In Celestia we trust

“I just don’t understand why you, a princess, are asking me to lie in front of everypony.”

Twilight let her face meet with the table, as she was feeling exhausted.

“I am not asking you to lie.” she replied for the seventh time. “I am asking you to recognize publicly that Celestia exists.”

“But it’s a lie.” Matt remarked.

“No, it’s not! It’s the truth!” Twilight explained one more time, frustrated to have that easy victory still closed to her. “The fact you are unable to see the truth doesn’t make it less true.” she explained.

“But that’s just it.” Matt responded. “I understand you can’t see the truth, that you truly want for Celestia to exist and it’s normal, she would be a wonderful pony if she was real. But she isn’t.”

“This is madness!” complained Twilight.

“Other ponies are the mad ones. You are mad. You never cease to repeat how you get to talk directly with Celestia over and over again.”

“Because I do speak with her very often!”

This was leading nowhere. Twilight just couldn’t understand that stallion. There was a brick wall between her and him. He would never recognize he was wrong, no matter what. There had to be something wrong with his mind for him to be unable to see what was so obvious to simply everypony else. She wished Celestia would have accepted to just come and speak with him, but she had said, in her own cryptic way, that “this challenge she must face relying on her own skills”.
But she didn’t need that stallion to recognize Celestia’s existence, even if it would make everything way easier. She just had to make the jury understand that he wasn’t a threat to pony society. And if Celestia herself didn’t see any threat in him, then she knew she was right to believe it too.

He was an innocent honest pony. Just a very wrong innocent honest pony.

She suddenly realized it was time. The court was already waiting on them.

“Look.” she told Matt. “Just let me speak and don’t do or say anything stupid in there, alright?”

He agreed to comply with that instruction and both of them passed into the next room where the jury, the judge, Luna and an incredibly huge audience were waiting.
They sat at their designated table, facing the judge, and waited.

“I see we are all here. I hereby pronounce this court in session.” judge Fairy solemnly said. “Mister Poly Matt.” he continued. “You are suspected of treason against the crown, a very grave charge. How do you plead?”

Twilight stood up, cleared her throat and then replied:

“As the fourth principle of justice allows me to as a princess, I affirm that the intention of the law was misinterpreted and therefore must be rewritten and shouldn’t apply. In that sense and that sense only, mister Poly Matt pleads not guilty.”

She allowed herself a few breaths. All that technical jargon was way too complicated for her understanding of what justice should really be in such cases. But procedures were procedures and she had to comply. Still, she would have preferred to just say “that law is stupid and so are the charges against Matt.”
One can always dream.

“Your Highness princess Luna, you may begin.” judge Wright Fairy said.

“We call the defendant to the witness box.” Luna immediately responded.

Under the anxious look of Twilight, Matt went at the designated place, swore to tell the truth in Celestia’s name, which, as was obvious to everypony there, wasn’t pleasing him much.

“Mister Poly Matt…” began Luna. “How come you were name Poly? Isn’t that a mare’s name?”

“Objection!” shouted Twilight.

“Yes?” replied the judge, happy to see the judgment wouldn’t derail from the very beginning.

“Hum… actually, I would like to know where his name comes from too…” Twilight realized.

“Objection rejected.” the judge said with a sigh. “Your highness…” he said, looking at Luna. “Please focus on the matter at hand and not the defendant’s name.”

Luna agreed and began questioning again, this time more seriously:

“Sir Poly Matt.” she told the stallion. “Could you tell the court what your thoughts are on the existence of princess Celestia, my big sister, ruler of Equestria and the one who brings us the sun every day?”

Matt looked at Twilight with eyes that were already apologizing.

“I don’t believe she exists.”

The audience gasped out of surprise, as nopony had revealed that detail to them yet, and also out of sheer horror.

“Do you wish for her to exist?” Luna asked, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t see why I should wish for such an impossible thing.” Matt replied.

“Do you have any proof of my big sister’s supposed non existence?” Luna asked.

“Well, her existence contradicts the natural laws.” Matt explained.

“Are you saying that the natural laws are more important than my sister’s laws?” Luna asked.

“I think they are, yes.” Matt said with conviction.

“Objection!” shouted Twilight. “I need to… go. Just a minute. I won’t be long.”

And she ran away directly into the first place she could find, which happened to be the mares’ room, and sulked.

Just how dumb could that stallion be? It was one thing to come out as stupid by ignoring the most obvious and central point of any pony’s existence, but he was now putting her authority in question? Twilight tried to cope with the fact she had decided to defend such a pony and once again asked herself why she had decided to choose to put herself in such an absurd position. She didn’t even really know Matt and couldn’t say she liked him.

But suddenly, her head emptied of all worries. It became light in every sense of the term. She knew the air around her was cold, but her body was caught into a wonderful comfortable warmth. She felt peace. Simple, innocent peace. What was looking so complicated before had become clear and easy.
It was like ascending into another plane of existence, one of greatness and perfection.

She knew that feeling and she smiled.

“So, how are you doing Twilight?” Celestia asked.

“I’m not sure…” the purple alicorn replied. “I feel like I’m fighting alone. I feel like Matt doesn’t even want me to save him.”

“So why haven’t you given up?” Celestia asked out of genuine curiosity.

Twilight thought about it. She didn’t agree with Matt, he wasn’t really one of her friend, he hadn’t asked her anything and it seemed he was doing everything in his power to be condemned.
But he wasn’t a bad pony. Twilight remembered that.

“I’m still defending him because he being arrested because of his opinion was unjust?” Twilight asked Celestia, to have her conclusion confirmed.

“Then what are you doing here? I think he needs your help right now.”

Twilight realized she was still in the mares’ room and was fleeing from her duty. She thanked the princess for her wisdom and quickly went back into the court.

“Sorry everypony. I had… some urgent business.” she told the audience.

“It is alright.” Luna responded. “We think we have obtained the answers we needed from the defendant. He is all yours.”

This was Twilight’s chance to turn things back in her favor. She took a big deep breath and went near Matt.

“Poly Matt.” she began. “Is this the first time you got arrested?”

Matt thought about it, and then replied:

“Yes. Actually, it is the first time.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“Because I try my best not to break the laws.”

That was good. This was going in the correct way. Twilight still had to go one step further.

“Tell us, mister Poly Matt.” she said. “If, in a purely hypothetical way, given that it is obvious to everypony else but you for some reason, Celestia were to actually exist. Would that change your behavior in any way?”

Once again, Matt thought about it. It took him some time and Twilight grew a bit anxious, as he could still say another stupid thing. But in the end, he finally responded:

“No. I don’t see what it would change concerning how I behave.”

“Thanks.” Twilight said, both to express the fact she was done with her questions, but also because she was grateful for an answer that wasn’t completely crazy.
She had a chance after all.

“I would like to call another witness to the box.” Twilight asked.

Of course her demand was granted and a second after, Pinkie Pie emerged next to Poly Matt with her everlasting smile and a lot of popcorn.

“Hello Twilight!” she shouted to the alicorn.

“Pinkie Pie.” Twilight began. “We all know you and you know Poly Matt. Do you consider he is a bad pony?”

“Of course not!” Pinkie replied, horrified at the idea and hugging Matt in response. “He is a great funny weird friend and I like him a lot.”

“Do you believe my big sister exists?” Luna asked Pinkie Pie, as she had the right to do due to procedure sixteen alinea four.

“Of course I do. We played chess just last night. She let me win again.”

“We heard you know a lot of ponies, would you agree it is the case?” Luna asked again.

“Yeah! I know everypony. They are all great friends.”

“We are certain you know who Dark Murk is then.” Luna innocently asked.

“Of course. He lived very long ago and he had a lot of friends but he wasn’t very nice and he is known for having led the rebellion against you and Celestia and that really wasn’t good of him to do so and in the end you beat him with your magic and your armies and he repented and then you became friends and you had pie together.”

Twilight retook control of her lower jaw only to put it back up. She had read hundreds of history books and couldn’t remember that name. Only that there had been, in fact, a rebellion once against the princesses authority. How Pinkie Pie was able to know such things was beyond her comprehension.

“Tell us.” Luna finally said. “How did Dark Murk justify his rebellion back then?”

“Oh, oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie said, raising her hoof for Luna to call on her to give the answer.

Luna pointed at the pink pony, understanding what the game was, and Pinkie Pie answered:

“He was doing it in the name of the natural laws of order, right?”

Everypony turned their looks to Poly Matt and Twilight, the latter feeling a sudden faintness.

“Objection!” she shouted, before realizing she had nothing to object to. Or in fact, she actually had something.

“Yes? What is it?” judge Fairy asked.

But Twilight wasn’t following procedure anymore. She went to Luna, grabbed her by the hoof and took her to the next room, saying that they, princesses, needed to have a talk together.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the rebellion?” Twilight finally asked once they were alone.

“I am sorry Twilight Sparkle. I know you must feel betrayed right now. But we felt we had no other choice. You were so caught up in the idea of helping a pony in need, which is a very honorable trait of your personality we highly respect, that you probably wouldn’t have heard what we would have had to say. We thought it better to let your friend tell so that you would listen.”

Twilight didn’t know how to react. She was shocked, disappointed, afraid and overall was feeling ridiculed, almost humiliated.

“So this is why you had him arrested…” she slowly said, realizing the true intention of the princess of the night.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna replied. “It is our duty to do what has to be done to protect harmony in Equestria.”

And then, after a little pause, Luna added, with an even gentler tone:

“We know that this Poly Matt probably isn’t a dangerous pony himself. He probably doesn’t realize himself what terrible harm his beliefs could do. Be certain he will be very well treated, he and his peers.”

It was making sense and was probably a good compromise. If not for one detail:

“Peers?” Twilight asked.

“The academy of science is just as much as a threat as Poly Matt. We have tolerated its existence for too long. It will be disbanded, the study of those absurd natural laws will be forbidden and all those who would oppose it will have to be taken away as well. Only then will Equestria be safe from another civil war.”

Twilight felt cornered. She knew, deep inside, that there was something wrong with Luna’s plans, but she couldn’t find what. She didn’t want ponies to turn against other ponies. She didn’t want to see harmony disappear over something as ridiculous as doubting Celestia’s existence.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna called out to her. “I accepted to do the trial to reveal to you what is really going on and what is at stake. I…” Luna hesitated a bit and blushed. “I do not want however for you to think I do not valor your opinion. We… I deeply respect you. So the decision is yours: do we let those ponies free and therefore threaten our world, or do we act to prevent it?”

Twilight was cornered. It wasn’t a feeling anymore. She had to decide. She didn’t want to. She couldn’t. Because there was only one way she could respond.
She finally lowered her head and said:

“We have to act… I guess.”

Her decision clearly pleased Luna.

“Then as we both agree, let’s announce it to the court. It won’t be too hard to convince the jury to follow us.”

“Go on without me.” Twilight replied. “I… I need to be alone for a moment.”

Luna understood, thought of hugging Twilight to show her some support, but felt to awkward doing it and gave up.

“It is going to be fine.” the princess of the night said. “I shall take care of the matter.”

And then, Luna went back into the court room, leaving Twilight alone who decided to leave and go back home and probably eat some ice cream. A lot of ice cream.
And maybe cry a bit.