Official Royal Fucktoy

Chapter 5: Retirement

The crown jewel in a glistening capital city, the royal palace also happened to be a hive of activity. Ponies dashed back and forth, books, furniture, games, and any and all other items held in their grasp. The scene was almost akin to a mass evacuation, if not for the fact of taking far more than just the bare essentials. In amidst all the chaos were Celestia and Luna, using their own magic to considerable effect in transporting some of their most valued items while at the same time attempting to coordinate the efforts of the crowd around them.

“No, put the desk in first, otherwise it’ll just crush the books beneath it,” Celestia was attempting to explain to a pair of ponies who were struggling beneath the weight of boxes filled to the brim with heavy, leather-bound books.

“Make sure to keep those video games sorted by genre. I don’t want to find Mare-io Kart mixed in with Them’s Fightin’ Herds again,” Luna directed to another couple of ponies who were stacking the plastic game cases into a crate.

Despite years of ruling an entire nation, neither was completely immune to the stress of a chaotic move. Especially when that move involved thousands of years worth of items and a shift in royal power that no other pony had ever experienced in their lifetime. So far they’d already had delays from several different staff getting lost in the bowels of the castle so obscure were the items that they had been sent to find. On one particularly noteworthy occasion, a maid had confused two different potion bottles, giving half the cleaning staff ridiculous ailments when they tried to do the laundry with a bottle of poison joke concentrate. So it was with some relief that a break from the current affairs was offered when a messenger came through the passageways looking for them.

The gray stallion came to a stop in front of the princesses, kneeling down quickly in submission. “Princesses, the royal guards have been assembled as you ordered,” he said.

“Thank you, squire, tell them we will be there shortly,” Celestia responded, to which the messenger returned to his hooves and trotted off again.

Turning now to a brown unicorn with a castle cutie mark emblazoned on their flank, Celestia spoke again. “Constable, we must briefly leave to give the royal guards a proper goodbye. You’re in charge while we’re gone, and remember-”

“Don’t let Blueblood in here anywhere, I know,” the unicorn said with a knowing smile.

“Excellent.”

For all the propagation of peace and friendship, Equestria was nonetheless still equipped with some form of military. This took the form of the royal guard, a unit almost exclusively seen within Canterlot itself. In accordance with their duty of protecting the various members of the government, their barracks were housed within the royal palace. Nestled deep within the thick stone walls, surrounded by powerful defensive enchantments, they were built to withstand any attack short of an alicorn. And it was here that Celestia and Luna traveled in order to complete another portion of their transition away from power.

Even from the outside, the purpose of the room was apparent. There were banners of Equestrian soldiers strung across the walls, accompanied by various coats of arms and emblems representing the different branches of the service. Taking inspiration from the Equestrian flag, each emblem featured a depiction of Luna or Celestia depending on the branch, inside of a sun or moon and with crossed spears behind. A pair of guards stood at attention on either side of the doors, one each of Celestia’s and Luna’s cadres. As the royals approached, the guards moved swiftly to pull the doors open and allow the princesses access.

Past the doors the true expanse of the chamber became apparent. Within its confines stood the entirety of the royal guard contingent with all of its branches, representing almost the entirety of Equestria’s military forces. The files of guards were divided roughly evenly across either half of the room. On one side stood Luna’s personal guards, mainly thestrals clad in dark bluish-gray armor. On the other was Celestia’s force, made up of ponies of various breeds with primarily white coats and their trademark golden armor. As the pair of princesses entered the room, the guards from the door silently slipped past them and took up their appropriate positions within the formation.

The princesses drew up in front of the ranks, observing their faithful soldiers with gratitude. Here were creatures who dedicated their entire lives to their princesses, and were even willing to sacrifice themselves for the sisters. And yet now they would serve entirely new masters.

Celestia decided to begin the procedure herself, having been around most of the assembled guards significantly longer. “Any country is only as good or bad as the beings who it consists of. And through your service, Equestria has only ever become better and better. Any land would be fortunate to receive the services of creatures so valiant as you. Through all your years of dedicated service, you have protected Equestria with your lives through any and all circumstances which have required your assistance,” she paused to gather her breath, and allowed Luna to take over the speech.

“However, no country can remain the same forever. Evolution and change are simply the way of existence, and so too must Equestria evolve along with the world. We can no longer effectively lead you or the country, and so must abdicate in favor of a new ruler. Given your excellent records, we expect you to be as devoted to her as you have been to us. And with this change in ruler, you must be prepared for any and all new challenges that may arise. You have already faced many hardships in your time serving us, and yet they represent only a fraction of what this world has to offer,” Luna said.

“But now is not merely a time to look to the future, but to appreciate the past as well. And whatever changes may come and how the world might be reshaped, we will never forget you,” Celestia added, before they both stepped forward and jointly finished:

“Thank you for your service.”

As the speech ended, the entire formation of guards raised their hoofs in unison to form a well-practiced salute. The effect was almost psychedelic as the motion rippled across the columns, a joint display of solidarity and loyalty. Both Luna and Celestia smiled in return, appreciative of the sentiment even though it technically was no longer necessary.

After a few seconds of watching the guards hold the pose, Celestia made a small gesture to the stallion at the head of one of the formations; Luna doing likewise with the thestral at the front of the other.

Each turned to face the guards behind them and barked out an order “At ease, return to your previous assignments!”

Immediately, it was as though a wire pulled taunt had gone slack, the rigid perfection of the guard’s poses dropping in favor of more natural posture. They quickly began to break up from their neat columns as they returned to the various tasks that they had been working on prior to the assembly.

The guard at the head of Celestia’s half of the room trotted over to the princesses in earnest. It was of course Captain Shining Armor, all dolled up in his finest golden uniform. As he drew level with them, his trot slowed to a clop and he came to stand in front of them. With an about face Celestia and Luna made to exit the room the way that they had entered, Shining Armor right behind them. Darting down the hallways, they took a few twists and turns until they were out of sight of anypony else.

“Well, you’ve already given your little speech. What would you like from me?” Shining said, looking between the two princesses.

“We wanted to say goodbye to you a little more… personally,” Celestia admitted, pawing at the floor with a hoof.

“As much as we appreciate all of our staff throughout the years, there are still some who have been more involved with us than others. And it would be fitting to end that interaction on a similar level, rather than as just a mention among the pack,” Luna further explained.

“Heh, does that mean you want a session of ‘Goodbye Royal Fucktoy’?” Shining asked, only semi-jokingly. In accordance with this, he began looking around for a room where they might slip off unnoticed for their final session together. However, he was cut off by Celestia’s response.

“Quite the opposite actually,” she said. “You’ve been serving us for so long as merely a guard, or a fucktoy, we wanted to show you gratitude more equally. Perhaps even part ways as… friends?”

“After all,” Luna continued, “You were one of my first new friends when I returned. A help that I will certainly not forget.”

Shining stood quite still, taken aback by the Princess’s words. Having grown quite used to the jaded way in which Celestia would interact with him, he was unprepared for this development.

Seeing his hesitation, Celestia quickly tried to amend the situation. “O-of course, we understand if you still have some awkward feelings toward us. Our relationship never was ideal… we just… we really did want you to know that we appreciated it. And appreciated you.”

Finally gathering his wits, Shining managed a response. “No, it’s fine. I’d rather part ways in peace than just cut things off out of nowhere,” his face scrunched up in consideration for a moment. “You are right in that I wouldn’t really call this situation ideal, and I won’t lie to you about my feelings. They are still mixed. But it is better to at least try and end things on a decent note. I guess maybe… keep in touch?”

“That would be wonderful. It will be nice to have some pen-pals in our retirement, and keep up some relations,” Celestia said, clapping her hooves together in pleasure.

“Yes, it will do us some good to remain in contact with at least some of our friends. I certainly hope to keep seeing you online, and maybe even in person again,” Luna concurred, smiling at Shining. The snow-white stallion would normally have seemed very large and possibly intimidating with his muscular frame and crisp uniform. But in the presence of the millennia old sisters, he was more of a colt just finding his place in the world. Still, that place was one that they could all enjoy together.

“I’d like that,” he replied, “It sounds like a plan. And I’m sure Twilight, Cadance, and I will pop in to see you from time to time. I assume you’ve made arrangements with them as well?”

“Not quite yet actually,” Celestia said. “Simply for the fact that such a transition of power is a far more complicated endeavor. Any time we have with them will likely be marred by the various official proceedings, much as you’ve already seen with the guards. Our goodbyes will likely have to wait until shortly after the official coronation ceremony. Then we might simply be able to interact with them as any other pony, rather than constricted by rules and regulations.” As she finished, she got a faraway look in her eye, seemingly contemplating the future of not being the ruler for the first time in thousands of years.

“And that also brings us back to our time with you. For all the positions you have held, and the power we have exerted over you, we would like to part ways as equals. Merely as friends,” Luna finished. She reached out a hoof tentatively, and after a mere moment’s hesitation, Shining took it. As they shook, Luna grabbed his hoof more strongly and pulled him into a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear, her words drowned to the world but shared between the ponies who needed them most. Both then felt another weight join them as Celestia added herself to the pile.

“Yes, thank you for everything, Shining Armor.”

The hug was over almost as quickly as it began, everypony involved pulling back and straightening out their regalia. With a final wave and warm smiles, Celestia and Luna disappeared back down the hallways they had come, leaving Shining alone with his thoughts.