Condemned

Twilight returned home early the next morning, satisfied with the results of her research, eager to tell Spike about them when he arrived back. She would say it was a pity that he missed out on it, but doubted he would have enjoyed another trip to the castle with her anyway.

But her pleasant thoughts were soon to be forgotten. As she came into view of her home at the Golden Oaks library, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. The library was surrounded by guards, and she even spotted an investigation team combing the surrounding area for clues. Her first thoughts was that something might have happened to Spike when he returned, and she instinctively flapped her wings harder, coming in to try to land quickly.

The reaction to her fast approach was anything but what she expected.

"Incoming!" shouted a pegasus from a nearby cloud, apparently having been a look out.

Twilight thought it was odd that he'd refer to her approach as if she were a cannonball, but even more odd when the soldiers on the ground took up a defensive position, earth ponies in front with spears drawn, unicorns in the back, clearly powering up as if they were going to fire.

Her first instinct was to look behind her to see if something else was coming, turning mid air and beating her wings into a hovering position. She was met with another four pegasai guards, taking formation in front of her. For a moment, they all just hovered there in midair, until finally one of the guards got the nerve to speak.

"Y-you will land immediately and peacefully, Princess Twilight," stammered the guard, "Or we will be forced to engage you."

Was he... afraid of her? She nodded slowly, even more confused at the look of visible relief that fell over the guards' faces, as if they had really expected her to put up a fight. She thumped to the ground, folding her wings neatly behind her, and turned to face the others.

"What's going on here?" Twilight demanded.

The guards were silent for another few moments, then one of the earth ponies nudged at his commander. The commander stepped forward, literally looking like he was about to piss himself in fear, "M-Miss Sparkle, you are under arrest. You will accept a horn restraint and come quietly and immediately with us."

"I will do no such thing," replied Twilight, "Where's Princess Celestia? She'll have something to say about this!"

"She is being debriefed in Canterlot," replied the guard, "This is a police matter."

Twilight knew that the crown wouldn't involve itself in police matters, and Celestia wouldn't make an exception for someone she liked and trusted, but what police matter could warrant the use of an entire squad of guards? Why did they think she was going to be violent?

"Before I accept anything, what am I accused of?" demanded Twilight, "I have a right to know before you go sticking any magical restraints on me."

"Assault, rape, and murder," answered the guard, "The murder of Prince Blueblood, his servant Velvet Ribbon, and the attempted murder of Fleur-de-lis."

"Assault... RAPE?... MURDER!?" Twilight was completely taken aback, "That's... that's absurd! That... that sort of thing doesn't even happen! Not even Discord or Chrysalis would sink that low!" If only she knew.

"That is... beside the point..." the guard said.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but it just hung there, unable to think of what to say now. The guards behind him were still powered up, and Twilight could feel their magical energies targeting her. If she even looked like she was going to do something aggressive, she would get blasted. If she tried to escape, she'd risk bystanders in Ponyville being injured in a cross fire, not to mention kicking a regiment of enforcers around wouldn't exactly look good on her.

There had to be some mistake. She would go see what it was, and be released by the morrow. She was sure of it.

"Very well," said Twilight, "I'll go with you."

"What? No!"

Twilight turned again towards the voice, to find Rainbow Dash hovering a distance away, the pegasai now blocking her path to Twilight as they had tried to do to Twilight herself.

"Miss Rainbow Dash," stated the guard, "This is a police matter. Princess Sparkle is accused of serious crim-"

"She didn't do that!" screamed Rainbow, "And if you can't see it, I'll beat some sense in to all of you!"

"Rainbow Dash!" called Twilight, cutting off further threats by her loyal friend.

"I... Twilight I'll help you," said Rainbow.

"Rainbow please," said Twilight, "It's a misunderstanding, I'll be back in no time. Don't get yourself in trouble on my account."

"But Twilight they said... If they decide you're guilty they'll... Twilight," Rainbow began to hover lower.

"Trust me," said Twilight, "Just come visit me in Canterlot, I'm sure they'll allow you to visit."

"F-fine." Rainbow huffed. She charged the nearest guard enough to make him flinch, then banked and flew away. Twilight could tell she wasn't going home from her direction. She would probably be at the dungeon in Canterlot by the time Twilight arrived.

Twilight sighed and turned back to the other guards. She lowered her head, and allowed a magical nullifier to be latched onto her horn.

Twilight sat on her haunches at a simple table in a dark room. They had wound her up quite securely; not only did she have the magic nullifier strapped about her horn, but her wings were tied to her back and each pair of legs had a pair of shackles. She'd ask why she was being treated like this, but with these accusations she already knew.

Across from her sat a silent investigator, looking over some papers on the desk, a pile of reports from various witnesses or investigators, from what little she glanced of them in the dimly lit room. He had a dark brown coat and mane, with a cutie mark of a large magnifying glass, typical fare for an investigator. She could see that her questioner had shaky hooves however, was he getting up the nerve to speak to her?

"Are we going to speak?" Twilight asked, forcing herself to be calm despite her impatience.

"Of course," he responded, shuffling some of the reports into a neater pile, "May I ask where you were last night from evening to morning?"

Twilight sighed, and knew this wouldn't help her, "I was in the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters, studying a lock box we found there."

"Do you have any alibis?" asked the investigator.

"No, no I do not," said Twilight, "Spike would normally be with me, but had gone to Canterlot to help some of the mages at the University with dragon studies." Pause. "Have you cast a lie detection spell on this room?"

"Oh yes, my assistant is reading it through there," he pointed towards the two-way mirror, "But at your level, even with a horn brace you can put up tremendous resistance to magic of that type, I'm afraid it will be of limited use during a trial."

"How convenient..." murmured Twilight, "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a question. Why do you think I was somewhere else?"

"You were seen," said the investigator, "We have witness reports that you entered Canterlot through the usual entrance and spent a lot of time around the victim Prince Blueblood's mansion. Not to mention the witness from the crime scene itself."

"And who was that?" asked Twilight. She had already overheard that it was Fleur, but didn't want to risk them claiming she knew without being told.

"Fleur-de-lis," said the investigator, "She was very near death when found, and has given a witness report from her place in the hospital."

"I'm glad she's still alive then," said Twilight, "This can't be, it had to have been a changeling or something."

The investigator shook his head, "You may not have been aware, but we've installed a detector for changelings at the main entrance, and we've done tests of the scene. Since it was so fresh, we were able to get a great deal of magical residue that matched you in a way that changelings just can't duplicate. Not to mention, a knife from your own kitchen was used to stab Prince Blueblood, and you even left your saddlebags there in a panic. Additionally, the maid's socks were found at your premises, and Fleur witness that you had worn them during your assault."

"Why are you talking like I'm guilty already?!" Twilight snapped back at him, and then closed her eyes, "This can't be. It had to be something else. Some kind of shape-shifting monster or a powerful unicorn."

"The list of unicorn that can perform that well is woefully thin," he replied after a long pause to be sure she wouldn't lunge at him, "We did check for alibis, for your information. We didn't play favorites, even the Princesses were asked to supply alibis to be complete. Every one of them had one."

"Except for me," sighed Twilight, "Do I get a lawyer?"

"We are... having difficulty finding one to take the case," said the investigator, "We'll... keep you informed."

"I don't want to talk anymore," said Twilight, "Take me to my dungeon."

"If you want us to understand, Princess Sparkle, you need to answer our questions."

"No, no I really don't," said Twilight, "Take me to my cell. I want to see my friends when they visit."

"Ah," he replied, voice quivering again, "It's been decided that... you will receive no visitors, until we know for sure if you worked alone or not. Perhaps you could help us if you answered more..."

"TO MY CELL. NOW."

The investigator jumped at her sudden loudness, but nodded. "Very well then."

As she stood up and slowly walked to the exit, she paused and turned to the stallion one last time, "Theoretically... what would the punishment be if I were found guilty?"

"I'm afraid there is talk of execution, Princess Sparkle."