Judge Twilight Sparkle

“18 year old, Lyra Heartstrings, is suing ex-roommate 19 year old, Sweetie 'Bon Bon' Drops, for unpaid rent and property she took when Bon Bon moved out. Bon Bon says she owes nothing and just took what belonged to her”

“All Rise” Spike shouted out from the front of Ponyville’s Town Hall, which thanks to some well placed drapes an a few benches looked very different than usual “Quiet in the Courtroom”

Everypony settled down, so Spike turned to his mentor “Princess Twilight Sparkle, this is case number four fifty two in the calendar, in the matter of Heartstrings verses Drops.” Spike handed the alicorn some papers whilst he spoke, then turned back to the court “All parties have been swore in. You may be seated.”

“Thank you Spike” Twilight warmly smiled at her brother and number one assistant, so naturally also decided he could be her courts' bailiff. Celestia had wanted a couple of Royal Guards to do the job but Twilight insisted that she could handle any real issues. Besides, the bailiffs pay gave extra income for gems.

Twilight looked out over her court, noting the many members of town sat in the public gallery before turning to look at a mint green unicorn. “Lyra, it is your claim that you were renting a house with the defendant but that she left before the end of the lease and you want to be paid up until the end of the lease, as well as the rent she missed. You also claim something about items that the defendant took and I’ll hear all about that later”

“That’s correct, Princess” Lyra replied.

Twilight cringed internally a little at being called princess, but understood the need for it in court. “Bon Bon, your defence is that you had no choice but to leave and so you don’t feel like you owe Lyra any money. You also say anything you took with you was your belongings.”

“Yep”

“Yep is not an answer in court” Twilight replied a little curtly.

“Sorry, yes Princess”

“Okay Lyra, I’ll start with you. Please explain how it came about that Bon Bon owes you for the lease.”

“Well, about three years ago we signed a rolling lease on a two bedroom house in Ponyville, which has a three month notice period."

“Do you have a copy of the lease?”

“It’s right here Princess”

Lyra picked up a piece of paper in her aura, and Spike took it from her and passed it to Twilight. Twilight levitated it in her own aura and read it quicky “Given you split the rent equally, that’s 100 bits a month” Twilight noted “Okay, continue”

“Two months ago my housemate Bon Bo…”

“We weren’t just housemates…” Bon Bon stated to protest

“Don’t interrupt her, you’ll get your turn” Twilight interrupted the beige earth pony, giving her a scowl “Lyra, please continue”

“Two moths ago Bon Bon decided to move out without notice, leaving me with not only four months rent unpaid, but also the three months notice to pay for.”

“Why did she suddenly move out?” Twilight inquired

“You would have to ask her.”

“No, I’m asking you, I’ll get to her later! So you’re saying you have no idea?”

Lyra bit her lip a little “Well, Princess, we had an argument.”

“An argument about what?”

“I’d rather not say in public Princess”

Twilight rolled her eyes a little, and looked over to Spike who was looked equally as annoyed, and she turned her attention back to the unicorn. “Now, was this living together as housemates, or living together as more than housemates?”

“Well, we moved in together as housemates.”

“That’s not what I asked!” Twilight snapped a little, annoyed that Lyra was avoiding answering a simple question.

“I’d rather not say Princess.”

“Well, I’m not doing it to be nosy - ” Twilight tried to be warm “- but I do need to understand the facts of the case. To be honest, I think the whole of Ponyville knows that…”

“We were more than housemates Princess” Bon Bon butted in.

Twilight turned to the earth pony “I said you would get your turn, so don’t interrupt again!”

“Sorry Princess” she replied meekly

“Look Ms Heartstrings, you seem to be holding back some information and that always makes me suspicious, but let me sum it up. You and Ms Drops moved in together originally as housemates, but would it be fair to say that over the years you became closer?”

“Yes Princess” the unicorn agreed.

“And that this argument was about something to do with that relationship?”

Lyra nodded before remembering she was in court “Yes Princess”

“Great, that’s what you could have said from the beginning. I don’t need the personal details, this isn’t a therapist’s office! I just need an understanding the chain of events. Okay Bon Bon, do you want to explain why you feel you don’t owe her for rent?”

“Well, we broke up and she forced me to move out!”

“How did she force you to move out if you were both on the lease?”

“Well, the relationship broke down and it was too uncomfortable to stay there anymore, so I moved back with my parents.”

“So? That was your choice! Relationships break down but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay the landlord what he is owed! Why should he, or Lyra, be out of pocket because you decided to move out?”

“And she was always late with her rent” Lyra chipped in.

Twilight turned to the unicorn with a scowl “I told her not to interrupt you, so you should do the same.”

“Why should I have to pay rent on a place I don’t feel comfortable living in?” Bon Bon asked.

Twilights wings fluttered a little “Hey, you don’t get to ask questions in this courtroom, I ask the questions!”

“Sorry Princess”

The wings continued to flutter, showing the same sort of mild anger that was evident Twilight's voice “You have to pay, because you signed a lease!”

“But I wanted to move out years ago, it was Lyra who kept extending the lease!”

“Don't spit on my cupcake and tell me it's frosting!” Twilight snapped “You were clearly in a relationship of some form for the past three years, and you had no intention of moving out until you had a lovers quarrel. So don’t lie and tell me you wanted to move out before!” Bon Bon turned away from Twilight's piercing eyes and pouted a little. “Okay Lyra, what about the items you claim she took?”

“Well, when Ms Drops moved out she took all of my records as well as all the photo albums.”

“Did you take those items?” Twilight asked Bon Bon

“They were brought when we were together so we both paid for them and therefore yes, I did take them.”

“Even if I believe that, that only gives you the right to half of the stuff you brought together, not everything!”

“She even wrote me a letter saying that she didn’t want anything back”” the earth pony protested back.

Twilight smiled a little “If that was true, she wouldn’t be suing you! Do you have the letter?”

“I do Princess”. Bon Bon picked up the letter in her mouth and started to approach Twilight, until Spike stepped forward and ushered her back “Don’t approach the Princess, I’ll take that. Gives me something to do...” he quipped, as he took the papers from Bon Bon’s mouth and handed them to Twilight.

“Sorry Princess” the earth pony apologised whilst Twilight was reading the letter. Twilight finished reading, and released the letter from her aura.

“This doesn’t say she doesn’t want the items back?”

“It says she wants me back and she doesn’t care about possessions.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t have you back! Clearly she was trying to get you back in her life, but that doesn't mean you could take everything you wanted” Twilight snapped before turning to the unicorn “Lyra, did you buy all the records?”

“No, some of them were brought together, some were mine, some were Ms Drops”

Twilight sighed “Nice of you to be honest. However, when two ponies live together, but don’t get married, it’s not up to the court of any Princess to decide what gets what possessions, so I’m not going to waste time splitting up small possessions. I’ll make an order that you are given copies of all the photos but you’ll have to re-purchase the records.”

Twilight turned back to Bon Bon “However, the rent I will deal with. You don’t seem to have any reason not to have paid back rent, unless you can give me a good reason why you were in arrears?”

“I couldn’t afford it, the stall went through a bit of a dry spell.”

“Look, when two ponies live together, whatever the arrangement, they should be expected to contribute to their share of the costs. Not being able to pay your own way, that makes you a bum! It's not unreasonable for Lyra to expect you to make good for the rent. Now if you were staying at home with an adopted foal or something, that would be different, but that’s not the case.”

“I would have stayed at home but Lyra didn’t want to adopt a foal, that’s what the fight was about!”

“Wait, I never said I wouldn’t adopt!” the unicorn stumbled a reply. Twilight was about to silence the interruption, but her lessons in friendship made her pause for a moment to let this continue.

“So…you do want to adopt…with me?” Bon Bon asked a little nervously

“Yes…not right away as I don’t think we can afford it, but once we can…” Lyra trailed off and looked up to Twilight, who just smiled warmly. Lyra got up from behind her bench and approached Bon Bon, who did the same. The pair met in the middle of the court and rubbed noses “Of course I want to adopt a foal with you one day!” Lyra half cried.

A collective “awh” came up from the public seating, but Twilight didn’t mind and smiled at the couple “I presume you want to withdraw your case without prejudice Ms Heartstrings?”

“Absolutely Princess!”