~~~~Canterlot High Courthouse~~~~

Judge Rock - I… beg your pardon?

Fluttershy - Oh. Dear me, I did it again, didn’t I?

Discord - Quite alright, dearie. Just keep it simple for his baldness. We don’t want to take up too much of the court’s time. We’ve got tea this evening, remember?

Fluttershy - Oh my, that completely slipped my mind… Well I suppose I’d better keep it quick then.

You see, that’s what happened to me. I became a personification of the very best things about me. But in exchange, I sort of… lost… some of the other things. See, I can’t… I can’t get angry at other ponies now. Even if they’ve done very bad things, they just need a little guidance to get back to doing good. Maybe they need to be punished, but I don’t think we need to go so far as prison… I mean, we’ve all made mistakes. Sometimes, we’ve made very bad mistakes.

I can’t hate them for what they did, since if I’d never have met Twilight and my friends who knows what I might’ve ended up as? There but for Celestia’s grace go I, you see. I can’t… This isn’t easy for me, you know? They’ve hurt lots and lots of other ponies, and some of them they’ve hurt very badly. I spoke to poor Bluefeather, and I understand why he’s so bitter and angry and wants revenge. But… But isn’t doing the right thing, no matter how hard it might be, supposed to be what an Element of Harmony does?

That’s what I wanted, isn’t it? To be able to finally help other ponies, to be able to do something good and right instead of just being dead weight all the time… Maybe I can’t be angry anymore. Or jealous. Or… or selfish. Or scared. M-maybe that’s the price I had to pay to be a pony that could finally stand up and do something about all the cruelties and injustices in the world. Maybe that’s why I’m here now, to make certain that all of these horrible things don’t end with more horrible things being done.

You understand, don’t you, your Honor?

Judge Rock - I mean… I suppose. You do realize this isn’t a trial, correct?

Fluttershy - That doesn’t mean there aren’t things we cannot do. We can talk to Fizzy and Quill, and maybe even Elegant. I’m certain once we’ve spoken to them they’ll understand what we’re trying to do for them.

Judge Rock - Miss Fluttershy, you are not making sense. What in the blazes has happened to you?

Fluttershy - I thought I’d… Hum. Maybe I need to be more explicit.

Imagine… Imagine one day you woke up, and all of those nasty negative emotions you had to deal with in your day-to-day life just ceased to exist. Well, except maybe frustration and boredom. I suppose those things will never cease to exist, no matter what we do. Hee. But… Anger, fear, doubt, despair… wel.. okay, the first three, anyway… Just gone. Why should I be angry or fearful of ponies who really don’t mean all the bad things they do or say? They’re just dealing with their own day to day problems. So I help them get past those nasty emotions so they can do positive things like love one another and forgive the thousand and one little mistakes we all make every day of our lives.

It seems so simple to me now, the solution to so many problems we have. We just need to be more kindly towards one another, we just need to take the time to stop and think about all of those petty emotions that make things so needlessly complicated. It’s… I know I sound crazy, I do. I know how hard it is to understand what it’s like to live without so many of the bad things that define our everyday lives.

Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek… I can’t blame them anymore. I might’ve been mad at them once, but now? I just wonder if maybe we were doing things the wrong way… Weren’t we supposed to be better than them? Weren’t we supposed to try to find a better solution that didn’t demand violence? What if Chrysalis just wanted somepony to love her like Cadence loved Shining Armor? Or Sombra just needed someone who cared enough to listen to the pain he was so obviously struggling with? Couldn’t we have found a better solution?

But now… now I don’t need to ask that. I am the better solution. I’ve given up things so that nopony else has to, so that nopony else needs to be frightened or scared anymore. Maybe I can’t feel things the same way I used to and maybe It’s a little… a little strange sometimes when I see all sorts of problems, but can’t figure out how to fix them. And I… I…

Oh. Oh, my, I’m sorry… I just…

Double Scoop’s Notes - Fluttershy shudders for a moment on the stand. There is a tense moment before a pulse of sparkling pink energy sweeps through the room from where she’s sitting, and for a single moment I can feel myself floating in a blissful haze. It seems to go on forever, a floating feeling of absolute peace with the world around me, and then just as suddenly it’s gone.

Fluttershy - I am so very sorry, your Honor. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to deal with all of this… I suppose I didn’t really realize how important it was for me to be wary of places and situations like this before. It made it easier for me to get comfortable with them over time, even if it always seemed to take too long… but now, now I’m never afraid of them. I leap into them without thinking, smiling and happily talking to other ponies. Is this what Pinkie Pie feels like? So happy to see and be around other ponies? Does she feel scared and tense too, when she doesn’t know what to say or how to say it?

I don’t always know what’s going on with me anymore. Sometimes I feel like I’m not entirely in control of what I’m doing or who I am… I feel like the world is pressing in around me, begging me to help fix things… Like I ought to be doing more. And when I’m around other ponies, things are fine! They really are! It’s wonderful to be able to talk to other ponies, and go out and have fun without being scared. I went out dancing for the first time by myself a few weeks after I took the potion… I actually talked to a cute stallion without losing my mind.

And when I’m alone its… its not so easy. I’ve been lucky to have Discord around. He’s helped me so much, helped me stay okay when all these new powers and strangenesses got out of hoof. Helping me not lose hope. See… It was hard to understand at first how I couldn’t just help everypony. Discord helped me see that it wouldn’t be possible. I could only be in one place at a time, and I could only help so many ponies. Someponies wouldn’t want my help, even if I couldn’t understand why.

I mean, why wouldn’t everypony want to be kind and nice to everypony else? Why wouldn’t they want to help other someponies get past their own difficult emotions? What’s so wrong about imagining a world where nopony is going to hurt anypony else? Why is that a bad thing!? All I want to do is make everypony stop hurting each other and just get along!!!

Double Scoops Notes- I can feel the hair of my coat raising up, as though some kind of surge of power is flowing through the room. For just an instant, I debate if running or not is going to save me from whatever might come next. Instead, I decide to continue recording these events. I can but hope that they might prove to posterity what’s happened here if things go wrong. Fortunately, Discord lays a heavy paw on Fluttershy’s shoulder and the feeling of tension dissipates.

Discord - Fluttershy. Stop.

Fluttershy - I don’t- I can’t- I- I- I-..

You… I’m sorry, Discord. That was very rude of me. I… I seem to be making a mess of things again. I should… I should try to wrap things up, shouldn’t I?

I… I came here today to tell some things to my friend. To Twilight. Princess Twilight. So she’d understand why I need to say some other things. Twilght… I love you so dearly. You’ve been with me through thick and through thin. You’ve forgiven me without a single thought no matter how many times I’ve messed things up for us. You’re truly a wonderful pony, and everything you’ve gained is easily your just desserts and more.

Now… now I need to ask you to do something much harder. I need to ask you to forgive the poor souls that did this to us. I know it’s not simple or easy to do that, especially for you. I know how much it hurts for you to see me like this, to know what I’m going through every day. But I want you to know that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want to do this. I need to do this. For so long, I’ve been protected by you and by our other friends. By Rarity and Applejack… and Dashie. I’ve hidden behind all of you for so long, and now it’s my turn to be strong.

And I can do it too. I can be strong for everypony, just like you are. I can help other ponies solve their problems and become better friends and kinder ponies. I can finally be part of the solution and not just another scaredy pony who can’t even leave her house without being frightened by a stiff wind.

Maybe it’s not easy. I know that, I knew that long before I took that potion and I changed… It’s not easy being the pony everypony looks up to, or looks to for help. It’s not easy being out in public where everypony can see you when you mess up or do something frightening and they give you those wide eyed looks and… and… And I can handle that now. They’re not bad ponies. None of them are. They’re just scared, like I used to be. But they don’t have to be scared. I can show them how to not be so scared. I can show all of them.

And even if it hurts sometimes, and even if I feel so very alone… even if I know nopony is ever going to want me for a wife or have foals with me, I-i’ll be okay.. I’ve got a reason to go out and have fun now. I’ll be able to help others who’re like I used to be, and give them hope and help them find confidence. Little by little, I’ll bring kindness to all the ponies of Equestria one somepony at a time.

But I can’t do this without your help, Twilight. I need you to help me one more time. I need to stop this long string of pain and suffering by helping Elegance and Fizzy and Quill and Goldie. They need our help, Twilight. They need to be put on the proper path, shown how to be kind and gentle… They’ll learn from their mistakes, but only if we teach them instead of punishing them. Only if we forgive them for their sins…

Double Scoop’s notes - Fluttershy is surrounded by an aura of bright yellow and pink light as she descends from the stand. She walks to where Princess Twilight sits and grasps her hoof in her own. From where I sit, it is almost as though two powerful auras of magic are clashing into one another. Little sparks of magical force are shooting away from the pair of them, and Princess Twilight looks torn. Fluttershy continues to speak, a look of resolution and beatific serenity upon her face.

Discord - Fluttershy, stop!

Judge Rock - Miss Fluttershy, you are out of order!

Fluttershy - No! I’m not going to stop! This is what I was made for! This is what I am now! I’m going to save those ponies! I’m going to save all of the victims! I’m going to help them find peace with themselves and move on with their lives! What happens to me doesn’t matter anymore!

Princess Twilight - Fluttershy, what are you talking about?

Fluttershy - You need to listen to me, Twilight. You must listen. All of the pain and hatred and anger they’ve caused, it will just keep happening! If all we do is punish them without trying to help them, they’ll never learn. And another generation will grow thinking the only way to solve a mistake is to punish somepony for it. But we can stop it, Twilight. We can put an end to it right now. You, and me, together.

We can forgive them. We can show the entire world the power of forgiving somepony’s mistakes and helping them learn to never make those mistakes again. We can make everypony else who made that mistakes learn from it, instead of just being punished and causing more and more pain! We don’t need to cause more pain, Twilight! We can end pain, right here, right now!

You’ve always been willing to help others, Twilight. Even when it seemed hopeless for them, you wanted to help them. You even wanted to help Trixie, and she hurt you worst of all! We can put an end to it, Twilight. We can fix the world so that the Elements of Harmony won’t ever be needed again. With your help, we can make everyone understand the power of Kindness and Friendship. I know you can understand, Twilight. I know you will understan-

Discord - That’s ENOUGH!

Double Scoop’s Notes - Discord teleports across the room and grasps Fluttershy by the shoulders. She looks up in shock and disbelief for a moment. For a split second, the serenity falls away and reveals the frightened and desperate pony beneath it. An instant later, both of them are gone in a puff of ordinary smoke. Utter silence falls across the courthouse, and Twilight’s chest - heaving from taking in oxygen - slowly comes back to regular breathing.

Judge Rock - … Princess Twilight, are you Alright?

Princess Twilight - I’m… I’m fine, your honor. I need… I need to go find her. I need to find Fluttershy.

Judge Rock - Princess, you might be in danger!

Princess Twilight - Then we’re all in danger, Judge. And It’s my responsibility to deal with danger when it arises. This inquiry is over. The rest of you, go home. I need to go find my friend.

~~~~~Canterlot Castle~~~~~

From the notes of Ms. Inkwell,

Princess Cadence sips her tea and speaks softly. “We’ve begun to get attention from some of the victims that weren’t on our initial list. Some of them have come forward willingly, while others have asked us to stay far, far away from them. It’s a pretty mixed bag, to be honest, and we think there’s a lot of others who simply are unaware that we know about them now.” She sets the teacup down and gives her aunt a frank look. “Sweet Tart has been exceptionally co-operative.”

The Princess nods. “I’m inclined to grant her her request. Making charges stick to Bluefeather would have been impossible anyway, and Golden Apple is not fit to stand trial.” She pauses, and smiles faintly. “I noticed Golden Apple in your livery by the way. That was very kind of you.”

Princess Cadence snickers. “She’s very enthusiastic. To be honest, I’m considering letting Princess Luna take care of her. She’s just too rowdy for my demure crystal ponies to deal with, and she’s been getting along famously with the Lunar Guard apparently.” Another pregnant pause, and she sighs faintly. “How’s Twily holding up?”

The Princess shakes her head. “Well enough. It’s not going to be easy on her once all of this excitement is over and she’s forced to realize we’re going to need to very carefully monitor two of her closest friends. I think she’s trying to come up with a solution to keep Rarity from doing anything… embaressing.”

Princess Cadence grins at her. “Like what? Climbing into Blueblood’s rooms in the dead of night and leaving him tied to the bed with a dildo shoved up his ass? And he swears it was consensual?” She giggles faintly. “It might be a bit disturbing to you, auntie, but I for one am glad to see someone finally put that fop in his place.”

The Princess sighs and munches on a cookie, and lets Cadence work out her giggles. Once the other princess is sober again, she speaks. “Amusing though you may find it, Cadence, I’m the one that needs to deal with the fallout. I worry about what she might do in a small community like Ponyville. Yet I have no legal recourse to force her to stay here in Canterlot.”

Princess Cadence shakes her head firmly. “Don’t even try it, auntie. I’d oppose you on that, and so would Luna. We’ll manage. You managed to keep me under wraps, even though I was the horniest teenager in history.” She smiles and pats Celestia’s shoulder. “We’ve got plenty of resources. Besides, she might prove to be an invaluable aid in our healing project.”

Princess Celestia nods once. “Mayhap. So many of these poor souls driven to some kind of sexual deviency… Is my kingdom that prudish, Cadence? Have I lost sight of my desire to make all forms of love acceptable, so long as they harm nopony?”

Cadence sighs. “There are a lot of old habits, auntie. A lot of old traditions and ingrained hatreds, not to mention laws that may be impossible to defeat without concentrated work. That’s why my plan has additional funding for allowing us to seek out other blighted individuals and help them find release and love without involving the public.”

The Princess turns to me, “Miss Inkwell, make a note. I wish to review the laws on sexual conduct later this evening, on a county-by-county level if necessary. I may have not been aware of this until today, but I shall be damned if I do nothing about it.”

Cadence nods at her, then pours more tea. “I am more worried about Fluttersh-”

Cadence is interrupted by a flash of violet magic and the appearance of Princess Twilight. Cadence drops the teapot, which clangs against the floor. “Cadence, Celestia, something happened to Fluttershy at the Inquiry!” Twilight bursts out, and Celestia and Cadence instantly are on their hooves.

Celestia speaking, “What was she doing-”

Cadence speaking, “No time to think about that, Auntie. Where did she go?”

Twilight speaking, “Discord took her somewhere, but she’s not in her cottage and she’s not anywhere in Ponyville!”

Celestia speaking, “Then I know where they’ve gone. Come close to me, we’ve not much time.”

The three princesses gather together, and vanish a moment later.

~~~~~The Castle of the Two Sisters~~~~~

From the personal journal of Twilight Sparkle,

I’ll never forget the first time I saw her in her new form.

She’d been hiding it from all of us, somehow. Her magic was starting to equal and perhaps even exceed mine in terms of raw power. More and more, she was becoming like the spirit of Chaos who tenderly watched over her. Though her body was not warped and chaotic like his, but rather she had become a vision of a pegasus goddess of old. But instead of the form of a warrior, she had the look of a protector and guardian.

Her mane and tail were long and silken, and they brushed along the ground even when she stood up. Her wings vast and soft, ready to wrap around any creature who might need her aid. The animals, who had always been near her, now seemed to cuddle protectively up alongside her. Angel Bunny was watching on in the deepest of concern when we arrived, finally. Her eyes were quite literally luminious, and bright cyan in color. If one looked close enough, you could see the shimmering of magic written in every inch of her.

When we arrived, she looked up and the newness of her faded away. Then she turned her head back into Discord’s shoulder and continued to quietly sob. “She didn’t mean it, Twilight.” Discord said in the quietest voice I’d ever heard him use. “She’s just young. Her power isn’t entirely under her control yet, and the spirit she embodies is a passionate one. It wants to help the world so badly, it doesn’t really care what it’ll take.”

Princess Celestia took a step forward, and Discord shook his head. “No. She’s my responsibility, Celly. None of you have the power to truly deal with her like I can… Not yet anyway.” His eyes had traveled to me in that moment, and I wondered what he might know about me that I did not. Then he turned to Celestia. “You might be able to imprison her, or restrain her, or send her away… but they’d all be temporary measures. What she is can only be truly restrained in stone, and I will not allow you to do that to her.” His eyes blazed at us, fierce with protectiveness. I’d never seen Discord do that for anypony, not even Fluttershy… but he clutched her body against his like it was the most fragile treasure in the world.

Princess Cadence put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder and shook her head. “Will she be okay?” She asked quietly, her concern obvious.

Discord nodded. “She’ll be fine. She just needs some time to cool down.” He paused, then gave us all meaningful looks. “Alone, for now. We’ll talk about how we can make sure she’s safe around other ponies later. But right now, her power is too raw for her to even look at any of us. So please, Go.”

It went against every instinct I had to leave that place, but the look in his eye was powerful enough to make me hesitate. Then Fluttershy spoke herself, her voice infinitely gentle. “I promise we’ll talk later, Twilight. Please just… let me stay here for a bit, okay?” The way her voice broke on the words, how could I deny her?

So we went back to the castle, in silence. There, I learned about Princess Celestia’s plans to help all of the victims of this terrible crime. And it was there that I learned about the fate of Lady Elegant and Quill Tip, the last two actors in this play that had yet to have their endings decided.

~~~~~~~~~

I chewed on my pen for a long time as the sun slowly arced through the sky. That days events weighed heavily on my mind. “What are you writing there, Mr. Scoops?” That was the Judge, an old drinking buddy of mine. We’d known each other since I was just a little colt reporter doing my first job for The Times.

“Trying to figure out how to write this into an article, yer honor.” I drawled back at him, and examined the end of my quill pen with disgust. I kept ruining these things by chewing on them, but I couldn’t help myself. My mom had always called the habit weird. “How do you talk about the birth of some goddess of Kindness in a newspaper article? Seems like the kind of thing you wouldn’t be able to put to words.”

The judge shook his head as he descended the steps of the courthouse. “If you would wish my advice, son? Don’t write about it. Don’t tell anypony what you saw there at the end. Tell a lie, or a story. Give them something to think about like the tragedies that have taken place, rather than the individuals who really wish to be left in peace. Personally, I am going to go home and have a nice hayburger and try not to think too hard about today.” He sighed. “I have a feeling it will be best that way.”

Maybe he was right. I nodded to him and he trotted on down the street, leaving me alone with my thoughts. After everything that had happened in this case, perhaps I oughtn’t to have been surprised. So I wrote what he told me to write - A lie. I pretended she’d run out of the courtroom. I pretended the Judge had called the Inquiry to a close. I did a lot of pretending that afternoon, but sometimes that’s necessary.

It may be that nopony will ever read this book. It might be that nopony will read it for a hundred years, and the meaning will be lost to ya. But if you are reading this now, if you’re seein the events the same way I saw em, then I got this to say. Sometimes, things happen and when they’re over the whole world is different. Sometimes, bad things happen and they scar us so badly that we can’t ever be the same someponies we were before.

It’s a hard lesson to learn, especially for young kids. We like to think anyone can bounce back from anything when we’re young. We like to pretend it doesn’t matter when we’re transformed from the inside out by circumstances beyond our control and that we’ll still be the same somepony we are inside. That horrible events don’t create horrible scars upon us. We like to pretend these things because it’s so much easier than living up to the truth.

That when bad things happen, they change us. Sometimes, they change us into things we never were before. This case changed me too. This is the first time I’ve ever not told the public about what happened in a courtroom, and instead made up a story. Even if I made it up to protect other ponies, I did somethin’ that I previously never would’ve done.

Maybe there’s a lesson in that, somewhere.

I stood up from the steps and walked towards the Lunar district. A hayburger sounded pretty good right then, and I had a lot to write about… and think about.

-Double Scoop, reporter for the Equestria Times. “The New Life Placement Agency - The Rise and Fall of the Case of the Century.”

Author's Note

Epilogue to come. New project announcement on Sunday.