we've already accepted her surrender and acquiesced to her requests." Luna replied.

"What choice do we have, Luna? If we don't, thousands starve to death. Thousands of infants." Celestia answered.

Luna frowned and looked down to the floor for several seconds. She eventually looked up to Anon, then to her sister and sighed as she realized she had no answer, "I suppose you have a point. I still don't trust them... but I admit... I don't wish for them all to starve to death. I've always had a weakness for the little ones, even non-ponies." She admitted.

Celestia gave a small smile, "Thank you, sister. We can at the very least, agree on that."

Anon crossed his arms, "So us helping all depends on whether or not she's even telling the truth about her hive starving in the first place... if she isn't, she's a damn good liar... which is kinda weird cause she was so bad at being Cadence." He pondered, aloud.

Luna giggled at Anon's antics, "Agreed. We'll decide what to do when Twilight returns with the seeds and we question Chrysalis. Until then, could we perhaps go and have that dinner now? Or, well, breakfast for you two, dinner for me... or was it lunch for you? As you can tell, I am quite famished and also quite tired. I would rather deal with Chrysalis when I have a full day's rest." She admitted, suppressing a yawn.

Celestia smiled, "Of course, sister. Come along, let's go get you your mid-day snack," She snickered, wrapping her wings around Luna and Anon to pull them to her sides as she made her way toward the kitchen, "Let's talk of more trivial manners for a moment, hmm? Has anypony seen Raven?" She murmured.

"I think she's dealing with the nobles. Or rather, she was. Maybe she decided to go home for lunch?" Anon suggested.

Celestia and Luna shook their heads, "She always eats lunch at the castle. I doubt she'd have left." Luna replied.

Javelin nodded as he trotted up beside the trio, "Well with all the wedding planning that's been going on, she probably doesn't want to be home anyways. All the paperwork and planning has been giving her an aneurism." He finished with a chuckle.

Celestia gave a small smile, "Then perhaps we'll have to grant her some time off for your upcoming wedding. Very excited about that, by the way, Sergeant."

Javelin smiled, "Thank you, princess. Raven and I are both excited as well... even if Raven is stressing harder about the wedding than anything I've ever seen her stress over before, hehe."

Anon raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were planning the wedding since... you know, stallions do all that stuff here."

Javelin shrugged, "I offered but Raven was dead set on making it perfect. She's basically kept me in the dark about it so I'll find out when the date is closer or something, I guess."

The group headed over to the kitchen, finding Raven already waiting for them while she nibbled at a salad. As the group entered and took their seats, she greeted them with a curious smile.

"So, how much did I miss?" She asked, looking to her fiancé as the stallion assumed his post by the door.

"Just the usual back and forth when a decision of extreme importance needs to be decided." Javelin replied.

Raven immediately frowned, before looking to Celestia, Luna, and Anon, "Oh, no. What's the plan with Chrysalis?" She inquired.

Celestia quickly finished giving her order to the butler, who immediately dashed off to prepare her food, "That's... what we agreed to decide on later. Deciding something this large on an empty stomach feels like a poor decision."

Raven gave a sage nod of agreement, "I see. Well, in the meantime then, you didn't miss much up here. The nobles arrived and threw their usual fit about being taxed too much and wanting more power. I gave them the usual response, so I think we'll be alright for another day."

Anon raised an eyebrow, "The... usual response? I haven't really dealt with the nobles much yet... aside from the bar fight way back. What is the usual response?"

Celestia chuckled, "No."

Anon laughed, "Hah! That's the way you deal with those pricks."

Luna giggled into her hoof, "I do so enjoy the looks on their muzzles when you tell them 'no'. It's as if they've never heard the word before."

The group shared a hearty chuckle at the thought of snooty nobles being denied just about anything. They soon found simple conversation flowing among the table, and within a few minutes, lunch arrived.

Decisions, decisions... Really enjoyed the little history lesson on this one. Felt like a lot of fun to go into the past a bit and explain the relationship between Changelings and Equestria a bit more. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.