(FR) Parent's Night Out - The Lost Finale

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/307551/parents-night-out
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	Celestia holds her hoof to the doorknob of the Canterlot Dungeons, but does not move. She takes a moment to take an inventory of the way she holds herself, the way she breathes, the way her facial features rest naturally. Every reaction will be a weapon for her. Celestia looks down to her quivering hoof and flexes the muscle to still it. There can be none of that when she goes inside. She closes her eyes, bites her lip, then eases the door open.

	She can’t allow herself to make the same mistake twice.

	Her hoofsteps echo against the stone floors and through the empty, enchanted cells of the dungeon. It has been a long while since any of these cells stood full. They are powerful enough to contain the most rambunctious of unicorn magic and to keep Equestria safe. It should be strong enough to contain Cadance, for now. It gives her time. Celestia makes her way down to the only cell illuminated by a torch and focuses her sight on the iron bars of the cell, until the shadow of a pony comes into focus.

	Cadance stands tall and resolute, her two violet eyes piercing the darkness and drilling into Celestia. She holds her weight off of one hoof and still has a few scabbed cuts covering her face.  Her hair is full of tangles and hangs around her dirt-covered fur. Celestia doesn’t dare to break eye contact with her alicorn student as she approaches. She stops in front of the bars, the torch illuminating the two of them deep underneath the castle, where nopony else dares to tread.

	"So, are you going to send me to the moon now?" Cadance says, her voice low and biting.

	Celestia remains still, staring down at her in silence. Cadance cracks a slow, knowing smile, turning her head ever so slightly.

	“What a better way to solve your problems than to send them far, far away. Then, they can never crop up again. I bet it even feels good, too,” Cadance says before turning on a high pitched, regal tone. “Oh, we can solve our problems without capital punishment. We’ve come so far as a society to resolve our issues peacefully.”

	Celestia feels a chill run down her spine, but refuses to change her expression. She knows she must be strong. There may still be hope. She has to believe that.

	“I’m not banishing you,” Celestia says.

	“Stripping me of my Princess status then?” Cadance says, turning to walk along the prison bars. “Oh! Wait! You can’t, can you?”

	Celestia sighs as her gaze follows the prowling teenager.

	“No, I can’t. The Alicorn ritual is permanent. It’s old magic.”

	“So what, Celestia? Going to keep me locked up? What’s the point? You know this is all your fault.”

	Celestia grits her teeth to ensure her face does not change from its practiced serenity. She pauses her thoughts to consider how her hooves hold against the stone floor. She’s relieved to find they aren’t shaking. She can feel Cadance stripping down her form limb by limb with her eyes, but doesn’t let her inside.

	“I know,” the princess says. “In some ways, I was too heavy-hoofed. And in other ways, not watchful enough. I allowed this to happen. But that will never excuse what you’ve done.”

	“Fall in love?” Cadance says. “Find the love of my life?”

	“Corrupt an innocent soul and shatter it. Maybe beyond repair.”

	Cadance gives a short laugh as Celestia moves to sit on the stone floor.

	“You really believe I was so terrible to him?” she hisses. And then, as she speaks, her words take on a dreamy quality. “I made him happy. I gave him the attention he deserved. I was a better parent to him than those two ever were. And I showed him what love really is. True love.” Then, she stops, refocusing on her former mentor with redoubled resentment.  “We were happy, Celestia.”

	“You were destroying him, Cadance,” Celestia says flatly. “Surely you saw the effect you had on him. He was terrified of you. You manipulated him.”

	“Everything I did was for his own good. And you know it,” Cadance spits. “You know a thing or two about that, don’t you?”

	Celestia remains silent, her hair flowing as she watches her student.

	“You can’t keep me here forever,” Cadance says.

	A heavy silence fills the chambers as Celestia breaks her practiced gaze to look to the floor. The stone is worn and weathered, withstanding the test of years of turmoil and prosperity. It offers her no solace today, nor did it almost a thousand years ago. When Luna was here.

	“You’re probably right,” Celestia says. “You’re smart. Smarter than I ever gave you credit for. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll let you go. I can’t condone what you’ve done. “

	“Then what?” Cadance says, chuckling to herself. “Are you going to use old magic to [i]fix[/i] me? Make me [i]normal[/i]?”

	“No, Cadance. I would never stoop to your level.”

	Cadance frowns for a moment, but soon her smile is back and her laughter rises in intensity.

	“You’re totally right! You’d never do what would make you happy. How could [i]I[/i] be so stupid? You could never be like me. You could never be happy.”

	Once Cadance’s laughter dies down, she sets her sights once more on the Princess.

	“So, what? You can’t punish me, but you can’t ever let me go?”

	“All I can do,” Celestia says. “Is try to teach you. I’ll try to show you the difference between love and lust. I’ll show you why this is wrong, so you can change. I can never forgive what you’ve done, but I know you can change, if you try. I still care about you, Cadance. I will always care. But you need to learn that what you have done is wrong.”

	Cadance simply smirks.

	“You know that won’t happen.”

	“I have to try. I can help you.”

	A silence falls through the dungeons as the torch crackles. Celestia holds her breath, unsure of what Cadance might say.

	“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tia.”

	Celestia rises to her hooves, feeling the anger boils in her throat.

	"I will not let you leave until you've changed your ways. If you want to stay locked down here for the rest of your immortal life, fine. But I will try to teach you. I will come down here everyday if I must. Because I can help you. And I know there is some good deep down inside you, somewhere."

	Celestia takes a deep breath as a smile slowly forms on Cadance’s face. Cadance tosses her mane to one side.

	"Then, this is just going to be how it is from now on. Isn’t it," she says quietly.

	“It doesn’t have to be,” Celestia says.

	“But, it will,” she says. “I can keep this up as long as you can.”

[hr]

	As Princess Celestia closes the door to the holding room, she tries to keep the noise to simply a quiet click. A chill runs through her limbs as she feels the gaze of two ponies lock onto her. She turns her own focus to meet her next challenge.

	The holding room is small, with a large pane of one-way glass that looks into, what is supposed to be, an interrogation room. The holding room has a table with a few chairs, normally used for discussing how to question the individual in the next room. Sitting at the table now is Cedar and Willow, who study the Princess’s expression with a laser-focused precision. Celestia feels a sense of emptiness and exhaustion wash over her as she moves to sit at the table with Anon’s parents.

	“Well, what are we waiting for, Princess,” says Cedar, breaking the silence. “It’s been hours.”

	“Cedar,” Willow says, placing a hoof on her husband’s as if to hold him back.

	The stallion sits up straighter and holds his wife’s hoof as Celestia folds her legs in front of her. The Princess’s eyes move down to her own hooves as she tries to form appropriate words to explain the gravity of the situation.

	“I can understand that you’re very anxious to take Anon and return home,” she says gently. “I know this has been difficult for everypony involved.”

	Celestia pauses, looking up to the two ponies in front of her. She studies the calm, collected expression of Willow, whose lip trembles ever so slightly as she holds a Daring Doo book. Celestia wants to believe that Willow is staying strong for her son, but knows that look too well. Her eyes move to the husband, whose muscles are tense, his jaw tightened. He furrows his brow at Celestia’s silence.

	“In a few moments, we’ll re-introduce you to Anon, but we need to talk about what has happened. There is an old magic that’s in play here. It will take a long time for him to heal from this-- If he heals from this. It will be hard. Not just for him, but for both of you.”

	“Do you think we can’t take care of our own son?” Cedar says, his voice gruff and accusatory.

	“I never said that,” Celestia says placatingly. The stallion remains silent as she looks him in the eye. “I am saying that Anon is in a very fragile state. I only want to emphasize that the spell that was cast on him has… well. It’s been a long time since any pony has even attempted to dispel the effects of it.”

	“Can’t you just cast some spell or something?” Cedar says, his voice rising. “Put his mind back in order. Change his memories back, or something!”

	“Cedar, let her speak,” Willow says.

	“Magic messed him up, Willow. Magic can put him right again. That’s how this works.”

	“We can’t, Cedar,” Celestia says. “We can’t change his memories back.”

	“And why not?!” Cedar shouts, rising from his seat. “Cadance messed with his head! Just undo it!”

	“Because we cannot restore what is already gone,” she says. “The memories are simply not there anymore. And even magic cannot make something out of nothing. If we tried to create something new, something he wasn’t ready for, the results could be catastrophic for him.”

	Celestia watches calmly as Cedar grits his teeth and lets out a huff. Willow raises a hoof and places it on Cedar’s back, then gently guides him back down into his seat.

	“This is your fault,” Cedar says quietly.

	“Cedar,” Willow says again, acid at the tip of her tongue.

	Celestia closes her eyes, letting a silence hang in the air as she tries to recapture her breath. She doesn’t blame him. He has a right to be angry. It doesn’t make the words any easier for Celestia to swallow, but she won’t deny the truth. After a moment, she focuses back on the stallion.

	“I know,” she says. “And I want to be sure it’s made right.”

	Willow moves her hooves back in front of her as she nods.

	“What do we need to do?”

	Celestia nods and looks down to her hooves.

	“It will be… like readopting him all over again. He won’t know who you are. He won’t have memories of you or how you’ve raised him. It was all replaced with her. And even worse… his perception of love is beyond distorted. It’s more construed with lust than love. You’ll have to teach him about what healthy love is. Family love. Love without conditions, demands, or force. Love that doesn’t degrade you, or devalue you, or drive you away from those who care about you. A non-selfish love. He will have trouble growing close to others, or grow too close. I’m not sure if I’m making myself very clear,” Celestia says, turning her gaze to the glass.

	Cedar and Willow turn their head as well and look in at the small colt, sitting in the corner of an almost empty room. His mane is still mangled and dirty from the fight earlier in the day. His eyes are focused on the floor as he huddles into a small ball, deep in thought. Celestia breaks her gaze away, feeling as if a small knife has been plunged into the small of her back.

	“It will be a long journey. You will have to take things very slow. And I can’t honestly say if things will ever be… normal.”

	Willow nods, looking to her husband. Cedar looks back to her and comfortingly pats her on the shoulder.

	“We’ll do whatever it takes,” Willow says, turning her gaze back to Celestia.

	Celestia hums in affirmation, but still feels a sense of hesitation nagging the corners of her mind. Not because she doesn’t believe the ponies in front of her, but because she isn’t sure if she can ever prepare them for what they’re about to undertake. It’ll be a journey of a lifetime to heal Anon, and heal isn’t likely the right word. Perhaps, repair is the right phrase.

	“Can we see him?” Willow says. “I think we’d all like to try to move on from this. Try to… rebuild our family. It will take time, but we can get through this together. That’s what family is.”

	Celestia looks up to the mare, whose gaze shows a desperation she’s seen before, in another lifetime.

	“Yes. But, I want to emphasize one last time. You will need to take this very, very carefully.”

	Celestia rises from her seat, then, with a wave of her horn, unlocks the door to the other room. Cedar and Willow rise from their seats as well, then wordlessly walk to the door, side-by-side.

	The two stop in front of the door as Celestia turns her gaze to the one-way glass. The colt raises his head to the door, curious. No. Hopeful. She sees him mouth the word ‘Mom?’, causing the princess to hold her breath. Cedar places a hoof on the handle, pauses, and then pushes the door open. The colt freezes, staring at his adoptive parents. Celestia feels her breath escape her lungs as she moves towards the glass to watch the reunion.

	The two walk into the room, looking carefully at the colt in the corner. A quiet moment passes as Anon rises to his hooves, staring at the ponies across the room wordlessly. Cedar does not move, but Willow eventually steps forward.

	“Hi there, Anon,” she says quietly.

	“Hi,” Anon says, unmoving.

	Willow takes a step, then another, slowly closing the distance to the colt in the corner. Anon turns his head slightly, still focused on Willow.

	“My name is Willow,” she says gently, moving closer to the colt. “And I brought you something I thought you might like. Have you read it before?”

	She holds up the book as she moves closer. He looks up to the book, then hastily looks away, shaking his head. Willow continues to move forward, but stops just a few feet away. She sets the book on the ground, sits, and smiles warmly. Willow looks into Anon’s eyes as the colt shivers. She raises a hoof and reaches out towards his shoulder. Celestia holds her breath, and hopes.

	“Would you like to read together?” she asks.

	Her hoof brushes his fur longingly. His gaze moves to her touch and he jerks back as if harmed by an electric shock.

	“Mom told me not to talk to strangers,” he says weakly.

	And then Anon steps away, just out of Willow’s reach.