They were all seated, Twilight was just there, staring at the tiara in front of her. It represented all of her fears and hopes. The burden of being a monarch, or the joy of an old friend returning to them, return to her. She looked around at all the ones gathered there. For once, those charged with guarding the royals were the ones to make an important decision. Twilight didn't like the look on their faces. Those who had already voted were not allowed to change their vote at this stage. It was all up to these unknown visitors from foreign lands.

"As before, those of you that want Celestia off the throne, you raise your hoof, or, hand, or whatever, I'm tired," said Pero. Twilight stood up on her seat.

"I know I have no real authority here, but, could I perhaps say something?" asked Twilight. King Pero smiled at her.

"Of course you can," said King Pero. Several tired royals groaned. It was quite late, after all. Luna was the only one there who could have been described as alert, no surprise there.

Twilight took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She felt a need to be composed, how she acted now could change everything in ways she couldn't even imagine.

"Thank you all for being so patient. Before we begin, I want to tell you something very important. I believe that Celestia is right for Equestria, and I also believe that despite her flaws, letting her have her throne, her birthright, is also the best for the rest of the world. I do not mean much by that, except for the fact that she is compassionate. She makes her ponies happy, and if others ask for help, she readily gives it to them. The thing that is the biggest problem, that she summoned the Cycle of Destruction, I get why that made the council feel a need to vote against her. I know that is a problem, but I'm also sure that Celestia has been punished enough for that mistake at this point. She was disgraced, she almost lost everything she had because of that. And you know what she did? She did nothing. She did not give up her duty of guiding the sun, because she was aware that if she did, then we would all face long harsh winters. She respected the council's choice. Even when off the throne, she still holds very much power in her hooves. She could control and destroy everything, but she refuses to. She is merely a pony, trying to keep her subjects, and those beyond her borders, happy and content. Yes, summoning the Cycle was a single moment of foolishness, but she didn't do it because of ill will, or evil, she did it because of love. Love, for her sister, the same love she shows her friends, subjects... and everyone else. You are no exception. Now, when we vote, who would you prefer to wear that tiara, that crown? A pony like me you barely even know, who has never ruled anyone? Or an experienced Princess that is filled with love, compassion, and peace? If nothing else, if you don't like Celestia, and that's okay, then at least you will know where she is at all times. If you still do not trust her, at least you will always know she is here in this castle, rather than a wild card out in the world. Now, vote, please," said Twilight, sitting back down.

"Voting continues. Begin," said King Pero. Twilight just took a deep breath, holding her hooves tightly together towards the table, like she feared that they would suddenly just jump up and vote against her beloved mentor. It was silly, but she didn't even want to risk it. She kept her eyes closed. She could hear movements around her. It was clear some had voted against, but how many?

Please, please, please, she thought to herself. The moment very slowly passed. There were no whispers, no idle chitchat. Just the sound of ponies and other beings breathing, as the seconds ticked by one by one.

"The votes have been counted, and added to the total sum. I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle," said King Pero, walking up to her seat, placing his claw on her shoulder. Twilight opened her eyes in fear to see that a whole twelve had voted against Celestia. It all totaled up to- "But I'm going to keep this safe until she comes back," said Pero, picking up the tiara from the table. The majority had become the minority. Celestia's return and subsequent stay had been decided by merely one vote.

Twilight turned towards everyone there. "Well," she said. "I do believe that settles it. I believe you are all entitled to a good night's sleep," said Twilight.

Some ponies and some of the guests started to move out of the room. Twilight and every single one of her friends stayed behind, as did some of the guards who had voted. King Pero stayed there as well, keeping the tiara quite safely tucked away beneath his cloak. As the last left the room and closed the door behind them, they all jumped up and cheered.

"We did it! We did it!" yelled Spike in triumph.

"Twilight, you saved my sister! I thank you most dearly!" shouted Luna with a mighty voice, hugging Twilight like she was a little doll.  

"Good show!" said King Pero, dancing merely with Pinkie Pie.

"Wait, can't they just hold the vote again?" asked Shining Armor. Cadance shook her head.

"Not for at least ten years. By that time, Celestia will be back in their favor, I have no doubts about that," she said with a smile.

"I hate politics. I really do," said King Pero.

"When will she be back?" asked Spike.

"She should return soon. It has been some time after all, so we should not expect an immediate return."

***

So, they waited. Some of the guards there, some of which didn't even belong to Equestria, were quite cheerful, even relaxed. Shining Armor had sent for some food and refreshment, which they all eagerly took part of. Pinkie Pie had left for a little while, and Twilight was quite surprised when she returned. It was the former members of Group Misery.

"I figured we needed a party atmosphere," said Pinkie Pie, handing Instrumental her keyboard.

"But how did you, how...? It doesn't matter. Why are Eras- Hiltguard, and Rerry here too? They should be resting," said Twilight.

"Our wounds are not that dangerous to us, I was dismissed and sent to the dungeon again shortly after you left me there. And as far as I know, Rerry will heal well if she is with Chance," said Hiltguard.

"Chance?"

"That would be me," said Random, letting Rerry lean towards him. Her wound had been bandaged and she was already on her way to health. "Why are you looking at us like that? We merely followed this Pinkie Pie."

"Just don't escape, you have to answer to Celestia once she gets back," said Twilight. Chance looked at her with a somewhat nervous look.

"Right, yes. Of course," he said a bit hesitant. "Wow, I haven't been afraid of a beating in a long time," he said, surprised at himself.

"Do you really think she would beat him?" whispered Spike.

"I don't think so, maybe? No, what am I saying? Of course not. Not physical punishment, some kind punishment, yes, no doubt, they deserve it, but not hitting them in revenge. That's just not Celestia," answered Twilight.

"Are we talking about the same Celestia? The one who sent a filly to a griffin prison?"

"That's different. She tried to destroy Canterlot, these ponies just tried to get to Cesom to get rid of their curses. If it hadn't been for Misery, then we would never would have had to deal with this mess. Then no poor pony would have died," said Twilight.

"I, I wonder how many Misery has killed behind our backs," said Chance, looking greatly concerned.

"How many have you killed personally, or hurt beyond repair?" asked Twilight.

"Few, but still too many. Many scared and threatened ponies. I've... killed one, in her cursed name," said Hiltguard.

"Nopony has ever suffered for more than a day with me. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I've removed much of value from many ponies. Still, I refuse to be blamed for any situation where they outright willingly accepted the terms. I've rarely had to force somepony to accept by blackmail. I have technically been conspiring with Misery against the throne, so I'm hardly innocent."

"I've caused fear in ponies, and exhausted them like you wouldn't believe, but nopony has ever died because of me," said Instrumental. "Wait, what about Dot?"

"She's safe. I deemed her harmless myself, so I spoke with the guards. She is on the journey home to her parents," said Luna.

"Poor little Dot. Maybe now, she will finally be in public without creating chaos," said Chance. Suddenly, the doors flung open with great force. Twilight and Shining Armor were both shocked to see a pair of familiar faces there this late.

"I knew I heard your voice," said Twilight Velvet with tears in her eyes. Night Sky was standing right next to her. They both looked directly at their children.

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

All four of them ran, bumping into each other. A big warm group hug soon followed. Twilight was just so happy to finally see them see her in turn.

"We've missed you so much," said Shining Armor.

"I've- Wait, somepony is missing," said Velvet, reaching out her leg towards Cadance who proceeded to a bit sleepily join into the hug.

Sheila "Solitary" Shields turned away at first, not wanting to feel the shame of having separated such a loving family, but she took a deep breath and then walked over towards them. She patiently waited until they were done, which started with Night Sky recognizing her, looking down at her somewhat. They all turned towards her.

"I'm sorry that I did this to you. I can say that I was just following orders, but that's never the right thing to say. I can't blame Misery for what I agreed to do. I apologize, my only excuse... is that I was desperate to be hugged by my own family. Hm, they're going to be quite ashamed of me once I contact them," said Sheila.

"We'll be able to forgive you, eventually, but for now, please just let us spend time with our children in peace," said Velvet. Sheila nodded her head respectfully and walked over to Hiltguard.

"That was quite mature of you, Shelly."

"'Shelly'? You're calling me 'Shelly'?"

"I thought it would be cute," said Hiltguard a bit awkwardly.

Mood approached Twilight, keeping his eyes on her hooves like a reflex.

"Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. I'm am sorry too for what I've said and done to you. I know what I attempted is despicable, and I will never forgive myself-"

"I can forgive you," said Spike, walking up to him, looking up into his eyes. Mood just stared at him, and then he started to cry. He ran away, blubbering from tears of joy, thanking Spike as he ran and buried his head in a nearby tablecloth.

"Hey, could I... could I, play some music? I haven't done that in a long time without something bad happening," said Instrumental, a bit meekly.

"Sure, silly, it wouldn't be a party otherwise. I'll be the drummer!" said Pinkie Pie, grabbing her by the hoof and pulling her up on the stage. Once Instrumental managed to start playing something simple, she looked quite happy. It didn't take long for her to indulge herself, playing as much as she could. Pinkie Pie and her actually managed to create a really nice beat. It was worth dancing to.

"Well, I suppose since this might be our last night outside of a cell, we better enjoy ourselves. Perhaps it would help with the healing," said Chance. Rerry was almost about to start dancing when he stopped her. "I mean mentally."

***

And, to the surprise of many, they did enjoy themselves. While they had all experienced some rather awful things during their time there, at least there were some nice moments too. The two groups of ponies did generally stay away from each other during the night. It was both from fear and respect, from both their sides. Fear of judgment from the former Group Misery and the respect they had for Twilight and her friends. Chance realized that they were in great debt to Twilight, who had saved all of them from Misery, who had exposed her lies, who had not merely left them all down that hole to die for their crimes.

With that in mind, they still managed to have a good party, filled with the joy of finally having rid themselves of their curses, of finally having defeated Misery. But, the greatest joy for Twilight came as the night had reached its end. The sun was slowly rising, shining in through the large windows. The door slowly opened, and there, stood Princess Celestia. Twilight just looked at her for a while before running right into her embrace.

"I thought I would never see you again," said Twilight.

"So did I, my dearest Twilight." She did not let go of her pupil for quite some time. King Pero strolled up to her, getting out the tiara from under his cloak.

"I believe this is yours," said King Pero. Celestia glared at him with a stern look, but then broke out a smile and accepted her grown back. She gently placed it back on her head where it belonged.

"It feels nice to be back again, I can't deny that, and I won't," said Princess Celestia. Her very appearance just looked more lively with the return of her crown, even her mane started to flow a little from her wonderful aura. She took a deep breath, and then looked at the former members of Group Misery.

"All of you, get over here," said Celestia, quite cross. They walked a bit hesitatingly towards her, but not one of them seemed to want to run. They bowed down in front of her. "You've hurt and terrorized my citizens; followed a psychopath in a quest to destroy me and what I stood for; Invaded my castle and attacking my guards; made my star pupil unable to speak with her family; and you almost helped destroy everything everywhere. So, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Nothing, except that we are sorry. We do not know you well, but some ponies here have described you as merciful. We do not expect mercy, however. Do with us as you please," said Hiltguard.

"Is this all really our fault, however? Misery has lied to us for a very long time, manipulating us, pretending to be our stern friend, I'm still shocked at what I've learned today, and it was not Misery who summoned the Cycle of Destruction," said Instrumental. Hiltguard hit her on her shoulder, slightly too hard.

"But she was the one who chose to give them to us. It doesn't matter for me anymore. In the beginning, I chose to side with Misery, and everything that happened from that point on was due to that decision. As far as I am concerned, everything that has happened was due to that choice, and nothing else. Sure, Celestia is partly to blame for the curse in the first place, but not the part we wanted to get revenge on. And now, when we have seen just what revenge can do, the pain and terror it can cause, I do not wish to pursue it anymore. We are responsible for our actions, that is true for Celestia, but that does not automatically mean that we are excluded from that rule. We have been aware of this for some time, it is time we do as we say. We have to forgive, and receive punishment."

"True," said Celestia, looking down on him.

"Celestia, there is something I want to tell you before you decide their punishment," said Twilight.

"And what is that?" asked Celestia, sounding patient.

"While, I haven't exactly seen the result, I did see the beginning of it. They have destroyed Cesom," said Twilight. Celestia looked at her, first in disbelief. But when it dawned on her that Twilight was speaking truth, it was a sight to behold.

"They did?"

"Erase, or Hiltguard, had to stop Cesom before it destroyed everything, so he used Mood's strange power. He managed to find or figure out some sort of incantation that made Cesom crack up, and break into pieces. Also, a bomb exploded on it. I didn't see that part, I heard it though."

"This... I've tried to protect the world for centuries by keeping it safe. I've wanted to destroy it a hundred times over. I've tried, as well! Tell me, what did you do to destroy that terrible threat?" asked Celestia in disbelief.

"I have a decent memory, and I believe Mood said 'Reslennabröf aråv trob at cho vläjs gid atniröf, Cesom'," said Chance.

Celestia just fell down on her knees. She looked like she was in absolute shock.

"What? Is that bad?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"No, it's wonderful," said Celestia. She started to laugh, and she did so loudly. "After all that time, after all this time keeping it secret, and it was so easy. I, I've tried to use magic to annihilate it, complex, old magic, and nothing has worked. And it turns out I have been trying too hard! I cannot believe this!" she said, laughing with extreme joy.

"Celestia, what are you talking about?" asked Twilight.

"Cesom works with commands in a long dead tongue, so ancient that nothing natural remembers them. I only learned the language after studying a stone inscribed with it, for a decade, and I barely know it still. Those words, they are literally just a command, telling Cesom to destroy itself and remove their curse." She laughed even harder. "I never even suspected something like that, oh joy! So much worry, for nothing! Oh, life has a twisted but lovely sense of humor," said Celestia, finally getting the composure to stand upright again. "Oh, oh... Well, you have still committed quite grave crimes, but, this favor to the kingdom, to the world, makes me think that a reward, to balance it out a bit, is in order."

"What? No! We have done too much! We have hurt too many!"

"I will not merely let you go free. I know you need punishment, but, this action of thwarting Misery, who I assume is dead or incapacitated, correct?" Twilight nodded.

"Yes, she is dead. If she survived that, she frankly deserves to live," said Rainbow Dash.

"I see. Well, our settlements out in the great buffalo plains are still building. There is a lovely little town in its very infancy, with merely eighty ponies, only made up of tents as of this moment, trying to grow into a proper settlement. As punishment, I sentence you to community service. You will not be allowed to leave that town until it is properly built and settled. You will protect it and its inhabitants with your lives as those plains can be quite hazardous. You will be given work to do by the mayor, hard work, understand?"

"What is the name of the town?" asked Sheila.

"It has none as of yet. But, I've gotten inspiration for it today. I will call it White Silver."

"Silver? Is it a mining town?" asked Hiltguard.

"No."

"This, this is a great opportunity for us. We can start a new life there," said Chance. "Together."

"I... I might be able to write to my family, maybe, maybe even get them to visit, maybe even move there in time," said Mood, realizing the possibilities.

"Celestia, thank you very much for this, I give you my word that we will not allow this opportunity to slip us by. We will work hard, not to destroy our past, but to build our future," said Hiltguard.

"Ooh, can I come?" asked Rerry.

"I think you're forced to," said Chance, putting her hoof over hers with a smile that she returned.

"If you leave that settlement or surrounding area without my personal approval, I will deem you criminals and you will be banished from Equestria."

"If we would waste this opportunity, we would deserve it," said Chance.

"This is going to be super hard, isn't it?" asked Sheila, a bit uncomfortably.

"We've handled trouble before, we can do so again, if we have each other," said Hiltguard, leaning against her, both for support, and to show affection.

"For the moment, you are to return to your cells. The train on the way to Ponyville goes in that general direction, so you will go there under the supervision of Twilight Sparkle in a few days, after which you will continue to White Silver under the supervision of an official."

"Very well," said Hiltguard. They all got up, and returned to their cells. As they were about to be escorted back to the dungeon, Hiltguard turned towards Celestia. "I thought you were a terrible power hungry pony. But you really are compassionate, aren't you? I have never been this happy to be this wrong. Thank you," said Hiltguard.

"She's really nice too. She would have given us that community service even without destroying Cesom, knowing we have been victims in this too," said Chance, looking at Celestia from under his hat. She turned her head slightly to look at him.

"And what makes you so sure?" she said, sounding even a little cold.

"Instinct. I tend to call bluffs. Good night," said Chance. When he left, and the door closed. Celestia cracked a little smile. "Typical gambler."

The sun was shining into the room quite clearly. "It has been a very long day and night, hasn't it? How about we all go to get some sleep?" she suggested with a kind smile.

"Yeah, we could do that," said Pinkie Pie. As she said so, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Spike all collapsed from sheer exhaustion they had been forced to endure. It was over, without a doubt, it was all over. Tomorrow, or, technically today, was a brand new day, and they would sleep through most of it.