Anon walked toward the dining room of the castle with a lethargic yawn. His bare feet pitter-pattered on the marble floor as he sluggishly made his way to breakfast, the only other sound to accompany him being the gentle chirping of the birds in the early morning sun. His stomach growled as he reached the doorway, almost as if signaling to him that he was taking too long to get some food into his belly. He barely managed to stifle another yawn as he approached the night guards still holding their posts until the changing of the guard.

Almost silently, two pairs of leathery wings flapped into close proximity, before the sound of hoofsteps on marble echoed out from either side of Anon, both quickly matching his stride.

"Morning, guys." Anon mumbled.

"Good morning." Dusk replied, giving the slightest of nods.

"Morning... you, uh... you look like you didn't sleep too well." Echo commented, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly.

Anon shook his head, "I fell asleep in fantastic fashion... just couldn't stay asleep, is all." He replied, pausing at the door to sleepily observe his guards.

Dusk gave a sage nod, "Thinking about yesterday?" He questioned.

Anon nodded, "Kinda hard not to. I don't know how Tia managed to stay asleep the whole night." He commented, letting out a sigh.

"Well, when you've been around as long as she has, you've probably had many a sleepless night. I recall Princess Luna and her discussing lucid dreaming, so she might have just been thinking on it while in a dream." Dusk replied.

Anon furrowed his brow, "Really? Huh... I wonder if Luna can teach me how to do that? I mean, when she pops into my dreams, she makes me realize that I'm in a dream, but to be able to just know on my own and control my dream by myself would be awesome." He thought aloud, waking up slightly.

Dusk shrugged, "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd assume she'd be more than thrilled to help you learn to lucid dream. It's kinda her thing, after all."

Anon put his hands on his hips, "I guess you've got a point there. I wonder if she got much work done with all this Chrysalis shit on her mind too, then."

"Princess Luna spent most of the night in the dream realm. I'd assume that she was working as normal all night, unless she was just sitting in there and thinking about Chrysalis instead of going into ponies' dreams. To be honest, you're only going to know if you ask her. Once she's in the dream realm, we have no idea what she's up to." Echo answered.

Anon shook his head and shrugged, "Well I couldn't really get up to go check. A certain alicorn had me completely trapped with her legs and wings." He chuckled.

"They're both getting more clingy as their pregnancies come to a head, aren't they?" Dusk chuckled.

Anon nodded, "At this point, I'm just hoping that there's enough of me to go around once the foals are born. I'm gonna have to be the best dad I can be. They're gonna be giants and take over the world, I just know it."

The group shared a chuckle, "With your freakishly tall genetics, I don't doubt it." Echo snickered.

"I'm not freakishly tall, I just eat well and workout a lot." Anon turned his nose up.

"Well good thing you're about to see her at breakfast then, isn't it?" Dusk smirked.

Anon nodded, "Right you are. Going back to the Chrysalis thing for a second though, since I did spend all night up thinking about it, I think I might have an idea on what to do with our little bug horse downstairs." He announced, making his way toward the door once more.

"I don't imagine your plan will call for two night guards taking out some very dangerous trash, now would it?" Echo intoned with a grin, as the other night guards opened the dining room for them.

As the trio stepped into the room, Anon shook his head, "No, nothing like that. In fact, quite the opposite." He replied, eyeing his wives as they sat at the table, both awaiting their breakfast and dinner, respectively.

Both Luna and Celestia's eye's lit up as Anon entered the room, and before Dusk or Echo could question what he meant, they called him over.

"Honey! There you are. I was beginning to wonder how late you were going to sleep in." Celestia called, a warm smile on her face.

"Ah, come join us for breakfast, honey." Luna added, her tired demeanor perking up noticeably as the human closed in on them.

Once Anon reached the table, he quickly leaned in and gave Celestia a quick kiss, before moving over to Luna. As he sat down, both mares scooted their chairs closer to his, each leaning into either side of him to either nuzzle or just hold him close with a wing. Anon let out a pleasant sigh at the warmth radiating off of Celestia and the soft touch of Luna's fur. It was almost enough to lull him back to sleep right then and there, but unfortunately, the butler pony entering the room accidentally slammed the door a bit too harshly, and the moment was ruined.

Anon closed his eyes and rested his elbows on the table as the butler uttered half a dozen apologies while delivering their meals. With a quick word of forgiveness from Celestia, the pony trotted off and headed out, ensuring to close the door much more quietly this time around. Once he was gone, a perfect silence descended over the room, leaving both royal sisters to worriedly look over their human as he rubbed his temples.

"Honey? What's the matter?" Luna asked, concern bleeding into her voice.

"You seem... stressed. Did you not sleep well? I didn't wake you when I woke up to raise the sun, did I?" Celestia added, a worried frown on her face.

Anon shook his head and sat back upright in his chair.

"I could not stay asleep last night for the life of me. In fact, I'm amazed that you managed to sleep at all." He replied, after a moment.

Celestia tilted her head to the side, "Nonny, whatever do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" Anon raised an eyebrow, "Were you not thinking about Chrysalis at all?"

Celestia pursed her lips while Luna rolled her tongue in her mouth.

"Of course we're thinking about Chrysalis, sweetie. I was brainstorming over what to do with her all night." Luna answered, a placating tone in her voice.

"I was as well. Trust me, honey, we never stopped thinking about her." Celestia concurred.

"I don't know how you managed to fall asleep and stay asleep then, cause you're gonna need to teach me how to do that. Every time I felt sleepy, I just thought about what could go wrong if we don't do this perfectly. " Anon responded, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling.

Celestia slowly leaned in and nuzzled Anon before placing a kiss on his neck, just above his collar, "Honey, I understand. Trust me, it wasn't something I was able to do right at the beginning of becoming a leader. I spent many a sleepless night when I first became a princess. It'll come in time."

Anon gratefully scratched at Celestia's chin while Luna nuzzled his cheek from his other side.

"If you'd like, I can teach you how to lucid dream, Anon. That way you won't have to rely on me pulling you into the dream realm like we did for your extra classes the last few months." She offered, receiving a loving kiss on her muzzle in response.

"Dusk said you'd probably be happy to teach me." Anon chuckled.

Luna slyly smiled, "Well he's one of the more intelligent guards I've met. Hence why he and Echo are your protection at night."

Anon smiled gratefully, before both sisters pulled away from him and sat back upright in their chairs, "Alright, so then what's the plan for today?" He asked.

"First thing's first, we need Twilight here with the seeds of truth so we can go interrogate Chrysalis and ensure she's even telling the truth. Once that's finished, then... depending on her answers, we either leave her in the dungeon or go bring her to the city hall to officiate her surrender." Celestia answered, tapping her chin in thought.

"How soon can we expect Twilight to be back?" Luna asked.

"Within the hour. She took the first airship leaving Ponyville this morning." Celestia replied.

"Alright, I can work with that. One step at a time," Anon nodded.

"I'm afraid you'll both have to do the interrogation without me then. It was a rather long night and I could use some rest, if I'm being honest." Luna replied, stifling a yawn with her hoof.

"Alright. I'll fill you in when you wake up tonight," Anon responded, receiving a nod of thanks from the lunar princess.

As the trio settled back into their seats, Anon looked down at his bacon, cheese, and diced herb omelet and feeling his stomach growl, "First, breakfast. Then, interrogation. Thanks for ordering for me, by the way." He smiled to both his wives.

Celestia giggled, "We figured you'd like that. Bacon has become something of a staple of your breakfasts." She acknowledged.

"Also either omelets or pancakes. Although you're quick to take up cinnamon rolls if the kitchen has them." Luna added.

"Well who turns down a cinnamon roll for breakfast?" Anon scoffed, "Besides, I know you both love them too."

"That we do, Nonny. That we do." Luna laughed.

With that, they fell into a comfortable quiet as they dug into their meals, a gentle warmth all around them as they basked in each other's presence.

As Anon, Celestia, and Javelin walked back to the throne room, they were quickly greeted by Raven, as she trotted up to their side. She fixed them all with a curious look as she quickly cast her clipboard to the side.

"There you all are. Princess, Twilight just arrived with the seeds a few minutes ago. I told her that you'd be down momentarily. She's waiting in the throne room." Raven announced, falling in step with the rest of the group.

Very good, Raven. Thank you." Celestia kindly replied.

Raven happily nodded her thanks before turning to Javelin, finding him stoically looking ahead as usual when he was on duty. She nonchalantly bumped her flank against his, making the stallion glance over at her. She gave him a quick wink, to which he reciprocated, before she darted over and kissed his cheek, making him blush.

"Ew, cooties." Anon teased, gaining immense satisfaction at the sudden glare Raven leveled his way.

"I'm in charge of your public appearances, you know? I can absolutely have you sent to all those noble parties in Princess Celestia's stead. I'll make sure it's one organized by BlueBlood. I swear to Faust." Raven fired back, her threat making Anon nervously glance to his wife.

Celestia simply continued on toward the throne room as if she couldn't hear what was happening beside her, a small smirk on her muzzle.

"Y-you wouldn't dare. There are only two nobles that I like in this entire city and neither of them are BlueBlood. I would rather go watch wrestling in Las Pegasus than go to one of BlueBlood's parties." Anon replied, as if the name tasted sour in his mouth.

Raven smirked, "Then don't accuse me of giving my fiancé cooties, Anon."

Anon glared at the little secretary pony as they arrived at the throne room doors. With a single nod from their solar princess, the guards standing beside the doors magic'd them open, revealing Twilight near the thrones at the end of the room, sitting on one of the steps, a bored look in her eyes. There was a burlap sack laying on the floor at the base of the steps leading up to Celestia's throne, but aside from that, the room was empty.

"You win this round, Rayray. But only because BlueBlood has tried to hit on me like, thirty times and I can't seem to get him to understand that I'm straight. For real, he's like, concerningly persistent... also completely fine with being in a herd with his aunts, I guess... there's a lot to unpack there, if I'm being honest..." Anon trailed off, a more and more fearful look appearing in his eyes.

Raven giggled, "Good, now focus up, Prince Anon. It's time to actually work instead of sitting on a day court throne all day." She teased.

Anon rolled his eyes but followed behind as Celestia led the group inside and toward Twilight.

Once the doors opened and she saw who was entering, Twilight glanced over to see the approaching group, and quickly turned all of her attention to the white alicorn as she closed the distance between them.

"Oh, princess! There you are! I brought the seeds back as fast as I could." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

"You've done well, Twilight. No need to worry." Celestia replied with a smile.

"You're only as late as usual. Are those the seeds?" Anon teased, pointing to the burlap sack.

Twilight frowned and rolled her eyes, "Yes, Anon, those are the seeds," She replied, before turning to Celestia, "I spoke with Zecora about them while I was picking them up. Depending on the level of honesty and purity of her words, we'll only get as few as three or four questions before the seeds have fully sprouted and will no longer indicate whether she's lying or not."

Celestia pursed her lips, "That... isn't good news. That gives us perilously little room to ascertain her true motives." She thought aloud, tapping her hoof against her chin.

"Why can't you just use one seed at a time? You know, that way we could have like, a bunch of questions." Anon offered, eyeing the bag of seeds curiously.

Twilight shook her head, "They don't work that way. The seeds all come from a single flower, and grow back into a single flower. That connection is what makes them work. If you separate any of them, they won't grow." She explained.

Anon put his hands on his hips and rolled his tongue in his mouth while Celestia chewed her lip, "Well, why didn't you bring more then?" He questioned.

"These were all Zecora had, and the plant she gets them from doesn't bloom around here. It would take months to get more from Zebrica." Twilight indignantly replied.

"I suppose that I should do all the questioning then. We'll have to keep it to the most important questions. As much as I would like to know more, there doesn't seem to be any other options at the moment." Celestia admitted.

"Alright then, I guess it's interrogation time?" Anon asked, looking back and forth across the group.

Celestia nodded, "Indeed it is, honey. Let's go speak with Chrysalis."

Raven sighed, "I guess I'll go deal with the nobles again while you deal with her. Faust knows they'll be asking a million questions about Chrysalis. Good luck down there." She announced, before Javelin quickly leaned in and kissed her.

"See you in a bit, hun." He said, receiving a kiss and nuzzle from the secretary.

Anon gagged before Raven fired a blast of magic, smacking the back of his head.

"Ow! Fuck!" Anon exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head, "Assault! Attempted regicide! Guards!? Your prince has been attacked!" He dramatically exclaimed.

The few guards lining the walls nearly broke from their positions and rushed over to assist him, until they saw who it was that hit Anon. They all quickly rolled their eyes and abandoned any notion of their prince being in any real danger.

"Ya'll suck." Anon crossed his arms and pouted at the guards standing at their posts.

"I think you kind of deserved that." Twilight shrugged.

"Agreed." Raven nodded.

"Oh, so that's how it is? I am so dumping a whole gallon of ink on you for that." Anon muttered.

"What was that?" Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing! Nothing. Come on, gang. Let's go interrogate a bug!" Anon quickly answered, ushering the rest of the group away from the secretary.

"That's what I thought." Raven chuckled, turning around and heading out to deal with Day Court.

Meanwhile, Anon, Celestia, Twilight, and Javelin walked through the corridors of the castle toward the dungeon.

Chrysalis awoke to the sound of banging on her door. She blearily opened her eyes and looked up to the guard watching her. The guardsmare quickly got to her hooves and trotted over to the door just as it was unlocked and opened. Celestia, Anon, Javelin, and Twilight all entered the dimly lit room with a burlap sack held in Celestia's golden aura. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the sight of the sack while the group quickly greeted her guard, dismissing the mare to go wait outside and placed said burlap sack down in front of her cell.

"I don't suppose... there's love in that bag of yours?" Chrysalis weakly asked, struggling to sit upright.

Anon looked back and forth between the bag and Chrysalis, "C-can you put love into a bag?" He asked.

"No, Anon. You can't. She was being rhetorical." Twilight rolled her eyes.

"If there are oats in there... I can assure you that they provide no nutritional value to a changeling." Chrysalis announced, giving Celestia a puzzled look.

Rather than reply to her, the solar princess looked over to Twilight, "Would you care to explain, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded, "These are the Seeds of Truth. A little gift from my friend, Zecora. What's going to happen is that we're going to ask you questions, and if these seeds grow when you respond, then we know you're telling the truth. If not... well then we know you're lying or omitting the truth." She explained

Chrysalis's eyes widened ever so slightly at the impending lie-detector test, but a pang of hunger quickly squashed any concern she had over the seeds before her, "I don't suppose... I could... get some love first?" She asked.

"Once you answer our questions, we'll see." Celestia replied, opening the door and revealing several more guards carrying a pot filled with soil, into the room.

Chrysalis let out a resigned sigh, "Very well then, I suppose it's to be expected," she replied, pushing herself out of her bed and slowly getting to her hooves, "I'm surprised your sister isn't here... she seems to trust me the least." She sluggishly shrugged, looking to Celestia.

"Luna is resting after her night shift. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be seeing her soon." Celestia replied, curtly.

Chrysalis pursed her lips as the guards set down the pot just outside her cell. Twilight quickly dumped some seeds out from the burlap sack and buried them in the soil, ensuring to cover them completely. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to Chrysalis, along with all other eyes in the room.

"Alright... ask away," Chrysalis shrugged.

"What are your intentions?" Celestia questioned.

"To save my hive... they're starving... and it's my duty as their queen to save them." Chrysalis replied, her eyelids drooping every few seconds.

Twilight eyed the pot, finding that a definitive glow radiated from the seeds underneath the soil, and tiny sprouts or green poked the soil. She gave a nod to Celestia, prompting her to continue.

"How do you intend to save your hive? Is this all just an elaborate ruse to abduct, enslave, or replace anypony in Equestria for your kind to feed off of?" Celestia asked.

Chrysalis sluggishly shook her head, "I'm not planning on abducting anypony... I don't want to replace anypony, and I am not aware of any schemes to enslave ponies for changelings to feed off of," She sighed, "As much as it irks me, cooperating with you... is the best chance my kind have at this point."

Once again, the seeds glowed and the sprouts of green grew larger in the pot. However, as the rest of the ponies in the room refocused on Celestia as she prepared her next question, Anon's gaze lingered on the changeling Queen, and how she swayed back and forth ever so slightly. She almost appeared to be nodding off just standing, and her breaths came slowly, in short ragged breaths.

"If you were given the opportunity, would you change your ways? Try to find a way to live peacefully among ponies and keep changelings from hurting Equestrians ever again?" Celestia pressed.

"I'm willing to do... whatever it takes... to save my species. If we have to find a way to coexist, then so be it." Chrysalis replied.

Again, much to everypony's shock, the seeds radiated a golden light, and the sprouts shot up several inches. Celestia was taken aback at the fact that the changeling queen was telling the truth, so much so that she struggled to find her next question. Meanwhile, Anon felt growing concern at the changeling Queen's inability to stand upright any longer, and she quickly slumped down to her haunches, her head lolling slightly, as if simply keeping her eyes up was too much of a strain.

"What kind of terms are you hoping to achieve with your surrender?" She asked.

"Wha?" Chrysalis muttered, her eyes unfocused.

"Chrysalis? Look at me." Celestia ordered, receiving a blank stare in response.

Anon quickly leaned over to Celestia's side, "Hun, I think she's about to pass out. She needs some food or water, or something." He whispered, his concern easily bleeding over into his voice.

Celestia pursed her lips before looking back to the sprouts jutting out of the soil. She glanced back to Chrysalis once more, finding that the changeling appeared to be nodding off once more.

"We need to get our answers while we can be sure she isn't lying." She replied, shaking her head to Anon. She quickly cleared her throat, "Chrysalis, answer the question, please."

Chrysalis gave a lazy nod, "A... reliable and consistent... food source for my species," she answered, just barely noting the aghast looks in the ponies' faces, "What? My changelings need... to eat... to survive. Kind of... like me... right now. P-plus, I can offer information... and infiltrator changelings... in exchange for that constant source of food."

Celestia's eyes narrowed, "Is that all you see ponies as? A food source? Something just for you to feed off of?"

Chrysalis slowly shook her head, "I think we both know that I... I most certainly view ponies as much, much more than that." She quietly, almost mournfully, answered.

All eyes quickly darted to the pot, only to find that the seeds glowed yet again, and flowers bloomed at the ends of the stems. Everyone in the room shared looks of surprise at the honesty of the changeling queen, while said queen struggled to hide the discomfort she was experiencing as another wave of hunger pangs shot through her gut.

"What? Did you... expect me to be lying about everything?" Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Javelin immediately replied.

"I mean... kinda." Anon shrugged.

"You don't have the best track record." Twilight chimed in.

Chrysalis frowned at the guard, human, and alicorn while Celestia eyed the changeling queen suspiciously, "What... what exactly are you offering in exchange for food for your hive?"

"I-I'm offer-ing..." Chrysalis trailed off as she suddenly passed out, her body limply falling to the floor beside her bed.

"Oh shit." Anon muttered, closing the distance to the cell in a second.

"Chrysalis!?" Celestia exclaimed, rushing to the cell bars.

"She's unconscious!" Twilight added.

"Sergeant! Get Swan and a medic!" Celestia ordered, turning to Javelin.

Without a word, the stallion galloped to the door, his hoof pounding against its metal frame for several seconds until it was quickly opened.

"What's going on!?" Swan demanded.

"Swan, the keys! Now!" Anon shouted, startling everyone in the room.

Without thinking to question her prince, Swan instantly grabbed the keys from her armor and tossed them to the human. He wasted no time in unlocking and opening the cell, much to everyone else's dismay.

"Anon!?" Celestia cried.

"What the buck are you doing!?" Twilight shrieked.

Uh oh. Anon's gone and rushed in without thinking. What will happen now, I wonder?