A Stallion of Law

The Next Day

... What I'm the narrator I can do that

Lawton was sitting at the desk in his new room at the vacation home of Shining Armor and Cadence. Lawton was as happy as he could, he was in a room that didn't smell like his traditional vodka, and he was reunited with his childhood crush Twilight Sparkle. Lawton felt great, now he could possibly pursue his crush...until he remembered yesterday. After getting settled in his room, Lawton went down to the living room where he got to know of all of Twilight's life without him. So many things to remember... you know I think there's a biography for that. Lawton couldn't remember all of it, but he did take care to remember her new friends. Those mares seem to remind Lawton a lot about his friends, hay, he swore that this Applejack and Apple Tree were related. Lawton felt comfortable around these mares, especially Fluttershy. For some reason Lawton seemed to have an undeniable attraction for this mare, and he didn't like this. Sure, he's felt like this before, and Fluttershy seemed to be the stronger exception, but Lawton refused to look at anypony that way but Twilight. Everything was going great... until Lawton remembered... the last day he saw Twilight.

A lot of bad things happened the week before he would have to see Twilight...for starters it was the last time he would see her. It only got worse though, see, because the little colt that was Lawton was on trial. When Lawton was a colt, another colt about his age murdered his parents and was put in the most heavily fortified jail in Equestira for life. The law system was crippled by this shocking act... but it made a good excuse for noble's. Now sure, most noble's had morale's, but the system was very vulnerable at this point, and Lawton became one of the colt's framed for a crime. The lawyer for the orphanage that Lawton lived in, Clear Skies, took Lawton in as his client. Clear Skies was the "Lawton" before Lawton, but unlike Lawton, he lived in a time when lawyers weren't all corrupt. It was looking good at the trial, Clear Skies seemed to be winning the jury over. When they came down with the not guilty verdict, everything seemed to have gone right... until Clear Skies was killed. Right in the courtroom, a sword flew right into his skull. No one suspected one of the decorative sword's in the room was not magically protected, but the prosecutor manged to kill Clear Skies. What made it worse, It was right in front of Lawton.

Lawton was practically traumatized, seeing the soulless eyes of his mentor and friend staring right at him. Lawton still wanted to see Twilight though, even after the long conversations with Madame Flora. And so he did, he went to the castle and was meet with a tight embrace from Twilight. This made Lawton feel a little bit better, but that quickly disappeared when Twilight asked him not to be a lawyer. Clear Skies showed Lawton that he wanted to be a lawyer, and was the prime reason for his cutie mark. Lawton got angry and argued with Twilight for what seemed like hours. Lawton had a horrible temper, got him kicked out of a preschool once. So when the argument reached its boiling point, Lawton exploded. He started screaming at her, berating her for suggesting such a thing. He ran out of the castle, leaving his crush in a emotionally damaged state. Lawton could never forgive himself for it, and he was sure Twilight didn't either...but that didn't explain why she hugged him when they reunited.

"Lawton?"

Lawton looked back to find the very same mare he was pondering about.

"Twilight!, come in, I-I'll pull up a chair" Lawton replied and did just that. Twilight looked at Lawton nervously, and was about to say something until...

"I'm sorry..." Twilight was surprised, she thought she had to bring that day up.

"It's fine Lawton, I understand your point... he was your mentor and responsible for your cutie mark... I'm just hoping you see my side."

"*sigh*... you were worried about me and I took that as a challenge to my destiny instead of excepting it like a good little law pony."

Twilight giggled, but was still surprised at his automatic knowing. "I would have thought you wouldn't know."

"Well, I've had some 17 years to think about it, plus my friends have told that's what I tend to do sometimes, take something meant to be helpful and turn it into something ugly." Lawton poured himself a drink, something that caught Twilight's eye.

"I-Is that alcohol." Twilight asked.

"Yup, 99% dandelion vodka."

"You know that stuff's bad for you right?"

"Yeah, but I can control myself."

"Plenty of ponies say that Lawton, but that never lasts long."

Lawton hated to admit it but she was right. He was able to control himself when he was younger, but now he was slowly losing himself from his own drinks. One time he was kicked out of a bar for starting a fight with some burly Pegasus. His drinking also caused another problem for him... but will get to that.

"Look." Twilight began. "We may haven't left on the greatest of terms, but I still consider you my friend... yeah, I wasn't happy that you yelled, but I still care for your well being." Twilight put a hoof on Lawton's shoulder, causing him to shudder.

"Well, I need to go downstairs and help with the party." Twilight headed for the door and closed it gently. Lawton was conflicted with himself, what should he do? Should he quit his drinking before anything else happens... or should he ignore the advice from the one mare he admired. He would have thought more about it... but then his heart rate increased. Lawton was holding his chest with his fore hoof, not now he thought. Luckily it was a temporary attack, leaving Lawton grateful Twilight left when she did.

This... condition that Lawton has began 3 years ago. Lawton suffered a similar attack but it ended quickly before it could do any real damage. The doctors say it was a condition they have never seen, but they knew the cause was the obscene amount of alcohol that he drank on a daily basis. One doctor gave him a brand of medicine used for heartburn and gave it to Lawton to see it worked. It did work, but Lawton had to keep this a secret from his close friends. He convinced them it was some random thing that developed. Lawton couldn't bring himself to tell them the truth, he couldn't stop drinking. It got worse gradually, but no matter what, Lawton would not quit his liquor.

Twilight was going over the preparations with her friends, and a lot on her mind. She had never forgotten the argument she and Lawton had, but her opinion of him never changes. She still believed he was a trustworthy stallion and could only judge him on all of the good memories that over-weighted the one bad. It seemed everypony was also wondering about the stallion as well.

"So Twilight." Began Rarity as she was levitating some streamers. "How did you meet this Lawton character anyway."

"Well..." Twilight was trying to find the right words to describe that day. "Princess Celestia thought that I needed a playmate to balance the constant studying and practicing that I was doing under her tutelage. When I was a filly here... there was an increase in orphans being shipped to Canterlot. Princess Celestia was troubled by this, so she brought in one of them as my playmate."

"And that orphan was Lawton right?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was putting up some balloons in the party area.

"P-poor guy..." said Fluttershy, who was pouring punch in a bowl. "W-what happened to his parents?"

"He didn't know... but we never talked about it. It was funny really, when we first met, I just shrugged him off and kept reading this book I was studying."

"Hoo-wee, and you still met after that? why I reckon a colt would have just left ya then." said Applejack while unfolding some tablecloth.

"That's what I thought, but instead he was interested in what I read. Soon are play-date's just became me discussing the books I read and him telling me his little misadventures with his friends."

"OOH, OOH, OOH, did they involve cake?" asked the super party pony Pinkie Pie, who was basically doing everything while talking.

"Heh heh, no Pinkie, I do think one involved a veggie casserole though."

"Actually, it was Spinach." Lawton had entered the room, and was admiring the scenery. "Quite impressive decor you've got here."

"Why thank you darling." replied Rarity, now hanging up the banner. "Just wait until you see the dresses I ha-" Rarity stopped with her mouth wide open, which made everypony worry. "T-t-t-THE DRESSES." She screamed, causing everypony to flinch at the sudden shriek.

"You left them?" asked Twilight, going over to comfort her friend who was now bawling her eyes out.

"Oh Twilight, Just where *hic* am I going to get fabric in such short *hic* notice." Rarity cried.

Lawton cleared his throat, gaining the two mares attention.

"Well... I do know a fashion pony."