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// Chapter Twelve: The trial of Celestia part 3 
// Story: Stop Patronizing the Sun! 
// by Foal Star 
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Later that evening, Celestia was preparing to hold a press conference at the palace. She was walking back and forth in the hall; she felt extremely nervous as she could hear the chatting of hundreds of ponies outside. The princess of the sun was shaking all over, being utterly worried about what was going to happen next. Her sister Luna slowly walked around with her cheeks flushed red as she slowly came over and, on her face, and asked, "hey are you doing ok?"

"No, not really…" The princess of the sun whispered meekly; she was far from ok with her mind still focused on her lost cutie mark. As she looked over at her sister and continued, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do?"

"You should just tell them the truth about everything; there's no reason to lie or cover up what's happened," Luna suggested. 

Celestia gave a nod as she did agree with her. "You're right, there's no reason for me to cover up the truth, but…what how can I explain that I'm not sure of who I am anymore? Or why my cutie mark is gone?"

The princess of the night placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder and encouraged her. "You're going to be fine; you can still raise the sun and be their princess even without a cutie mark. I'm sure we'll rediscover who you are again."

"I'm still so confused? Why didn't my cutie mark come back when I turned back to normal?" Princess Celestia groaned, rubbing a hoof down her face; this was still going to be so embarrassing.   

Luna shrugged as she explained, "you know as well as I do that cutie marks are a mystery to even Starswirl. It's a magic that goes back longer than us; you're just going to have to find it again like every other pony."

Princess Celestia rolled her eyes, having known most of this herself as she shouted, "I know that! But the thing is, I already had mine! Cutie marks don't just disappear with an age spell; you know that! Something else is going on here."

"Ok, ok, easy now," Luna responded quickly as she held her hooves up. "Don't bite my head off."

Celestia looked down again, feeling a bit disappointed in herself for shouting at her sister as she apologized, "sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." 

She slowly walked over and hugged Luna wrapping her wings around Celestia, and they held each other in a tight hug for what felt like an hour. The princess of the sun didn't want to let go; she just wanted to just stay hugging her sister and never leave. But it didn't take long for one of her butlers to walk over and pointing a hoof at his watch. The princess of the sun grumbled under her breath. "I kept them waiting long enough." 

Luna nuzzled her cheek against her older sister's face and then looked right into Celestia's eyes. "Alright, but if things get too hot, I'm going to come to get you."

"Alright," Celestia whispered before heading to the two wooden doors; she paused, taking one last breath as she pushed the doors open and stepped right out onto the balcony.





Princess Celestia walked out onto the balcony overlooking the crowds of ponies below and stared down at them; many ponies gasped, and others started to whisper amongst each other. Princess Celestia held firm as she looked over her subjects. "My fellow ponies, I am happy to say that I have been restored to my proper age. However, I wish to summarize what happened since Discord regressed my age to that of a child. I was, of course, cared for by my student Twilight Sparkle. She, of course, was my guardian and did an amazing job of keeping me out of trouble and harm's way. However, I learned that Discord didn't just turn me younger; he also implanted a rouge personality in me."

The princess of the sun took a pause to gauge the crowd below everypony seemed to be paying attention to her, and they were at the very least now silent. She then continued her speech. "When I learned this, the zebra named Zecora created a potion that helped me find this rouge personality within my mind. However, she took over my body, and for the past two weeks, she did whatever she wanted. However, I was able to eventually retake my body, and now I come to the part you all have been waiting for; how did I return back to normal?"

Everypony was still silent as the princess alicorn took another pause then continued, "Well, it wasn't an easy decision, but we had no choice but to release Discord and have him reverse his curse."

Many ponies gasped and cried out as more cameras flashed and reporters started to ask questions. Celestia held a hoof as she continued, "yes, I know, he's done terrible harm to Ponyville that they were still dealing with, but I had no choice. Twilight and her friends were there to turn him back to stone if he tried anything. Luckily, everything went well, and we were able to compromise; he turned me back to an adult, and I let him free. He left for Ponyville where Twilight and her friends will be keeping an eye on him for the time being."

The ponies still grumbled to themselves about the situation, others shaking their heads; one reporter shouted, "was Discord the one who stole your cutie mark!?"

"Is he going to go on another reign of terror!?" Another reporter shouted.

Celestia held up a hoof and waited for the crowd to be silent as she looked down and replied, "no, he didn't take my cutie mark. I don't know how it did not reappear or why it's gone, but I assure you that I will find it again. Also, as for Discord again, he's under the watchful eye of my student Twilight and her friends; they will ensure he doesn't cause any chaos. Now please excuse me as I had a long day; if there are any further questions, you can ask me them tomorrow."

She bowed her head and walked back through the doors. But the reporters below continued shouting more questions and tried to rush through the front doors. But the royal guard came out to keep the crowd from entering the palace.





As Celestia returned to her room, she collapsed on her bed, feeling just exhausted. Maybe it was the transformation; perhaps she was depressed? She had no idea why she was feeling so awful and tired. Luna came into her room and shook her head. "You handled that well, I spent the last hour trying to keep a crowd of ponies from barging in."

The princess of the sun-brushed a hoof over her face and groaned, "I'm so sorry, I'm just exhausted. I probably should've just done this tomorrow."

Luna walked over and gave a kiss on her cheek and suggested, "sister, you need time to get back into the swing of things; let Quill Feather take over your duties until you're ready."

Celestia thought about Luna's suggestion for some time; she wanted to just sleep all day tomorrow, but no, she had to reassure the public they can rely on her. She turned to face her sister with a smile and replied, "thanks for the suggestion; no, I need to show my subjects I can still be their princess." 

"Ok, but not today; for now, you need sleep," Luna whispered as she pulled the covers over her sister. Princess Celestia wanted to scold her sister for patronizing her. Still, she was too tired to say anything, as the princess closed her eyes it didn't take long for sleep to slowly envelop her. 





Princess Celestia woke up in her subconscious landscape again. She looked over and saw the filly version of herself wearing that cute little toga sitting across from her in a tower. Celestia looked outside to see the giant Cake towering outside and the lush valley below she then looked around the room to see they were alone. Only Daybreaker was still chained up in the back, snarling and shouting how she should've destroyed those reporters and set them ablaze. 

The little goddess of the sun sipped her tea and whispered, "I sent the other personalities away for the time being so we can speak alone. Sadly, Daybreaker is stuck here with us."

"Of course, I'm here! I'm always here!" Daybreaker roared. 

The princess of the sun just snickered as she then took a sip of her fake tea. This was all somewhat surreal and hilarious at the same time, but there was a reason she was then asked, "so, do you know why my cutie mark didn't return?" 

"Yes…" The filly whispered she starred at the tea for what felt like an eternity; the little goddess then looked up. "It's because your relationship with Discord is still fragmented, and most of all, you now doubt whether or not you wish to stay a princess."

"What!?" Celestia cried out in surprise. 

The filly held a hoof up, "it doesn't mean you don't want to be a ruler, but you experienced an actual foalhood for the past few months. Yes, your foalhood with Starswirl wasn't horrible. Still, it wasn't easy as you were groomed for the role to eventually aid the ponies of Equestria. Now that role is no longer needed as much as it was a thousand years ago. Basically, you have a chance to rediscover what you want for yourself."

Celestia was somewhat surprised at the response realizing how simple it was and how she should've realized it sooner as she pondered out loud. "Wow…when you put it like that, this is starting to make more sense."

"Yes, sadly, there's not much advice I can give you; what you do from here is all up to how you wish to live the rest of your life." The little filly responded as she placed her teacup down. 

Celestia couldn't help but tear up a little, realizing that she might have a chance to rediscover herself something that probably wasn't possible until now. But then she saw the world change around her; she was now in an auditorium; the room was dark, there were red seats all over, and she found herself sitting in one as well with a giant white screen at the front of the room. 

Suddenly, the lord of chaos appeared out of nowhere, sitting next to her with a giant tub of popcorn right beside her. 

"What are you doing here!?" Princess Celestia shouted in a mixture of surprise and anger.

"Oh, I went to sleep early too! Breaking out of a statue was exhausting! And to make up for the past thousand years, your sister set this up for us to catch up." Discord explained with a smile on his face. 

The princess got a little peeved first of all having Luna set this up without her knowing and being forced to be with Discord since it was his fault; she doesn't have a cutie mark right now and snapped, "this isn't a date!"

"Of course not!? But you want us to be friends, right!" He lent her a giant tub of popcorn, and Celestia took some and tossed a few kernels in her mouth. "Oh, yum, fake popcorn."

"Come now, if you want, we can go to the movies anytime you like in the real world." The lord of chaos chortled out loud. 

Princess Celestia just rolled her eyes if the press saw her with Discord at an actual movie theatre she would never hear the end of it as she grumbled, "seriously I'm already dealing with at least three scandals on my plate. I rather not add one more to the list."

Discord shook his head and scoffed, "you know I can literally make a movie theatre appear out of thin air? Or I can turn those pesky reporters into actual buzzards."

The princess of the sun couldn't help but snicker at the thought. "Oh that would be delightful idea, if I was as devious  as you."

"Oh and you think your not?" The lord of chaos asked with that devilish smile. Celestia settled her head on his shoulder and wrapped her wings around him. She was starting to feel that old spark returning but she was still a bit unsure of how he was feeling or if she could completely trust him. The princess of the sun looked up at her former friend then asked, "how are you doing? Who are you staying with?"

"Oh I'm doing fine had a tea party with Fluttershy and her friends and the cute little pegasus allowed me  to stay with her at her lovely little cottage. I have to admit she and I have started to bond rather well! As for the others…well, they all still hate me." The lord of chaos scoffed as she threw a claw. "The nerve, after deciding not to turn you into a five month foal or turn them all into foals!?"

The princess of  the sun rolled her eyes at the draquenous's response; clearly they had a lot of work to do before she could say he was completely reformed.  "I hope you're not just exploiting Fluttershy and pretending your changing."

"Oh, please!? You suspect me of still being the old me! I've changed, honest!" He took out a cartoonish red heart from his chest and crossed it with a claw.

Celestia snickered at the joke and realized that despite Discord's cocky attitude, he seemed to be trying to cheer her up. She wondered if he actually felt bad for having her lose her cutie mark. At the very least, this whole gesture of their subconscious selves having this fake date in the dreamscape seemed to show he's attempting to be friendly. For now she'll pretend he's reformed and forget about her troubles for a bit. She nuzzled him and looked at the screen, wondering what was going to appear as the mare asked, "so what are we going to be watching?"

"Oh, nothing really just the last two weeks you were a crazy little filly." Discord snickered behind a claw, and Celestia's cheeks flushed red as a countdown started from ten. As the timer ticked down, she just watched with anticipation; she wasn't sure she was ready to see this, but the princess of the sun was also curious as the timer hit one then the screen lit up.