//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: The King of Angels // by Wheenesss //------------------------------// (Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, 3:20 PM) The entire room went quiet at that declaration. Most of the Element Bearers couldn't believe what they just heard. Twilight picked her jaw up off the floor first, "Excuse me princess, you want us to WHAT?!" Celestia nodded, "You heard me right. I would like for the six of you to reform Isaac." "But... WHY?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "Um.... It guess it kind of makes sense when you think about it?" Fluttershy said. Everybody turned to her, causing the shy pegasus-turned-alicorn to "eep!". "What could you possibly mean, darling?" Rarity asked. "W-Well he hasn't really done anything nearly as bad as Discord did when he was free. The most I can think of is that he casually messed with ponies' minds, he kidnapped Princess Cadence, he stole those two mirrors from Princess Celestia, and brought those Sirens back to Equestria." "Those are all still pretty wrong though." Pinkie Pie pointed out. Fluttershy shook her head, "Oh no! I-I'm not saying they aren't. But he's actually done some good things as well. He saved the polar griffons from Nightmare Moon, and there isn't anything technically wrong with turning us into alicorns is there?" Celestia smiled, "Thank you, Fluttershy. That was quite insightful of you." The yellow mare blushed, looking at the floor. "Y-Your welcome." The sun princess sighed, "Although those good actions probably weren't done for entirely good reasons. When I talked to Isaac earlier, he implied that part of the reason he saved the polar griffons was for good publicity." "Figures." Applejack remarked. "I also fear that we may be playing into his hands regarding your transformation into alicorns." "What do you mean by that?" The sun princess sighed, "I think he counted on the fact that I wouldn't necessarily want you to stay alicorns when he changed you. So that if he was ever captured, I would have to let him go in order for him to change you back." Twilight and the others looked deeply disturbed by that, "Princess.... what's wrong with us being alicorns?" Celestia shook her head, "Nothing at all. It's just the way it happened that doesn't make me comfortable. If you all became alicorns on your own merits, I would have crowned you Princesses of Equestria within a week." "It would certainly cut down on the paperwork." she thought. "Instead, Isaac has shown that he can just simply change ponies into alicorns. Imagine if he turned a pony with more... flexible morals into an alicorn." "That still doesn't make sense when it comes to us being alicorns. You know you can trust us, right?" Rainbow replied. The white alicorn thought about it for a moment and then promptly groaned, facehoofing. "Um.... Princess Celestia, are you alright?" Pinkie Pie asked. She chuckled, "I'm fine. I just realized that I've been acting rather foolish when it comes to your transformation. You're right, I should be trusting you. The Elements of Harmony wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't good ponies." The solar diarch stood up straight, serious yet smiling. "Princess?" Twilight asked. "Which is why I've decided to let you decide what happens. They're your bodies after all. Whoever wants to remain an alicorn will be crowned a Princess of Equestria. If you want to go back to your previous form? Then that is fine as well. Captain Armor will be allowed to make same decision as well." The six of them had mixed reactions to this news. Rarity squealed, running around in circles, "This is perfect! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!" Twilight gasped at the huge amount of trust her teacher was placing in her, "Oh. Wow! I-I don't know what to say." "I'm going to be the Princess of Parties! WOOHOO!" Pinkie cheered, pulling confetti out of nowhere. Rainbow grinned, "Awesome!" Applejack's eyes widened, "Woah." Fluttershy looked like she was about to faint, "I-I... You! Me, a Princess?! I couldn't!" Celestia chuckled, "Relax everypony. You don't have to decide immediately." Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy let out the breaths they didn't know they were holding in. She continued, "There is still the matter of Isaac's reformation and whatever the changelings have up their sleeve to discuss." Everypony became serious once again. "As said before, the six of you will be his parole officers. Do not let him out of your sight for even a second. You have the Elements with you, so don't be afraid to use them if he tries anything. He will be wearing a special magic suppression collar that will restrict his power down to about fifty percent. He won't be able to shapeshift out of it either." The six of them nodded, "Right!" "Then I believe it's time to go get your new charge." (Canterlot Castle, The Dungeons, 3:40 PM) "FIFTY-THREE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-THREE BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!" "OH MY CELESTIA MAKE HIM STOP!" one of the poor guards shouted, trying to cover his ears with his hooves. He was not alone, as guards and prisoner alike tried to block out the noise. Their tormentor was none other than Isaac, who was singing badly. "FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!" he rattled out with a grin, his voice like nails on a chalkboard. With the magic suppression collar blocking his access to the siren magic he copied from Adagio and her sisters, his singing voice was horrible. It was useful for annoying people to pass the time though! The sirens in question were covering their ears as well from inside their own cells on the opposite side of the dungeons. "I'm going to drown him. I'm going to drown him like a sack of dumb puppies." Adagio thought, teeth gritted as she curled up in the corner of her cell. "All of my hate!" Aria's thoughts were similar. "A-At least we know where he is now, right?" Sonata said, trying be optimistic while she cringed. "SHUT UP, SONATA!" her sisters replied. "FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!" This was the scene that Celestia and the Element Bearers walked in on. "Why is he so bad?!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she covered her ears. Her friends were in a similar predicament. Celestia on the other hand was turning red with anger. "Benefit of the doubt. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Remember, he hasn't done anything that bad since he's been free." she repeated this mantra in her head. The white alicorn took deep breaths as she walked in front of Isaac's cell. When he saw her, his grin widened and he began to sing even louder. "FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROU-" *ZAP!* His singing was interrupted as the sun princess blasted him with a silencing spell. Everypony sighed in relief. "Thank you, Your Majesty!" a guard said, joined by a few others. Even some of the prisoners joined in on the thanks! Celestia smiled, "Your welcome." Then she glared at the bound angel, who was scowling at her for ruining his fun. "I'm going to undo the silencing spell. If you start singing again, I will put it right back on. We need to talk." Isaac rolled his eyes, but nodded. *ZAP!* "So what now? This is the third time you've talked to me today. Ponies might start asking questions!" the ancient evil chuckled! The white alicorn grunted, "Be serious. It concerns your future after all." Isaac hummed, "Let me guess. Based on the fact that your student and her friends are here, you're going to let me out on 'parole' in exchange for changing them back to normal?" "Something like that. The collar you're wearing is specially designed for you by me. I can adjust the settings. You will be at half strength, and I will always know where you are. The six of them will be your parole officers, and they will be wearing their Elements at all times." He looked at her suspiciously, "What exactly are you planning?" Celestia chuckled, "Well, you told my student and her friends that you intended to do some community service and surprisingly you have. I figured that you needed somepony to help you along the way to becoming a productive member of society." His eyes widened in realization, "You intend to have them reform me?" The angel starting laughing, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that's rich! That might work on Discord, but not me." The white alicorn rolled her eyes, "You'd be wise not to underestimate them." Isaac grinned, "If anything, you're underestimating me." Rainbow couldn't help but speak up, "If you're so hot, then why are you the one in the cell?" The angel glared at the blue mare for her smug remark. "How about you be quiet while the adults are talking?" Rainbow glared back, "Excuse me?! I oughta-" Her sentence was cut off by Applejack covering her friend's mouth, giving her a look that told her to shut up. "Thank you, Applejack. I'll agree to this on one condition." Celestia looked skeptical, "Prisoners aren't normally the ones making the demands." He smiled, "Ah, but you need me to change the Element Bearers, Cadence, and Shining Armor back to normal." "True. What is it?" "My friends, the Sirens? They get released with me." The sun princess nodded, "They will be restricted just like you are, you do realize that?" Isaac nodded in return, "Alright." The white alicorn turned to one of the unicorn guards. "May I have the key to his cell?" The guard nodded, "Yes, Your Highness!" He pulled out the key, levitating it over to her with his telekinesis. She grabbed it with her own telekinesis, and unlocked the door. *CHINK!* The door opened, and Celestia walked in. She placed her horn on the collar, releasing around half of his full power. Isaac grinned, feeling his strength returning. She backed away. *BREAK!* The angel broke the chain on his wrists, legs, and wings. He stood up, and started stretching. "Ah, that feels much better. Staying in that position for hours did a number on my back." he sighed in relief, touching his toes. The sun princess rolled her eyes, "Sorry for the inconvenience." Isaac chuckled, "Oh, it's really no proble-" He cut himself off as he sensed something, eyes widening. He slowly turned his head towards Twilight Sparkle and his friends. His grin re-appeared as he looked specifically at one of them. "Why hello there, changeling." (Canterlot Castle, The Infirmary, 3:50 PM) "Cadance? How are you feeling?" Shining Armor asked, as he walked into the room. He walked on an unsteady three legs, seeing as his right foreleg was in a sling due to it being broken. "Better than before, that's for sure." Cadence said, smiling softly from her tiny bed on top of a normal infirmary bed. She was still a bite-sized earth pony rather than a normal sized alicorn. Shining walked over to her bedside, levitating a flower-vise onto the nightstand nearby. "Does Princess Celestia have any idea how to return you to normal size?" he asked. Cadence sighed, "Sadly, no. The only thing that can change me back is..." "Isaac." Shining growled, but stopped when his tiny fiancee glared at him. "Calm down, Shiny. Aunt Celestia wouldn't release him without a plan." The new alicorn sighed, "True. So how have you been adjusting to your new... stature?" he snickered as she pouted. "Very funny, mister. How are the wings treating you?" Shining Armor blushed, "They're kind of hard to control. They keep sticking up when I don't want them to." Cadence giggled, "I had a similar problem when I first got my horn. I kept firing off accidental magic all the time." The two lovers laughed at their respective predicaments, before an uncomfortable silence began. The white alicorn gulped, "Cadence... I didn't come here just to check on you again, as much as I would LOVE for it to be that way. I have something I need to get off my chest." The nurse who was currently attending to the tiny Princess took this as her cue to leave for a moment. Far be it from her to intrude on a personal conversation like this. The two of them waited until the door closed "What is it, Shining?" Shining fidget , "While the Changeling Queen was impersonating you, I.... had sex with her." Cadence's eyes widened in realization, her mouth agape. "Shining, you-" He looked on the verge of tears, "I didn't know, Cadence! I thought she was you! She.... she had me under a trance half the time due to her magic." The white alicorn sighed, looking down at the floor. "But I know that doesn't make you feel any better. Look, if you want to call off the wedding I will completely understa-" "SHINING!" Cadence shouted, cutting him off. He looked back up at her. The tiny Princess took a deep breath, "This is... a lot to take in. You're right, it doesn't make me feel much better. But I know it wasn't your fault. She even had Aunt Celestia fooled. How could you have known?" "That isn't an excuse." Cadence sighed, "It.... probably isn't. Somebody should have been able to tell she wasn't me. But I still love you, and I still want to marry you. You told me about this even though you could have just kept it yourself." she smiled softy, "And that really means a lot to me." Shining looked up at her, eyes hopeful. "You mean it?" She nodded, "I do." she chuckled, "You know, this is the part where we would kiss or hug or something. Only..." she gestured at her small size. Shining started laughing with her, "So you don't hate me?" Cadence shook her head, "I could never hate you, Shiny. Be angry at you, yes. But never hate you." her eyes narrowed, "Who I do hate right now is that kidnapping, life-stealing, fiancee-bucking, rotten little bug queen!" The white alicorn chuckled nervously at his fiance's anger, "What about Isaac?" The pink Princess rolled her eyes, "At least he and his partner fed me decent food regularly. They also didn't gloat daily about how they were going to take over Equestria." "But he did turn you into a bite-sized earth pony." Shining pointed out. Cadence shrugged, "True. He also turned me into a poodle and a mouse." Her fiance's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" "Yeah, that happened." Shining started snickering, causing Cadence to roll her eyes again. "It's not that funny." "Yes, yes it is." he replied, grinning She glared at him, but couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face. The two of them broke out into laughter. Despite the odd circumstances, they were back together again.