Prologue -- The trial. At least, I think it's one.
"Let us begin," the rather plump unicorn said. He was seated behind a raised desk. The stallion was fairly old. He had a gray coat with a white mane and tail. He wore the typical judge robes with gold-rimmed eyeglasses.
The courtroom was very spacious so that it could fit all sorts of creatures. In front of the room sat the judge facing towards the entrance and the rows of spectators. The spectators consisted mostly ponies, which varied in journalists and reporters, Ponyville citizens*, and a few nobles from Canterlot. They all sat in three separate columns, in between each was an aisle which lead to the entrance, and there were ten rows that could roughly fit around one hundred ponies. On each side of the judge’s desk sat a pony, one was the court reporter, the other was the clerk.
The court clerk, a young unicorn mare with a turquoise coat and cobalt mane sat on the right side the judge. She called out a name from the list in her hooves. A man walked up and stood in front of the court, facing the judge. His arms were bound in shackles. He wasn't that old, just over the age of 19. His skin was tan, had dark black hair, looked slim from his vegan diet and was around 5'8". The expression on his face was solemn, but his light blue eyes sparkled with hope when he saw Celestia standing at the side of the room.
"Trevor Smith, you are accused of causing property damage and deaths in Ponyville." The judge's unnerving gaze made him feel very uncomfortable.
It was an accident.
The young man was alone. There was no lawyer. He probably couldn't afford one anyway. Princess Celestia offered to provide one, but he declined her offer seeing as it wouldn't do any good. Everypony already knew it was him. The somber look on his face gave it away.
"You are being charged for vandalism, arson, disturbing the peace, and homicide*."
I'm totally gonna die.
The man glanced over to the left towards Celestia who was watching the event unfold before her. She was the only pony who could get him out this. He gave her a pleading look, but the mare just looked away to the side with a guilty expression etched on her face. He knew he was screwed and that she wouldn't help him any further. They had discussed beforehand. However, Celestia insisted that she wasn't above the law and that the ponies would be furious if she was too lenient with him.
Trevor was obviously afraid. More afraid than the day when he arrived in this world, screaming and falling in the sky, which was very different from the way he arrived in the previous one. Luckily, he only broke a couple of ribs, an arm, some bones in his legs, and probably his spine from crashing through the roof of the Apple Family's barn, which was conveniently full of hay – he never did look at the grass the same way ever since – but he was definitely surprised when he woke up in a hospital bed with a pony nurse telling him that he was a very strange looking diamond dog. Unable to form coherent thoughts, the mare proceeded to tell him about the condition his body was in. He was about to start bawling until she informed him that he would fully recover in a week which baffled Trevor.
Damn magic. That's what got me into this mess in the first place. He said those exact same words on the day he woke up a week later finding that his body was healed, and promptly jumped out of the bed to find the nurse. When Trevor had found her addressing another patient, he tackled her and gave the pony the biggest kiss he could muster right on her muzzle. He then ran out the hospital doors cheering along the way and left a madly blushing mare on the floor with a very confused patient. The next day, he embarrassedly returned to apologize to her and blamed everything on the imaginary meds he was taking to replace everyone with talking ponies. But that's a story for another time.
"So Mr. Smith, how do you plead?"
The terrified man looked up at the judge who gave him a stern gaze. He cast a sideways glance at the crowd of ponies behind him, anticipating for his response, and cast a very annoyed one to the court reporter who was loudly scratching a quill on a sheet of paper. With one final glance at the somber Princess, he sighed and stared at the judge.
It was an accident, but it was mine.
"Guilty," Trevor replied mournfully.
The pony nodded his head. "I have reports of the event which the Mayor and the Chief of Ponyville had recorded." The judge continued. "Last week, a large portion of houses in Ponyville was destroyed in an explosion. The costs of property damage are over eighteen million bits. There are fifty-two confirmed deaths and over one hundred and twenty-seven ponies injured."
He flinched at every word. Keeping his gaze on his arms that were tightly bound in chains. They rattled quietly and the runes which were carved into them softly glowed white.
"When the guard had arrived, they found Trevor Smith unharmed and unconscious near the center of the destruction. They took him into custody. There are no witnesses who saw Mr. Smith before the occurrence that morning, but it is confirmed that the signature of the magical residue, which the explosion left behind matches with Mr. Smith's." The judge stopped reading and looked at Trevor. "Does the defendant confirm that this report is accurate in describing the event?"
"Yes."
The pony stared at him in thought. "Now, Princess Celestia has made me aware of your… rather peculiar magical abilities. Can you explain exactly why this tragedy happened?"
"It–it was a mistake, a very stupid one." Trevor shut his eyes to stop the tears. He didn't want to think about a certain pony. "I was with a–a fr–friend and I wanted to show her a new trick that I'd learned." He tried his best to compose himself. "It was pretty dangerous, so I practiced it many times before and had no problems, but when I was in the middle of my performance, I–I lost control, fell over and... everything went straight to hell."
"What was this magic trick you were trying to perform?"
The man began to fidget. "It was uh, a heavily condensed ball of hydrogen. Basically a miniature sun," he whispered the last part.
The judge stared at him, skeptical. “Now, I understand that this event was an accident, but you must be more careful when practicing your magic. As a citizen of Equestria, it is the law that you have to be in control and responsible for your actions – magically and otherwise – and when you fail to follow this law, you will have to face the consequences.”
“Yes, your Honor.”
“Good.” The judge gave Trevor a slight glare. “Because this is not the first time you’ve been pressed with charges, I will not give any leeway and will decide on a reasonable punishment for your sentence. With the Princess’s confirmation of course.”
It was true. Trevor had already caused many problems for the ponies. He had broken the roof of the Apple family’s barn, which had been rebuilt considering that he crashed through the support beams. And ever since he discovered his potential for magic, he’d a difficult time keeping it in check. His magic was similar to Discord’s, but not as powerful and chaotic. It was more destructive.
The Princess nodded her head. Her gaze was fixed on the floor. “I give you permission for deciding Mr. Smith’s punishment, as long as it is within reason.”
“Very well. Mr. Smith, before I announce your sentence, do you have anything to say or any last requests?”
“I–I’m sorry everypony… I just wanted to go home.”
“I’m afraid that can’t happen Mr. Smith. You see, your home in Ponyville was destr–”
“No. Not that place. I meant my homeworld…”
Nopony spoke. The tension in the air rose as the judge scrutinized the man.
The tension was cut a minute later when the pony snorted, loudly in fact.
“Your intentions don’t matter. What does matter is that you are a flight risk and must be imprisoned if you cannot keep your magic under control.”
The runes on the shackles began to shine brighter. The sensation of the magical energies prickled his skin. It felt very similar to static electricity.
“Mr. Smith, I hereby sentence you a life imprisonment–” the pony paused contemplating “– a life sentence in Tartarus.”
The atmosphere in the courtroom suddenly changed from subdued to outright shock. A murmur spread throughout the crowd of spectators. Even Celestia’s eyes widened a smidgen.
Trevor was in full disbelief. He tried to stammer out a response, but his mouth kept opening and closing like a fish. A high-pitched whine was the only thing that escaped his lips.
“Your sentence will begin immediately. Princess if you may?”
The words snapped Trevor out of his trance.
Surely she wouldn’t agree to this! This is stupid!
“Mr. Deem, Tartarus is not a place where we imprison just any criminal.” Celestia frowned at the judge. “It is only a prison for those who pose a grave danger towards ponykind and are not remorseful.”
“Hmm… I trust your judgement Princess, but Mr. Smith has already proven that he cannot control his magic, whic–”
“Which is why he must learn. In custody.”
The judge huffed from being interrupted. Then, he thought for a moment.
“Alright your Majesty. Mr. Smith will remain in custody in the Canterlot dungeons. After three months, he will begin his training to properly control his abilities under highly strict supervision. Until he has no problems with controlling his magic, he will be discharged and monitored closely. Does the defendant agree to these terms?”
Phew. I guess I owe Celestia.
“Yes, your Honor.”
The judge gestured a hoof towards him and Princess Celestia’s horn glowed. A light gold aura surrounded Trevor. As he stared into her beautiful magenta eyes, he could see the hurt in them.
I’m sorry, was what those eyes said. He heard a rumbling sound from behind him, but Trevor didn't dare to look back. They continued staring into each other’s eyes completely mesmerized. Then, Trevor was suddenly suspended in mid-air by Celestia's magic and was forcefully thrown backward. He roughly landed on his back against the cold and dusty floor.
Wait a minute… cold and dusty floor?
When he got over his daze, Trevor sat up saw that he had entered one of the dungeon’s cells through a literal hole floating in the air a few feet away. Within it was the courtroom, which made him realize that Celestia had opened a portal behind him and shoved him into it. Her ears folded and she gave an apologetic look. Then her horn stopped glowing. The portal closed.
“Damn magic.”
