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Celestia - Final.
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Canterlot Castle, as always, was bustling with life, and over the years the individuals who worked and lived inside were rotated for various reasons, most for the simple fact that due to their advanced age they could no longer continue to work in that place, but that opened up new positions, and those positions were filled by servants and officials much younger, energetic, and equally trained to work in that place, but unlike when Celestia ruled Equestria, and with the School of Friendship flourishing, many of those servants are changelings, In fact, there was already a regular contingent in the Royal Guard of Canterlot, but they were not sent by Chrysalis as support, they were freewheeling changelings who wanted to be part of the Royal Guard, which also led to some ponies wanting to join the changeling forces, slowly but surely, the two races were creating much stronger bonds, and it would not surprise anypony if in a few decades, it would be impossible to tell where one nation began and the other ended.
But today was a special day for all of Equestria, and especially for one mare who had gone through so many abrupt changes in such a short time, starting with an irrational hatred of an entire race that caused her to lose her title, going through a time in prison, and ending up married and with a beautiful son who was loved by everypony, but contrary to what most thought, that did not disillusion her, it helped her to break her chains and express herself as she really was, not as an infallible regent and model of perfection.
And for that, there were four figures of great power in the throne room who would be responsible for dealing with Celestia today, they were the princesses Twilight Sparkle, Luna, Cadance, and there was also Queen Chrysalis, but in her white form, they knew Celestia perfectly and knew that she was full of experience and tricks, She also knew the castle like the back of her hoof and although she had no political power, she was still an authority figure and thanks to her charisma it was inevitable that over the years she had gathered a small squad of ponies and a few changelings who would follow her orders and do whatever it took to protect her, whatever happened today would not be easy.
But Celestia knew that the princesses were waiting for her in the throne room and even though she no longer used magic, she had a great deal of experience in close combat along with her natural resistance and she was always accompanied by her bodyguards, they took care of her and she responded the same way and even though it was a small group, they were the most loyal that existed in Equestria and she would do anything to protect them.
"Don't worry, my lady, you know we will protect you to the end." Said a Pegasus wearing an armor with Celestia's insignia on it, followed by a changeling also wearing similar armor, only this one carried a banner with Celestia's flag on it.
"I know, Cap, but you know it wasn't necessary to move everypony every time my sister called me to a meeting." Celestia replied.
"We know that, but we took an oath to protect you, even if that sometimes goes against your direct orders." The Pegasus replied to which the entire contingent nodded their heads somewhat uncoordinated and mumbled to each other, it was easy to see that such a group had little or no military training.
Celestia looked at them one by one and the group was no larger than twenty including herself, they were ponies from the three tribes and some changelings, all of them wearing armor with her insignia and many of them carrying swords or spears and even though some of them looked scared or excited about what would happen today, there was no doubt that they would act if necessary.
"Is something wrong?" The Pegasus asked.
"This armor is a little tight, but it's nothing I can't handle, did you bring provisions?" The former monarch asked, and one of her guards handed her some of her rations.
"Thank you, I will have to reward your dedication when this is all over." Celestia said, slowing down a bit so that her group could follow her easily and not end up exhausted before they reached the hall.
Meanwhile, in the hall, the four figures waited for Celestia to arrive, unaware that she was being accompanied.
"I don't understand why I'm here, everypony knows Celestia isn't ready to see me." Chrysalis said.
"Why do you always do that?" Twilight asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
"Do what?" Chrysalis replied.
"That, you stay quiet for several minutes and ask the exact same question just before someone knocks on the door." Twilight replied.
"I do not do that." Chrysalis replied.
"Twilight's right, you do it a lot, and now that she mentions it, you do it all the time." Luna said.
"I don't know what you mean, do you really think I wait in silence for a certain amount of time to speak only when it is necessary for something specific to happen?, like now?" The queen asked.
"Yes, why do you do that? It's like it's necessary for the world that you be silent and then speak so that everything can continue on its normal course." Cadance added, also intrigued, scratching her chin as she thought of a reason why the Queen always did the same thing.
"Do you really think that if I ask that question, Celestia will magically appear and knock on that door?" The queen asked, pointing her white hoof at the wooden door.
But despite the expectation of the four figures...
No one touched the door...
"Ha." Said the queen with a fake laugh to the three princesses. "I knew nothing would happen, and no one answered my question."
"What question?" Luna asked.
"Well... it wasn't a question per se, but no one answered why I should be here."
"Because you are one of the ponies, or changelings involved in this whole thing and your presence is necessary for what we have to do." Cadance said.
"But as far as I know this is a formality since you need my signature to make it official and we all know that Celestia is not ready to talk to me yet, I don't mind doing all this but I don't want to cause unnecessary stress with my presence to Celestia, today is an important day and if she sees me there is a chance that she will refuse what we are going to do with her, I would like to see her face when we tell her the news but I think it would be best if I leave."
The three princesses thought about it for a moment. Seeing Celestia wandering around the castle they had forgotten this detail about Chrysalis, and if they were going to give her news of this magnitude, the queen could not be present.
"She's right, we've been planning this for a long time, and if she sees Chrysalis, it's very likely she won't accept what we're going to propose."
"Then I'll leave, I have an... important meeting and I have to get ready." The queen said a little nervously before she went to the door.
"An important meeting? Is there a delegate coming that we haven't been informed about?" Luna asked.
"Um... no, not that I know of." The queen replied.
"Well, may your important meeting go well." Cadance said.
"It's no big deal, it's just a changeling and we'll talk about... stuff." The queen replied somewhat nervously.
"Ok, please change into someone else while you're in the castle so Celestia doesn't recognize you." Twilight said.
"Good idea." The queen replied before wrapping herself in green flames and changing her white appearance to that of a maid. "See you another day." She said before leaving the room and shutting the door.
"She's got a date." Cadance said with a grimace.
"Totally a date." Luna added with the same grimace.
"Should we follow her?" Twilight asked, mimicking the grimace.
"Ohh... absolutely, there is no way I want to miss this gossip, plus Rarity will be furious if she finds out we know before she does." Cadance added.
"I'd love to see who wants to be Chrysalis' consort, but we first have to settle things with my older sibling, and then we have to get masks." Luna said.
"Why do you always do that?" Twilight asked.
"What do you mean Twilight?" Luna said.
"That thing you do, talking in that tone and style... old." Said the young princess.
"Do you think the way I express myself causes disagreement or confusion in front of others?"
"Yes Auntie, you often confuse the ponies, why do you do that?" Cadance asked.
"Because it makes me look mysterious, elegant, sophisticated, and mysterious." The Princess of the Night replied.
"You said mysterious twice." Twilight said.
"It's because the mysterious has been doubled."
"Ugggh... sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have had that stroke." Twilight said to herself, putting her hoof to her face in frustration.
At that moment, a small figure opened the door with great effort and entered the room, accompanied by a changeling carrying a pennant with a sun and a happy face painted with crayons, both of them wearing small armors made of cardboard and painted with crayons in the same way.
Fixing her glasses the filly scanned the room for hidden enemies and when she found nothing suspicious, she signaled for Celestia to enter the room.
"Presenting Celestia of Canterlot." The filly said before putting her glasses back on and looking at the changeling. "Blue Beetle, the flag." She said to the small changeling.
"What?" The changeling asked back.
"That that was your signal to move the flag." The Pegasus replied.
"Ohh yeah." Said the changeling before he began moving his little flag animatedly in all directions, causing the three remaining characters to giggle.
A second later, Celestia entered, eating a muffin she had on her hoof, accompanied by the little ones from the castle's nursery, all wearing armor and weapons made of cardboard painted yellow with crayons, including Celestia.
"Greetings sister, an impressive army accompanies you." Luna said with a smile.
"Thanks Lulu, we were drawing with the hooves and then I gave them a little history lesson and one thing led to another and here we are." Celestia replied, taking another bite of her muffin.
"I see the little ones have grown quite fond of you, and where is your son?" Twilight asked.
"He's in the kitchen with my husband, taking advantage of his breaks to spend more time together, and what was it you called me for?"
The three princesses smiled broadly and Luna stepped forward to speak.
"We wanted to inform you that as of today, your sentence has been officially revoked and you are now a completely free mare to go wherever you want."
"Okay." Celestia replied, not paying any importance to the news her sister had given her.
"We know this is big news for you, and we wanted to...okay?...what do you mean OK?" Cadance asked curiously.
"Is something wrong?" Celestia asked.
"Something wrong?, But... but... but... but... this is supposed to be great news for you, you should be thrilled that you don't have to be cooped up in the castle anymore and you can use your magic." Twilight said in surprise.
"I know, great news, right? the ponies will be so happy to know that I am no longer locked in the castle, do you think we should plan a party?" Celestia asked, taking another bite of her muffin and turning her cheeks red. "mmMMmmm... I really must thank Pinkie for sending me these banana muffins."
"I think her mind just can't process it, but we'll worry about that later, now let me take the inhibitor ring off your horn as a token of our full confidence that you have reformed and are ready for a better life, please show the world that our trust in you was not in vain." Princess Luna said solemnly as she approached her older sister.
Celestia seeing her sister, bowed slightly in respect and lowered her head to allow Luna to remove the ring from her horn; the ceremony was brief and Luna smiled as she removed the ring with her hoof.
"Before our eyes and the world's, you are a free mare and... Celestia? What in Tartarus is this?" Luna asked her older sister.
"What is what?" Celestia asked.
"This Celestia, what is this thing?" She asked again, showing the ring to her sister.
"It's a ring Luna, why?" Celestia said.
"Celestia, this is made of papier mache and..." Luna took the ring with her magic and examined it closely, removing the jewel and licking it. "...this is a candy?"
Celestia took the candy and ate it.
"A cherry jelly bean, I thought we were out." The white alicorn replied. Twilight and Cadance quickly approached with a mixture of surprise and confusion, but much more confusion than surprise.
"Celestia, where is the inhibitor ring?" Twilight curiously asked her former mentor.
"We used it as a treasure a few months ago when we were playing pirates, why?" Celestia replied with almost childlike innocence.
A few hours later, there were a large number of ponies in the castle gardens, a curious Cadance, along with a nurse who was trying to wake up an unconscious Twilight who had already suffered her fourth panic attack. Third on the list was a very irritated Princess Luna, and last but not least, Celestia, who had her head poking into a large hole in the ground, looking anxiously at the pair of guards digging for a small chest where Celestia said she had buried the ring, next to her and with the same expectation was her small army of infants waiting for the chest to appear, the whole scene would be funny if this was not the twelfth hole the guards were digging because Celestia had forgotten where the chest was buried.
A few minutes later, one of the guards hit something with his shovel, drawing everypony's attention to the hole.
"Did you find it?" Celestia asked excitedly.
"I don't know, it might be another rock." One of the guards replied as he pushed the dirt aside to see what he had hit. "We found it." Said the stallion.
"Ohh... thanks Faust, I was getting bored." Said the white alicorn, using her magic without thinking and levitating the small chest and placing it on the ground by her side. All the little ones came over and looked at the chest impatiently, and then Celestia used her magic to open it. "Okay, time for lunch." She said to the little ones, who besieged the chest with their hooves and took out all the candy that was inside, leaving the Inhibitor Ring and a mint-filled chocolate candy, which Celestia took with her hoof and approached Princess Luna until she stood in front of her.
"Shall I put the ring on to repeat the ceremony?" Celestia asked her younger sister, offering her the ring and candy attentively.
But Luna could do nothing but smile at the clueless and fickle mare, who showed great innocence and a much bigger heart, she simply took the candy and put it in her mouth, then she took the ring with her magic and made it disappear, Celestia showed a smile and both sisters hugged each other.
"You have changed so much in such a short time, dear sister." Luna said with a soft voice.
"You think so? my hips are a little wider, but that's because I'm a mother." Celestia replied.
"She's referring to your personality, you're more spontaneous and energetic now, although I think your personality was always like that but as a princess you couldn't express it as freely as you do now."
"There's something I don't understand." Twilight said, appearing from behind and rubbing her head. "When did you take the ring off your horn?" They all looked at Celestia, trying to figure out how she managed to pull off such a feat.
"It was years ago, so I don't remember, I think it was one day when-"
"What?" Twilight asked in surprise, interrupting Celestia. "What do you mean years ago, those rings are specifically designed to neutralize all magic from the wearer, there's no way you could have taken them off on your own."
"I know but I remember after I took it off I put it in a drawer but it got lost and I got really nervous that Lulu would be mad if she found out and then I made a ring out of tinfoil but I didn't like how it turned out, then I put a gem on it to make it look prettier but it was too shiny, then I went out to buy some paper and glue to make papier mache but..."
Celestia's explanation went on for another few minutes losing the thread of the conversation as she went.
"And so that they couldn't see me, I went out at night, but I forgot that the shops are closed at that time, and it occurred to me to go out during the day, and for that I needed some kind of mask, but since I didn't want to be discovered, I bought some wool and learned to sew, but I forget to make holes for the eyes, so I thought of wearing a hat, and the shop had many beautiful hats, but by wearing the hat I ruined my mane, so I went to the salon, and then to the spa, and then I got hungry, and..."
Celestia's explanation went on for a few more minutes, and she had already lost the original idea of what she was trying to explain. But strangely enough, she remembered many details of something she said she didn't remember very well.
"When we saw the obese cat again, we started to follow it and came to a small pet shop, they had some very cute fish, and there we had the idea to play pirates and bury the treasure." Finished the white alicorn.
The three princesses listened attentively to Celestia's story, or at least they did for the first fifteen minutes, and then their minds wandered to other things, Twilight wrote everything down but lost the thread when Celestia talked about her argument that Donut Joe didn't sell donuts because they were fried and he baked them, Luna wondered if the guards were competent or if Equestria had been stupidly lucky for centuries, Cadance wondered what name she would give her if she had a second daughter.
"But when was it?" Twilight asked, checking her notes.
"When was what?" Celestia replied.
"When did you take the ring off and how did you do it?"
"Ummm... I don't remember exactly when it was, but I do remember that I kept it in a drawer and somehow I lost it and I was really scared that if Lulu found out..."
"I THINK... We're past that part." Luna said, interrupting her sister. "But do you remember how you got it out?...and please be brief...please."
"Oh... I do remember, or rather I have an idea, it turns out that those rings make your horn a little irritated after a while because you can't use magic, and when I was scratching my horn the ring bothered me, then one day I asked a guard if I could take the ring off for a moment, He took it off and I could scratch my horn with my hoof and the irritation disappeared, then I put the ring back on and when the horn bothered me I just asked a guard or servant if I could take it off, in the end I felt bad for always interrupting their work so I put it in a drawer. ... "Celestia scratched her chin, thinking of something. "...I think it was a little after I got back to my room because I kept several of my things in the drawer next to the ring and somehow I lost it and..."
"Please don't." Cadance interrupted before Celestia lost herself in her thoughts again.
"So anypony could have taken the Inhibitor Ring from you at any time?" Twilight asked.
"Of course, look." Celestia said, placing the ring on the horn of the Princess of Friendship, who got a little upset and tried unsuccessfully to remove the ring, Celestia turned her head to look at the little ones eating candy a little further back. "Anther, can you come over here for a moment?" The former princess called to one of the little ones.
A small changeling looked up from the pile and came running over to his nanny. He had a huge lollipop in his mouth.
"Would you be so kind as to take off Twilight's ring?" Celestia asked, and the little changeling nodded his head and walked over to the purple alicorn, extending his little hoof in the direction of her horn.
Twilight leaned forward skeptically. The little changeling gently took the ring from her and hoofed it to Celestia.
"Thank you Anther, now you can go back to your friends." Celestia said, and the changeling turned and walked back to where the rest of the little ones were. "See?" She said, looking at a curious Twilight.
"I think we overestimated many of our security measures, but if you could take the ring off and leave at any time, which you did for years without anypony noticing or even caring, why did you choose to stay here?, why did you choose to not tell us anything and pretend that you were still trapped in the castle, you could have lived wherever you wanted and it would have been almost impossible to catch you." Luna asked, looking the most puzzled of all and using her magic to send the ring to the vault.
Celestia had thought about it a lot too and at first she didn't understand why she couldn't leave the castle, for someone with her power it was very easy and it was impossible to stop her if she wanted to run away, but over the years she realized why she never did and the answer came from a source she had never imagined. Celestia stared at Luna for a moment before she spoke.
"It would have been really easy for me to run away from the castle, and as you say, it would have been hard for you to catch me. It would have been years before you even had a clue as to my whereabouts, but... If I had done that, I would not have been able to see my son or my husband again, and I would not have wanted my son to live with the stigma of his mother being a fugitive from the law, I realized that when I looked out of one of the castle's windows one day and saw a very special mare who had been in trouble but had managed to leave it all behind, and she was happily walking in the gardens with her son and his girlfriend, I wanted that life too, and the only way to do that is to serve my sentence. " Twilight and Cadance wondered who she could be talking about, but Luna knew exactly who it was.
Celestia flashed her horn and the Inhibitor Ring appeared in front of her, grabbing it with her hoof.
"Even though you have the confidence to overturn my sentence, I still feel that I have not redeemed myself for the evil I have done to Equestria, especially to Chrysalis and Clear Spark. If you will allow me, I would like to keep this ring as a reminder of my wrongdoing and as a warning to myself of what I can do to the world if I let my negative thoughts take over."
There was a sense of commitment and remorse in Celestia's eyes, something all the princesses could see and feel in her words.
"I think my aunt is ready to roam the world as a free mare, but if she doesn't feel ready, I don't feel I have the right to deny her that. What do you think, Twilight?" Cadance asked, looking to her side.
"I feel the same way, we will wait as long as it takes until she feels she has repaired all the damage she has done, even if we have to get Chrysalis' consent for all of this, what do you say Luna?." The young princess said in friendship to the monarch of the night.
"No, I'm afraid I can't allow it. You can't keep the ring as a sign of penance." Luna said seriously, looking at the ring and her sister, surprising everypony with her coldness.
"But why not? Don't I have the right to decide if I want to continue to repent for what I've done?" Celestia asked.
"My aunt is right, she has as much right in this matter as we do." Cadance said.
"True, and I think the only one who could ask Celestia not to do this would be Red Bug. She should be here too, but she disappeared as soon as we got to Canterlot." Twilight added.
"You're right, but I still can't allow it for one simple reason." Luna replied, stretching out her hoof to take the ring. "This ring is made of aluminum foil and it also has a candy attached to it." Luna smiled slightly, causing the group to giggle, then used her magic to make the real inhibitor ring appear and hoofed it to Celestia.
"Done, when you feel ready, return the ring to us and we will be more than happy to accept it."
"Thank you Lulu." Celestia said, hugging her little sister.
"And what are you going to do now Celestia, you're a free mare now, even if it hasn't changed much in your case." Cadance asked.
"Now I have to take the little ones back to the nursery and wait for their parents. Then I'll get ready for my romantic dinner with my husband." Celestia replied
"A romantic dinner? You have something special to celebrate?" Cadance asked, pleased and curious.
"Nothing special really, but we like to do it every month to keep the flame burning. We're going to 'L'insetto Nero' and I must admit the changelings cook very well."
"I hope you have fun on your romantic date and give my regards to your husband and little one."
"I will Twilight, but before I go I have a favor to ask." Celestia said as she approached her former student.
"Now that I am a free mare... um... legally free, I would like to help officially with the integration of the changelings into Equestria, I know they have integrated well, but there are still places or ponies that take advantage of the loopholes in the law or the good intentions of the changelings, now when I discover a situation like that all I can do is report it to the authorities and sometimes help takes longer than it should, and if I work in the integration office I can act more directly and quickly."
"Consider it done, I'll have to send some letters and talk to some ponies, but I'm sure no one will object to your help." Twilight replied with a smile.
"Thank you, okay little ones, it's time to go back to the nursery." Celestia said as she turned and walked towards the castle.
"YES AUNT CELESTIA!" Shouted the small group following their guardian.
"My sister has always been a very special mare." Luna said with a smile.
"Sure, she has always shown herself to be a powerful and relentless figure of great strength, an example of perfection to follow. But as her student, I have come to realize over the years that she is quite clueless and very childish." Twilight added.
"What are we going to do now that Celestia is a free mare and we no longer have to worry about her?" Cadance asked.
"First of all, we need to get disguised." Luna replied with a mischievous grin. Twilight and Cadance quickly joined in.
It was true that they were done with Celestia. But now they had to find out what fish the queen was after, or rather... who.