Evergreen Heart

Chapter 14
Trials are boring...

To call the courtroom we were led into opulent would be an understatement. Instead of holding the trial in the Canterlot palace court we had been brought to the, get this, Hall of Justice. I know right? The multiverse must have a sense of humor. Where was I? Oh yes, Opulence. To the point where it just became plain tacky. Everything was made of dark rich woods or polished marble that must have cost a fortune. Everything was then decorated with engravings that had been filled with precious metals and gemstones that depicted scenes of what I assumed important events in pony history. It was also a bit dusty. I guess the place doesn't get used much anymore. Someone or I suppose somepony had done a quick sweep through with a broom and a duster, but you could still see the particles dance through the air whenever they hit a stream of sunlight coming in through the stained glass windows.

The judge's bench was decorated with the image of a blindfolded pony holding a pair of scales in one hoof, and a sword in the other, similar to the image of lady justice. Yet another parallel between Earth and Equestria. She was flanked on either side by a picture of the sun and the crescent moon. The bench itself was pretty high, towering over the witness stand and jury box alike. Everything about it seemed designed specifically to make a person feel small and insignificant.

As we were escorted to our seats by two armed guards, I let my gaze drift over the public gallery. It was filled to bursting with ponies. I noticed that all the front seats were taken up by the hoity toity Canterlot nobility. And the seats in back were occupied by the everyday ponies from Canterlot and Ponyville. The expressions on ponies faces ranged between anything from fear to disgust, to morbid curiosity or in rare cases, neutral indifference. It was a different case where the jury was concerned. The dominant expression on their faces was hate and loathing. It seems someone had gone the extra mile to fill the jury box with those most unsympathetic to my case. I glanced at Ironclad and he seemed to have noticed too.

“Seems this case is totally rigged. I don’t have a snowball's chance in hell with them, judging by those glares.” I whispered to him.

“Worry not, I will take care of it.”

I had no idea how he was going to do so but it was out of my hands now.

A pony in the dress uniform of the royal guard entered the room and took up position in front of the bench. I guess this was the bailiff then. Another pony, a unicorn in an expensive business suit followed not much later. The prosecutor by my guess.

“All rise!” the bailiff spoke loudly.

As the noise of everypony rising to their hooves died down, a trio of ponies entered the room and took up position behind the bench. They were clearly elder ponies. Not as old and, dare I say, wrinkly as Granny Smith, but definitely showing some signs of aging.

“Presenting the honourable judges, Lord Grimoire of House Lulamoon,”

Had I been drinking I would have done a spit take at the name. Lord Grimoire was a unicorn with a deep blue coat and an open book for a cutie mark. His mane was long and dark purple, and he had a big bushy mustache. His eyes were a pair of stern yellow pools. Still they showed no malice when they gazed upon me. I couldn’t help but wonder how he was related to Trixie. Uncle? Father? Grandfather? Perhaps I would have a chance to ask one day.

“The Lady Willow Vine of House Blessed Fields.”

An earth pony this time. Her expression was a bit haughty. She had a light cream colored coat and a mane of two tone green. Her cutie mark was some kind of tree or bush. I wasn’t sure. Her blue eyes regarded me with disdain. The kind of look you give someone who wastes your valuable time.

“Captain Jade Gale of House Storm Chaser.”

A pegasus stallion who more or less looked like a male version of Fleetfoot. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were related too. His cutie mark looked like a little tornado.

Lord Grimoire took charge as he told everyone present to be seated. Again the room was filled with noise as everypony planted their plots down.

“Order, court is now in session.” Willow Vine spoke as she rapped her hoof against the sound block instead of using a gavel.

“The case of the sovereign nation of Equestria versus the entity known as Aeron.” Jade Gale continued. “Let the accused rise.”

I stood up, as did Ironclad.

“You are the entity known simply as Aeron?” he asked.

“That I am your honour.”

He stared at me for a moment before he continued, “You stand accused of a great many wrongs. Such as assault, destruction of property, and of course, murder. You have been brought here to stand trial and be judged by a jury of your peers so...”

“OBJECTION! Your honours. Objection!” Ironclad bellowed loud enough to rattle the windows, and wipe the snooty look off of Willow Vine’s face with its volume. The entire public gallery had ducked under their seats in a kneejerk response to the noise.

“Counselor, to what do you object?” Grimoire asked a tad perplexed while trying to fix his mustache, which had poofed up like a cat’s tail.

Ironclad walked around the table and towards the bench.

“As every being present can see, and you yourselves just stated, my client is not a pony but a unique entity. Therefore it would be both unfair and impossible to have him judged by a jury of ponies, as they are clearly not of his kind, and thus they do not qualify as his ‘peers’, ipso facto. I therefore motion for my client to be judged in a bench trial rather than by jury in order to ensure an unbiased and fair sentence.”

The crowd burst into loud murmuring, and several members of the jury looked insulted. Shooting hateful glares at Ironclad.

“Ridiculous, we shall do no such thing” Willow Vine stated.

“Hold on there,” Jade Gale glared at her. “The counselor has a point, and we need to reach consensus.”

The murmuring rose in volume as the judges debated quietly. Finally Lord Grimoire restored order with a few raps of his hoof.

“Your objection is sustained counselor. While this is highly unorthodox we shall resume these proceedings as a bench trial. Fillies and gentlecolts of the jury, your services are no longer required. We thank you for your valuable time. You may leave or take seat in the public gallery.”

One by one the jury filed out of the box and took seats in the gallery. many of them kept shooting me death glares as if I had just robbed them of their favorite things. Still I gotta hand it to Ironclad, that was smooth. I turned my attention back to the bench as Jade Gale addressed me.

“Now that that's settled we can proceed. We shall begin by formally reading the charges, you are then allowed to plead guilty or not guilty as they are read to you.” He then nodded to one of the court clerks. “You may begin.”

Said clerk, a unicorn mare, stepped forward and unrolled a scroll while adjusting her glasses.

“We shall start with the charge of poaching an undetermined number of creatures native to the everfree forest. How do you plead.”

“Not guilty.” I stated crisply. “And I want it on record that I think that particular charge is ridiculous.”

“Order!” Willow Vine yelled immediately. “Behave yourself Mister Aeron.”

“Quite frankly that charge ‘is’ ridiculous.” Jade Gale said. “There are no poaching laws in regards to the everfree forest that I am aware of. Besides all that lives in that place is monsters. If anything, culling their numbers can be considered doing Equestria a favor.”

“Actually there are some laws, but they are archaic and have not been revised since the unification of Equestria when the Griffon kingdoms still had claims to parts of the everfree.” Grimoire cut in.

“Going over those would bog these proceedings down till the end of the day and possibly beyond. I motion we either table these poaching charges until we have time to go over those old books in detail. Or drop them altogether. Frankly they are irrelevant and insignificant to these proceedings compared to the other charges.”

“Then we are in agreement. The charges of poaching are hereby dropped. Let's continue.”

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I had expected them to try and make every single charge stick. Had we not moved to a bench trial they just might have. Well, never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. One down, several to go. The rest won’t be as easy.

“On the charge of assault, how do you plead?”

I turned my attention back to the clerk, “Not guilty.”

“Destruction of property. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.”

“On the charge of wilfully wielding forbidden magics, how do you plead.”

“Not guilty your honours.”

“Lastly, on the charge of murder in the first degree. How do you plead?”

I looked over to Ironclad, who stood up to address the bench once again.

“Your honours, my client is willing to make a deal and plead guilty, provided the charges are changed from murder to involuntary being-slaughter, since my client was acting in self defence at the time.”

Loud shouts of ‘No deals with monsters’ were heard from the public gallery as everyone started talking at once. It took several moments for order to be restored.

****************

Not far from the Hall of Justice a gathering was taking place.
Several ponies dressed in full body suits of midnight black and deep navy blue cloaks were sitting in the basement of a small canterlot eatery. Their faces were hidden beneath masks and cowls. There was about a dozen of them all told. All of them brandished weapons that glimmered like pure silver. Wicked curved daggers and sickles, bearded axes and scimitars. A soft knock on the cellar door drew their attention. A pony in a waitress outfit entered and silently passed a note to the one nearest the door before she bowed and made her exit. The pony who received the note passed it along to another whose cloak had a silver trim.

“What news from our agents?” asked one.

“They report the trial has begun. The distraction is proceeding as planned. We must make ready, the time to strike is near.”

As one they raised their weapons.

“For the glory of our lady, and darkness eternal.”