Jedi: A Trial Of Two Friends

It was quiet.

Far too quiet for a forest planet. The white unicorn with a purple mane and tail realized this immediately once she disembarked from the yacht and onto the heavily overgrown duracrete landing pad, one of the many signs that this area hadn’t been used in a long while. A place like this should be teaming with the sounds of life but instead the surroundings felt just as abandoned as the landing pad.

Focusing heavily, Rarity let the Force wash over her to lead her to her target. She felt a slight twinge in her chest at the pulse of dark side energy in the distance, the feeling made all the worse from the familiarity of its presence.

She had hoped, no, prayed that the rumors she heard had been wrong, cases of mistaken identity if anything else…but what she was feeling, who she was feeling... There was no doubt.

Slowly and with purpose, she weaved her way through the trees letting the Force guide her. Each step brought her closer and closer to the malevolent energy that was washing over the area like a sickly wave.

Soon, too soon for her liking, the trees thinned out and the area cleared to reveal a great plain and a figure cloaked in black kneeled a great distance from the tree line.

The tall windswept grass waved in the breeze around her was absent around the figure, there being a large black circle which the figure was in the center of.

She exhaled, preemptively calming herself, her robes swaying in time with the grass and wind. With measured steps, she approached, removing her lightfoil from her hip, the ornate weapon extended to accommodate a two-handed grip.

"Are you here to kill me, jedi?" The figure asked with no preamble. Rarity was immediately brought up short, she didn't need the Force to feel the swirls and eddies of anger in that voice.

Her voice.

A voice that had no right to sound like it did.

Slowly, the figure rose and turned to face her, cloak falling away to reveal the coloring of a grey wings and blonde mane and tail. A golden eye met her gaze, while another drifted upwards as if trying to focus on the sky. The very sight of them put the unicorn's heart in a icy vice and squeezed.

"Well?" She asked, again.

Rarity exhaled again to contain the sorrow that threatened to cave in her chest, purging all memories of friendliness and camaraderie in favor of the steady energies of the light side and forced herself to speak with authority. "By the order of the Republic and the Jedi Council I place you, Derpy Hooves, under arrest for treason."

Her words seemed to have no effect on the Pegasus, who simply whickered. "Is that all?"

"What?"

"The charges. Is that all?"

Rarity managed to collect herself and brought her lightsaber hilt up though not activating it yet. "It's one of many, though I'm sure once I take you back to Canterlot there will be more waiting for you."

"And what makes you think you're even going to make it back to your ship, Jedi?"

The unicorn hesitated. When, not if, they fought she was going to have to be extremely careful. Under those black robes was a body trained to kill. For a brief moment, Rarity felt her resolve shake before steeling her mind. "I will take you in alive and we will find out what you know. Make no mistake, a trial will be prepared."

"Prepared. Prepared. Not carried out, though. You have absolutely no intention of going through with one, do you?"

That brought the unicorn up short as the implications of what was being said ripped through the air? Did she really think...? The thought that the council would do such a thing was...impossible.

However, no matter what she thought the disgust that was pure and undiluted tore into her from the pegasus' gaze, and her stance blazed with silent fury and expectation. It made Rarity distinctly uneasy, her skin crawling in little ripples of confusion and disquiet.

"The council wouldn't-" Her firm declaration was silenced as Derpy's eyes straightened and focused, ripping right through her, dissecting Jedi Master Rarity Bell as easily as one of the council members back on Canterlot. "Don't lie to yourself, Jedi. I can taste your doubt from here. You and I both know what will happen if I put myself at their mercy again."

Rarity was appalled at the accusation, but even more so pained at the event the Pegasus hinted at. "They wouldn't and if they tried I..."

“You what?! You know what they did, Rarity!” Derpy bellowed at the top of her lungs, “And you just stood by and let them do it to me!”

The purple-maned unicorn flinched, the spite and hate of her once friend’s words echoed across the plains and in the force and the unicorn knew she deserved no less. Not for her part in what had turned out to be Derpy’s punishment. Not for allowing her friend to be driven away like this.  “Had I known what they had planned to do I wouldn’t have let it happen. None of us, not Lyra, not Zecora, and certainly not I or Fluttershy, would have let it happen. You must understand—”

“Understand what?” The blond pegasus growled, a hand cupping at her midsection where the unicorn knew would be a large ugly scar. Even from where she was standing Rarity could see her knuckles go white as her hand clenched. “Understand that you, my clan sisters, betrayed me? Left me at their mercy? All of you conspired against me, couldn't stand that I planned to leave the order and decided to take from me what I wanted most.”