Child of the Ransom Victim

Friday, June 17

The Present

As the red sun touched the horizon, an eerie calm settled over Cloudsdale and over Thunderlane who wasted no time flying to the courthouse near the center of the city. Hundreds of ponies had already gathered outside, waiting patiently for the trial to begin.

How do they know about this? Who told them? Thunderlane wondered as he landed right outside two massive double doors. The words TRUTH and JUSTICE etched on each of the doors glared down at him and he swallowed hard at the thought of being questioned. Come on, I have to annihilate my guilty conscious.

“Sir, y’ must be Thunderlane. Am I correct?” A guard boomed officially. He and his comrades blocking the gathering crowd of ponies wielded spears twice their length.

“Yeah,” he said as he stared back at the crowd. Over a hundred pairs of eyes stared back at him, reflecting the sun’s dying light in a sea of shining colors.

Thunderlane turned back to face the guard when he said, “Go on inside. The prosecuting attorney isn’t here yet… y’ just have to sit tight. We’ll let everypony else in when the judge gives us the all clear warning.”

“Okay.”

“Good luck. Ach, I know you won’t be needing it, this is probably the easiest open and shut case of all time. That bucker Firestorm’s guilty for sure. ‘S a good thing you found out about his murder, or else he’d still be crawling around this city.” Thunderlane was about to say something, but the guard quickly turned around and joined the other police in keeping the crowd out. Just before he entered, he noticed a buzzing noise in his ears and he knew without a doubt that the sensation came from the pissed off chatter from the crowd.

When he walked inside, the door behind him closed, making a loud slam that echoed throughout the entire building. Rows upon rows of seats sat empty and without anypony around, every single little hoofstep snapped on the cold ground like distant thunder. Thunderlane tried to look at the other end of the building and sure enough, he found the judge, Firestorm, Cloud Chaser, and a few police.

Where are the lawyers? Thunderlane eventually made it to the speaker’s floor and looked up to address the judge. “Your honor, where are the attorneys?”

“The prosecuting attorney said he would be late getting here and I’m not sure if the lawyer representing the defense will even show up or not.” The judge tipped his head at Firestorm who begrudgingly sat in between two stocky guards. “The court appointed him to Firestorm, but he’s not exactly the responsible type.” The judge, who completely did not care about whether the defense attorney decided to show up or not, leaned back in his chair.

Thunderlane didn’t know what to say and so he simply turned around and plopped down on one of the chairs on his side of the building. He barely noticed Cloud Chaser walking up to him before she kissed him on the cheek. “Thunder, aren’t you excited? We’re finally going to be free. I know what you said last night about not being able to love me… it’s okay, after this, you won’t have to hold anything back.”

Her glistening pink eyes shone back at him, but Thunderlane couldn’t bring himself to look her straight in the eyes. Instead, he turned to face Firestorm and whispered, “You know that’s not right. I wanted to kill him for raping you… I really did… I could’ve done it, but he’s right. I-”

“-Don’t you say it. We know what we did and we can live with the pain, but nopony else has to know what happened.”

“I can’t live with his ghost. He’ll haunt us forever.”

“Do you want a little guilt or a lifetime in prison, Thunderlane?” She scowled. “Please don’t confess. You don’t have an obligation to tell anypony else about what you did, it’s nopony else’s business.” She stared down her muzzle at him before Thunderlane nodded. The glare on her face reminded Thunderlane of Breezefly’s warning to stay away from her and not to date her anymore.

He sighed before asking, “Where is our lawyer?”

“The judge says he’s coming late, but I don’t know who our lawyer even is. The judge said that the new attorney from the law firm in town just decided to represent us… no questions asked.”

“Huh.” Thunderlane stood up, not knowing if he should be excited or terrified about the new information.

A long awkward pause followed before the judge announced to Firestorm and his guards, “Now that everypony involved in the case is here, I think we should start with some news from the public attorney’s office. Firestorm?”

“Yes?” He said disgustedly

“The court was unable to find a lawyer to represent your side of the case. Unfortunately, since your public attorney hasn’t shown up yet, you will have to argue your case pro-se.”

“I understand.” Even though he questioned the legality behind the action, Firestorm didn’t bother to argue with the judge, he was already doomed from the start. The judge looked like he wanted to say something else, but a few mumbling voices from the entrance of the building caught his attention.

A large, lumbering stallion sporting a plaid light blue shirt and slacks plodded down the main aisle before stopping in front of the judge. He readjusted his glasses and swallowed a cough before saying, “Sorry I’m late, your honor.”

“The prosecuting attorney told me he was going to be late, but you have no excuse. Explain yourself.”

“Long story short,” he said, coughing some more, “the court had some issues with the venire.” The lawyer turned to the direction of more mumbling. “There are the jurors,” he pointed out as a cluster of twelve disgruntled ponies limping to the front of the room. They ranged from cooks to doctors, weather pony workers to janitors, and none of them, it seemed, favored either side of the case judging by their appearances. Eventually, the court clerk led them to the jury box and whispered some basic directions about some procedures Thunderlane didn’t really care for.

Cloud chaser nudged him and whispered, “You would think Breezefly would’ve volunteered to be on the jury; he knows a lot about this case already, and he has a career in law after all.”

“That’s not how it works. The jury is a random selection and they would never pick somepony who knows something about the case. To be fair though, Breezefly doesn’t know anything about the case to my knowledge.” Thunderlane remembered wistfully, “I only know that because Breezefly told me back before the incident.”

“Well… Breezefly does know something about the case. We might not know how he knows what he knows,” Cloud Chaser lied, “but he does know that you killed Shiverwind, and that’s enough for them to disqualify him from the jury.”

“But they don’t know that he knows, Cloud Chaser. To them, Breezefly knows nothing.”

“What if they do know?”

Thunderlane narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think they know, but anyway, they wouldn’t let a lawyer sit in the jury box.”

Cloud Chaser shook Thunderlane. “Do you know what you just said? If he’s a lawyer, he could help us. He could be our lawyer-”

“-No. Breezefly is done with us,” Thunderlane said wistfully as he remembered his warning not to be with Cloud Chaser again.

“Should I let the crowd in, your honor?” The clerk asked the judge.

“Let the police in first, then the crowd. The prosecuting attorney should be here at any moment.” The judge leaned back in his wheeling chair and perused the crowd as they rushed in to take the seats near the front first. All one thousand seats, including the balcony up above, were filled and quite a few more ponies had to stand outside of the building. Husbands and wives, children and grandparents, and everypony in between were mumbling about the craziest case that Cloudsdale had ever seen.

The clerk methodically stomped his front two hooves on the ground to get the audience’s attention. “Silence.” The audience quieted down somewhat, but after ponies noticed that nothing happened, a strange and complete quiet followed.

Seconds on the grandfather clock next to the judge’s chambers ticked by.

Without warning, the two double doors closest to the left side of the building blew open, tearing apart the fragile silence that hung over the court. Hoofsteps pompously pounded on the marble cloud floor as the prosecuting attorney rushed to the front of the room. Each step echoed off the vast walls of the building.

“I am sorry that I am so late, your honor. I hesitated after I accepted to represent the prosecution because of my own personal… dealings.” The grassy green coated stallion danced around something the judge could definitely tell was momentous.

“That is quite alright, Mr. Breezefly. Take a seat next to the prosecutor.” Breezefly bowed and walked over to Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane. Neither Cloud Chaser nor Thunderlane could wipe the look of terror off their faces when Breezefly sat in between them.

“B… Breezefly, what are you doing here?”

He spoke dangerously soft, “The directory of the orphanage and the police captain wanted me to represent their case. I said I would do it for no cost at all. Besides, the police captain and your friend Bucko were very proud when you said you wanted to be the prosecutor against that evil, evil villain Firestorm.” Breezefly narrowed his eyes at Thunderlane. “They said they wanted me to get to the bottom of the truth.”

“Since when are you a practicing lawyer?”

“Since I was hired after the interview after your first cadet race the day you murdered Shiverwind. I was hired by a big firm the day my friend murdered his fillyfriend’s father. I never told you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you became a lawyer?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you murdered somepony?”

“Why do we have to tell everypony in Equestria that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?” asked Cloud Chaser. “We’re both guilty for what we did, why do we have to throw ourselves into the fire again?”

“Your coltfriend thought he was going to convict Firestorm of murder and leave Cloudsdale along with you with no strings attached. That doesn’t sound like a pony who admits he’s guilty to me.”

Cloud Chaser remembered what happened the very first thing in the morning. She talked Thunderlane into not jumping into the gorge and into finding Firestorm so that they could live with each other without holding back. “No Breezefly. If you have to know, I said that.”

Breezefly sat up in a stinging sensation of fear and anger. “You told Thunderlane to turn Firestorm in to clear his name?”

“I told him to turn him in… and he wanted to as well. It’s just that…”

“...I couldn’t make it about her,” posited Thunderlane.

“And why not?” He barked.

“We can’t live together with Shiverwind’s ghost still looming over us. Don’t you see? Convicting Firestorm in exchange for wiping my past of murder is the only way we can move forward and live our lives.” Thunderlane shook his head.

“I don’t want to argue about this anymore. I have told you over and over and over again. You just can’t do that. I waited for eight arduously long weeks for you to have the balls to turn yourself in for a murder you committed. I waited for you to own up to your crime. But you didn’t.” Breezefly motioned to the audience behind him. “This time it’s a little different. You can’t turn yourself in, you can’t wager your crimes against Firestorm in here, and you cannot, must not, will not, shall not, not not not, absolutely not… lie. These ponies behind me are angry and if you lie, if you try to get out of saying the truth, and in so doing, you incur the wrath of those ponies, which is now aimed straight at Firestorm, I will not be burying your dead body like you did to Shiverwind. Got it?” Breezefly knew he had bluffed, but he was confident that he made his point clear.

Thunderlane didn’t say anything.

“You can fight me in court if you want, but I’m telling you, this is what will happen. Whether you choose to agree with me about your crimes or not doesn’t matter, you still have to know that… well… you’re screwed. Got it?”

“I got it,” Thunderlane sighed.

“And you too.” Cloud Chaser simply nodded. She was much more afraid of the audience than Thunderlane. Breezefly’s angered face slumped into disappointment and sorrow as he turned to his worn black suitcase with golden letters etched into a placard with his name and the phrase Letter Law Litigation Firm, Attorney at Law. He unbuckled the buckles and pulled out a blank manila folder and inside the folder, he examined a document entitled Black-White.

“Is the prosecution finished collaborating so that we can begin the case?”

“We are finished, your honor.”

The judge faced the audience and raised his right hoof, alerting everypony that the case was starting.

The clerk boomed, “All rise.” Everypony in the hall stood up. He continued, “The Cloudsdale Supreme Court is now in session. Judge Starsky is presiding. Please be seated.” Everypony sat down except for the ponies outside the building.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts. Today I am calling the case of the employees and the members of Loving Wings Orphanage, Cloud Chaser, and Thunderlane verses Firestorm. Mr. Firestorm, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty.”

“Very well then. Are both sides ready.” He looked at Breezefly first.

“Ready for the prosecution, your honor.”

Firestorm’s lawyer stood up slowly and coughed, “Ready for the defense, your honor.” He nervously smiled a bit before sitting back down.

“Will the clerk swear in the jury?”

A tall and lanky cinnamon red mare ambled over to the jury and announced so that only they could hear, “Will the jury raise their right hoof? Do each of you swear that you will fairly try the case before this court, and that you will return a true verdict according to the evidence and the instructions of the court, in the name of Celestia and Luna?”

“We do,” the stallion at the front and left end of the box declared.

Breezefly knew exactly what to do. He stood up and walked over to the jury and said, “Your Honor and ladies and gentlecolts of the jury, my clients charge the defendant with intruding into the Loving Wings Orphanage, the rape of Cloud Chaser, and…” he looked back at Thunderlane for one long second “...the murder of Cloud Chaser’s father, Shiverwind.” The audience booed at Firestorm. “We have a glutton of eye witness testimony to work with today as well as evidence found by the prosecutors themselves. The defendant must be guilty as charged,” Breezefly lied.

Before the defense lawyer stood up, the judge interrupted the processes by addressing the audience. He said sulkily, “I do not want to hear any booing, cheering, or anything else that disrupts this case. We are in court, not at a hoofball game.” The judge cleared his throat before motioning to the defense.

The audience clapped for Breezefly before they sulkily shut up when Firestorm’s lawyer stood up. He spoke in a strange raspy voice that didn’t match his physicalities at all. He said, “Your honor and ladies and gentlecolts of the jury, look at how convenient all of this is. Not twenty four hours after Firestorm was accused of rape and not an hour after he was accused of intruding into the orphanage and killing Shiverwind, He is shunted off to court. Most criminal cases take much longer than this, much longer; but this time, the court immediately decides to try him as soon as these accusations were brought forward. Something’s not right,” he purred to the audience, “the prosecution is hiding something.

“Today, your honor, I will refute the claims of the prosecution who have used Firestorm’s past history of framing cadets as a vehicle for covering up their own crimes. I will argue that it was Thunderlane who is responsible for much of these crimes. Notice how he would’ve been forced to argue pro-se if I hadn’t have shown up. None of the other public attorneys in this city wanted to represent him because they do not believe anything he says. When I asked the court about why my fellow public defenders refused the case, the court told me that they all resisted when they were appointed to Firestorm. But did the court make sure that the public attorneys followed through with their sovereign duty? No. Why? Because the court didn’t care enough to make this trial fair. But that’s okay, because tonight I will expose the truth. Firestorm is not guilty.” The audience murmured as he sat down, but the jurors weren’t so convinced and they whispered nervously among themselves.

After the audience settled down, the judge said, “The prosecution may call its first witness.”

“The prosecution calls Firestorm to the stand.” Breezefly stared straight at Firestorm and he returned his glowering look.

The two guards escorted Firestorm into the witness box and the clerk nervously approached Firestorm as he sat. She whispered, “Please stand.” Firestorm looked down at her as he rose and he could sense her fear. “Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in the name of Celestia and Luna?”

“I do. Try asking that to those liars.”

The judge leaned over and hissed, “I don’t want anymore of your sass or I will hold you in Contempt of Court.”

She ignored both of them and continued, “State your name for the record.”

“Firestorm.”

“Thank you. You can sit now.” The clerk quickly left the witness stand and sat on the other side of the judge.

Breezefly quickly stood up and rushed over to Firestorm, but before he said anything to him, he asked the judge, “request to speak to the witness in private momentarily.”

“As long as you do not ask questions, you may do so.” The judge narrowed his eyes, unsure if what he said was a good move or not.

Breezefly leaned in close and whispered so that nopony, not even the judge could hear what he said. He mumbled, “I am here to make sure that justice is done. You and your lawyer have to trust what I’m doing, Firestorm, I hope you understand and accept what I’m saying. You have to trust me.”

“I understand.” Firestorm peered back at Breezefly jovially. “Thank you.”

The judge said, “Are you finished?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Please proceed with the questioning.”

Breezefly asked all of his questions loudly and with authority so that nopony could question what he had said. He boomed, “do you suspect that my client Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?”

“I do.” The audience booed, but they quickly shut up when the judge glared out at them.

“Why is that?”

“I knew Shiverwind. He wasn’t happy with his older twin daughter’s obsession with training to become a Wonderbolt and he made his disapproval apparent to Thunderlane. He thought Thunderlane was some kind of cavalier who had convinced Cloud Chaser to fly with him and to train with him for the Wonderbolts. I had reason to believe Shiverwind when he said that Thunderlane was a rapist and it turned out that my belief was proven true.”

“Why?

“Because Thunderlane killed Shiverwind.”

Breezefly scowled. “You’re begging the question, and besides, that’s quite a backstory, Firestorm, but you haven’t answered the question.” A few members in the audience chuckled with Breezefly’s witty response.

“Thunderlane didn’t like that Shiverwind disapproved of his relationship with Cloud Chaser and the fact that he called her a rapist. He killed Shiverwind so that he could be with Cloud Chaser and not have to worry about a disapproving father barring them from flying together. After all, they’re en route to becoming Cloudsdale’s best flying acrobatics team.”

“In the wide, wide realm of Equestria, how can you possibly prove that?”

“I don’t have to prove it,” the audience booed. “I’m innocent until proven guilty, am I right? You’re supposed to be a lawyer.”

Judge Starsky rolled his eyes knowing that a Contempt of Court charge wouldn’t really change anything, but he also knew that he was unfortunately right.

Breezefly smiled and chuckled to himself a little. “You may be the defendant, but you’re making an accusation, and any and all accusations require proof. I’m asking you again, how do you know that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s awfully fortunate for you. In the mean time, I’ll ask some less incriminating questions, and for the sake of the jury, I’ll force you to tell the truth if I must. I know enough to do so. Why were you friends with Shiverwind in the first place?”

“We both wanted to prevent Thunderlane from becoming a Wonderbolt.”

He walked around a bit more now that he was confident that Firestorm was going to answer his questions. “You explained why Shiverwind didn’t want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt; he didn’t want that stallion to inspire his daughter to fly with the fastest team in Equestria. But why do you not want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt? You don’t seem to have a dog in that fight.” He looked at the jury and noticed somepony out of place for the first time. “And why did you go so far as to using the accusation that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind, an accusation that you fabricated as blackmail, just because you didn’t want to see him wear the Wonderbolts uniform?

“I didn’t want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt because I don’t want to see a pony who murdered somepony else to fly with the Wonderbolts.”

“But you only kn… suspected that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind after you were already friends with Shiverwind and after he had already died. Why did you so desperately want to bar Thunderlane from becoming a Wonderbolt before you met Shiverwind?”

“It’s the same reason I didn’t want Drifter to become a Wonderbolt, or Rocket Flash before him, or even Rapidfire before him. There were many other… easier ones in between those big names.”

“And you attempted to frame all of them, right?”

“Not initially, but I became more successful as time went on.”

“Why did you frame all of these ponies? Drifter’s name was eventually cleared after all earlier this year.”

“I had to frame all of these ponies?”

“Why?”

“As punishment.”

“For what and for whom?” Breezefly looked around nervously, he definitely did not see this coming.

“I tried to arrest all of these cadets… the cadets that ponies could easily suspect were behind certain accidents and disappearances because I wanted to punish a certain jury member for her crimes.”

“What in the name of the Two Sisters are you saying?” Breezefly roared. “Who are you talking about?” Breezefly followed Firestorm’s eyes and noticed that one jury member covered her body with a coat and a sun hat. It seemed that nopony in the court really noticed anything out of the ordinary until now.

The clerk rushed over to the jury box and told the mysterious mare, “take off your coat and your hat, the defendant wants to know your identity.”

She mumbled under her breath. “Of course he does.” She complied hesitantly. The orange coat and fiery mane of Spitfire was easily recognized by everypony. Everypony, even the members of the court, gasped when they realized the family connection.

Some ponies stood up in protest and some even chanted for Firestorm to be convicted right then and there.

“My sister. Spitfire!”

“Silence!” Judge Starsky bellowed. He couldn’t believe that Spitfire was actually partial to the case when the court picked her. There was no way the court could’ve known that Firestorm the rapist was the brother of the most famous flyer in all of Equestria. The crowd didn’t settle down immediately and a few guards had to convince some members to sit down. “All rise. This court is in recess for ten minutes.”

Most of the audience and all of the jurors stayed put, but the judge and a few other members of the court got up and promptly left the room. When Judge Starsky walked into a hallway on the other side of the building where other officials ambled around in confusion, he shouted to get their attention, “Who was in charge of the venire?”

An official meekly stepped forward and said, “I was, your honor.”

The judge tried to curb his anger. “Did you know that Spitfire was the sister of Firestorm? How did you vet these jurors? How can the court be confident that these jurors are completely and utterly impartial if a witness calls one of them out? Huh?”

Even though the official was soft spoken, he narrowed his eyes, sensing that there was some foul play at work. “I vetted Spitfire. I asked her if she had any relation to any members of the court and she said no. I told her if she knew Firestorm and she said no.”

“Are you saying that she lied?”

“I am.”

“Ugh.” The judge tapped his foot, trying to think of a solution out of the current quagmire. “Why did you allow a member of the Wonderbolts onto the jury if you knew this case had something to do with their involvement?”

“I didn’t know that. Until Firestorm said something, I had no idea that the Wonderbolts were even a twinkle in the eye of this case, and to be fair, you didn’t know the Wonderbolts had anything to do with this either. If I had known that Spitfire was the sister of Firestorm and that the Wonderbolts had something to do with this case, I would have sent her home.” The official waited for his response.

“So you’re saying this is all just bad circumstance?”

“Yes, your honor.”

The judge put a hoof to his face. “We’ll continue this case, but I’m afraid that somepony will just demand a retrial soon after the verdict. For Celestia’s sake, this has never happened before.”

“I don’t think there will be a retrial, Firestorm has no support and nopony will call for a court appeal if this is all just mere circumstance. Besides, his defense lawyer was picked for a reason.” The judge slowly nodded in agreement.

“Very well then. Since I cannot do anything about this development, I will have to call the court back into session.” The judge walked back into the court where all of the court members and most of the audience had returned.

Before the judge sat back down on the bench, the official whispered, “why is he incriminating himself?”

“I don’t know,” Judge Starsky said sternly. He turned to face the rest of the court. “The Cloudsdale Court is now reconvened. Please be seated. Please continue, Mr. Breezefly.”

He wasted no time. “So you wanted to punish Spitfire, who you claim to be your sister?” Breezefly simply stood there, stiff from swallowing the bizarre information.

Firestorm said slyly, “To answer your question, I wanted to punish Spitfire.”

“For what? And how does framing ponies translate into punishing Spitfire?”

“Let’s go back to the case of Drifter and Emerald Skies, shall we? Y’see, I framed Drifter, but I didn’t initially accuse him. Everypony knows the case now, but it bears repeating. The night before an important stunt show, Emerald Skies’ coltfriend or husband… I don’t even know… beat her up over some argument or another and although that in itself wasn’t a strictly criminal act, she died because Drifter messed up her wings. I knew about it and I framed him for murdering Emerald Skies. I told him that I would do something much worse to him if he didn’t tell the police that he beat her up. He didn’t go for it and, well, here we are now. I only accused him of murder after he already said he wouldn’t turn himself in; sound familiar?”

Breezefly looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “Okay, sure. But why does this punish Spitfire?”

“To be fair, some ponies believed that something fishy was going on, some ponies believed that Drifter might have killed Emerald Skies and you, Breezefly, were one of those ponies. Of course, I was the only one who openly accused him of it. Don’t get me wrong, though, I only accused Drifter because I knew that other ponies knew it was a distinct possibility, and it turns out that all the sheep in Cloudsdale listened to the wolf, and so they went along with accusing him of murder as well.”

“You didn’t answer the question, Firestorm.” Breezefly looked annoyed.

“Good observation,” he laughed, but the judge glared at him and Firestorm knew what he was thinking. “Both before and after I accused Drifter of murder, Spitfire didn’t lift a hoof. She turned a blind eye towards the accusations, and even when everypony thought the fact that Drifter killed Emerald Skies was crystal clear, she continued to ignore Drifter. She didn’t do a damn thing. And it’s not like this is the first time something like this has happened. Spitfire has a track record of accepting criminals into the Wonderbolts, criminals who so tactfully cover up their hoofprints. She ignores all the accusations, all the allegations, and she does so in order to surround herself with a contingent of flyers who will deflect any accusation that she harbors criminals. They do this because the criminals themselves are grateful for her ignorance.”

“But these ponies aren’t criminals, you framed them. They were innocent before. How do you explain that?”

“Drifter may not have killed Emerald Skies on purpose, but by beating her up, he killed her when her Buccaneer Blaze move went terribly wrong. The only reason I framed some of these ponies is so that I could expose their crime to the outside world. Either they confessed to whatever crime they did commit or if they didn’t, I went and fabricated a crime that the citizens of Cloudsdale would kill in revenge for. Regardless of what they chose, they lost their reputation for a while, at least until the court later found that ‘a mysterious pony’ had framed them.

Firestorm continued, “But Spitfire continued to accept these criminals. I hoped that by framing more and more ponies, I would be able to expose Spitfire’s criminal sanctuary to the rest of Equestria. I was wrong. In addition, there were many ponies that I was unable to frame despite my knowledge of their crimes. I won’t get into the details, but I knew that Spitfire was covering for these ponies. Rapidfire, Fleetfoot, a few others. On down the list.”

Breezefly cleared his throat loudly, trying to stop the audience from getting too restless. He asked, “If what you say is true, and given your past record, that’s rather hard to assume, what exactly did Spitfire do that convinced you that she needed punishment… in your own words? Was it the first time she allowed a criminal that you knew about to be a part of the Wonderbolts?”

Firestorm leaned back and said nonchalantly, “As a matter of fact, no. Her first huge mistake was abandoning one of the most popular flyers in the Wonderbolts during the tryouts for the Equestria Games. When Soarin clipped his wing on an obstacle, he was quickly hospitalized. Spitfire told him that he would still be on the team by the time the big race rolled around. Well, no. Spitfire decided that Soarin wasn’t good enough for her and she asked the cadet we now know as Rainbow Dash to fly in his stead. Essentially, the Wonderbolts abandoned him.”

Breezefly nodded as he figured out where to go with the new revelations. “Sure that was rather cold hearted of Spitfire, but that’s not a criminal offense. Why did you frame cadets instead of talking to her and convincing her to stop like a normal pony?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I did at first. She wouldn’t listen. Spitfire would never cut corners during a race, but she continued to bend the law more and more until she got to the point where she pardoned criminals to be on the Wonderbolts. I talked to her, she didn’t listen. I talked to the guards, they didn’t listen. Even now she distances herself from me because I pose a constant threat to exposing the fact that she cuts all these corners… that she performs crimes of omission. Believe me, I hated seeing the Wonderbolts grow into an asylum for these wretched pegasi, but the only thing I could do was to wrestle suspicious cadets into the jail cells in which they belong. That was the only way to prevent criminals from becoming Wonderbolts… like Drifter, and like Thunderlane.”

“Now, ponies of the jury, take note that this sounds exactly like the insane logic that the general populace of Cloudsdale believed he would say… like a vigilante. Since you have basically self-incriminated yourself by attesting to framing ponies for crimes they didn’t commit, I think you should share more information. You’ve been acting as the judge, jury, and executioner all this time, Firestorm, and I think it’s time to stop acting like it. Let’s continue, why do you care?”

“Why does it matter?”

Breezefly said smoothly, “Don’t be rude, I asked you first.”

Firestorm looked nervous for the first time since he took the stand. “I am Spitfire’s brother; I said that before the recess. She liked to pretend I didn’t exist and I came to find that feeling mutually beneficial. Her fervent denial of my very existence must’ve been how she managed to work her way into the jury.”

Breezefly looked around the courthouse jokingly to prove a point. “That didn’t work out so well, I can imagine. I can believe that it was personal. Your relationship with the cadets, however, was anything but personal. Am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I find it hard to believe that you would frame cadets to punish Spitfire. After all, you could have easily accused them of the various misdemeanors and crimes they actually did commit and thereby ensuring that they were brought to justice as well as ensuring that they couldn’t fly for the Wonderbolts. If you did that instead of framing ponies, you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting now. And to go back to the case you mentioned about Soarin and Rainbow Dash, I am certain that Soarin doesn’t hold a personal grudge against Rainbow Dash for taking her spot. I trust he knows that she was simply caught in the crossbow fire and that she was merely a pawn in Spitfire’s chess game. Right?”

“Right.” Firestorm had no idea where Breezefly was taking this.

“So why didn’t you have the same neutral attitude to the cadets you framed? After all, they weren’t responsible for what you accused Spitfire of doing.”

“Oh, but they became responsible. Those cadets knew what they were doing. They hoped that if they were drafted into the Wonderbolts, they would be able to mask their record under their new uniform. They partook of Spitfire’s amnesty and because just as guilty.”

“That doesn’t explain why you framed them when you could’ve just reported their actual offenses to the police. Sure you’re passionate about justice being met, but that doesn’t translate into framing ponies for crimes that were much worse than the ones they actually committed. Even Drifter didn’t intentionally kill Emerald Skies like you said. I have a simple question. Why did you frame those ponies given what you already told the jury?”

“I started out accusing them of their crimes, but nopony listened; including the police for the most part. The circumstances surrounding all of their crimes were just the right condition for them. Mellow Wind accidentally died from food poisoning, Emerald Skies suffered an unexplainable accident,” he paused and looked at Thunderlane, “Shiverwind mysteriously disappeared.” He laughed to himself and some of the audience roared back at him.

“Silence! Sit down, all of you. I will see to it that audience members be removed if they cause any more disruptions,” the judge roared as more ponies stood up against Firestorm.

“It’s nice that you mentioned my client Thunderlane. Earlier you said that you knew Drifter beat up his… fillyfriend, Emerald Skies, and thus you were able to frame him. How were you able to frame Thunderlane if you don’t know anything about him? I find it hard to believe that you just whipped out an accusation from thin air.”

“But I know what he did,” Firestorm snapped, now visibly frustrated.

“Yes. You’ve told us that multiple times. How do you know what he did? How was your speculation confirmed? Sure you suspected that he was behind Shiverwind’s disappearance, but please, tell us how you could possibly have confirmed that suspicion.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“I think you can. You have lips and a mouth.” Breezefly glared at him. “Oh. I think you meant you won’t tell us. Why are you worried? Is it because the method in which you obtained information was criminal?”

Firestorm hesitated for a long moment. “No.”

“Are you sure? Because I’ll call my client Cloud Chaser up to the stand and I’ll ask her to confirm if what you said was true or not. If you really are a true vigilante, then nothing would stop you from obtaining what you need to know and nothing would stop you from declaring to this court that any action taken to throw a pony in prison was simply the means to an end. If you were a true vigilante like you say, you would have no problem announcing to this court what actions you had taken to obtain the information. So, Firestorm, how did you confirm your suspicions?”

“I figured out that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind when I raped his fillyfriend Cloud Chaser last night.” A rolling horrified moan swept throughout the audience. “She was walking back from the orphanage and I pulled her to the side and threatened her to tell me that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind or else be raped. She said she would never tell me the truth and so I did what I had to do. I raped Cloud Chaser and beat her until she screamed to me the truth.”

Breezefly took a few steps back, surprised that Firestorm actually accepted his challenge. Why is he incriminating himself? What does he have to gain? “What did she say?”

“Don’t you know already?”

He barked, “What did she say? Did she say that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind? Did she?”

“Yes.” The audience burst into an angry fit for the third time and the judge promptly banged his gavel on his desk in order to calm the ponies down. This time the guards had to move in and take some rabble rousers outside.

“When she said that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind, did you stop bucking her?”

“Not immediately, I wasn’t finished yet.” The audience murmured in discontent, but they quickly quieted down for the rest of the explanation. “After that, I broke her hip so that Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser couldn’t have a child and claim that good things come from bad times… as they say.”

Breezefly put a hoof to his face. “Let me get this straight. After you raped her, you thought you could mosey on up to the law firm and declare that Thunderlane had murdered Shiverwind, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you did because you talked to me about convicting him. And do you remember what I told you?”

“You told me ‘how do you know.’”

“Right. I said I would look into it… but I can’t look into anything if you don’t give me anything to work with. I might have gone and entertained your little accusation, and Celestia forbid the jury thinks that Thunderlane actually murdered Shiverwind, but Thunderlane said somepony raped Cloud Chaser. Cloud Chaser must’ve told Thunderlane a description and a name and he went after you, but you only got in trouble when he told me your description. After that, you were arrested, right?”

“Right.”

“Why then, did you rape Cloud Chaser when you ran the risk of exposing yourself to Thunderlane and to this court? You basically self-incriminated yourself. And why did you self-incriminate yourself here? You could have pleaded Celestia’s Silence. You must know that Thunderlane’s no wimp, he’s a fighter, and he traced the crime straight back to you.”

“At the time, I thought I had abused Cloud Chaser into being so terrified that she would never dare tell anypony else about the traumatic experience.”

“And how’d that work out?”

“Fine, actually.” The answer caught Breezefly by surprise. “To my knowledge, Cloud Chaser never did tell Thunderlane that she told me about his murderer. He finally figured out the truth when you, Mr. Breezefly, gleaned that answer through your own questioning. You thought you could trap me into answ-”

“-But I’m not framing you like you were going to say. You failed at keeping your little vigilante stunt afloat and, on top of that, you had to resort to holding Cloud Chaser hostage. And so when the guards arrested you, you consigned to defeat, which is why you confessed to the rape of Cloud Chaser earlier. The court is done with you, no more questions.” The audience cheered as Firestorm walked off from the stand, but Firestorm managed to cast doubt that Thunderlane’s hooves were completely clean.

“The defense may question its witness,” the judge announced.

“I have no questions,” Firestorm’s lawyer bellowed.

“Very well then, the defense may call its next witness.”

“I do not need to call a witness to the stand at this time, I only need to cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses,” Firestorm’s lawyer said officially as he leaned back in his chair.

“Very well then.” The judge turned to Breezefly. “The prosecution may call its next witness.”

“May we have a very brief discussion, your honor?” The judge nodded. Breezefly turned back to face Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser. “I don’t know what Firestorm’s lawyer is up to. I’ve served as a paid intern for him before and I know he’s both lazy and terrible at his job, but during the Emerald Skies case, he didn’t exactly help the defense out. He’s got something up his sleeve, I can smell it. I think he might actually try to defend Firestorm.” Breezefly turned back around and announced, “The prosecution calls Cloud Chaser to the stand.” Cloud Chaser quickly got up and walked to the stand and remained standing.

The cinnamon red clerk said rather quickly, “Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court is be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you Celestia and Luna?”

“I do.”

“Can you please state your name for the record.”

“Cloud Chaser.”

Breezefly slowly drank some water from a bottle at the corner of his desk before walking up to Cloud Chaser. “Firestorm says that you told him that your coltfriend, Thunderlane, killed Shiverwind. Is that true?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I never told him anything.”

“Go on.”

“Firestorm just tried to blackmail Thunderlane solely based on his suspicion that he killed my father. Sure neither of us liked Shiverwind, he was a terrible father, but Thunderlane didn’t kill him.”

“Why do you think Firestorm would claim that you said otherwise?”

“I think he might have thought that we both had a guilty conscious or something. Even if what he says is true, he would still have to lie to the authorities about where he got the information because rape is a crime. Look, I don’t even know why the court is entertaining the idea that Thunderlane murdered somepony, that’s just a fabricated lie made by the defendant.”

Breezefly said, “We’ll see. So Firestorm failed to get any information that he wanted from you. And yet at the same time, he still went through with his accusation. He could’ve gone on to accuse Thunderlane without having to endanger his record with rape. What do you think about that?”

“I think that after Firestorm failed to crack me open, he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to confirm his suspicions any longer. And to be fair, suspicion is the only thing that’s really needed to ruin a stallion’s reputation.”

“Thank you, I do not have any more questions, your honor.”

“Does the defense have any questions?”

“We do have some questions, your honor.” Firestorm’s lawyer ambled up to Cloud Chaser.

“Your lawyer Breezefly is hardly above this case,” he purred. “He was very much active in the events earlier today. Why do you think Breezefly agreed to help Firestorm if he refused to tell him how he obtained the information about Thunderlane’s murder?”

“I didn’t know that happened.”

“Breezefly explained it when he was questioning Firestorm. He listened to his accusation this morning… my question to you is why do you think Breezefly agreed to help Firestorm?”

“I don’t know… and it doesn’t really matter since he’s convicting Firestorm of rape now.”

“Why would Breezefly accept a case if his client won’t tell him how he got the information?” The lawyer’s voice still sounded smooth, but there was an edge of desperation mixed in as well.

“I don’t think he would do that. I think he agreed only because he knew he would turn around and convict Firestorm… but that’s not possible either because Breezefly didn’t know Firestorm was the rapist at the time. Firestorm tried to use Breezefly’s ignorance to throw Thunderlane in jail, but he failed because I resisted him when he raped me. It’s ironic because by wanting to be absolutely sure that Firestorm’s suspicions were correct as a safeguard to protect his own name, Firestorm raped me, making himself more vulnerable to the prosecution. And on top of that, Firestorm’s suspicions were not confirmed. He lost twice.

Cloud Chaser went on, “Ladies and gentlecolts of the court, it is clear to everypony that Firestorm’s blackmail was a setup. He even had to resort to holding me hostage and it was only because Thunderlane came back to his house that he was able to free me from this monster’s chains. The guards can tell you that. I have to ask you: what is more believable? Thunderlane killing Shiverwind in order to take me into custody, or Firestorm killing Shiverwind, my father, so that he can be free to rape me without repercussion?

“He didn’t get the information that he wanted from me because there was no information to begin with. Firestorm knew that and he could’ve just accused Thunderlane without raping me… but he did rape me. It was because he wanted to traumatize us into remaining silent when he planned to prance around Cloudsdale, throwing his murder accusation into the wind. He didn’t want information, he wanted me to be a ‘good little filly’ and to ‘not say a word’. Well, Firestorm,” she turned to look at him, “look where you are now.”

Firestorm looked like he wanted to protest, to flip the defense table, to pound on the floor, and to storm out of the building all at once, but he simply leaned forward.

The lawyer said, “The defense has no more questions,” and walked back to his table.

“The defense may call its next witness.”

“The defense does not wish to call in another witness at this time, your honor,” Firestorm’s lawyer said before plopping back down in his chair.

“The prosecution may call its next witness.”

Breezefly shouted to the over-packed courthouse, “the prosecution calls Thunderlane to the stand.”

Thunderlane hung his head for a brief moment before slowly walking to the witness stand. Oh shit, oh shit. What am I going to say. Breezefly knows I killed Shiverwind. Celestia, help me. He spotted the clerk walking up to him and the rest of the crowd, thousands of them, all staring at him. He never had a problem with audiences, he was used to them when he flew in competitions. But this was different.

“Please stand.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, I know you’re nervous.” Thunderlane glanced to the side to escape the glare of the crowd and he spotted Bucko guarding the entrance to the jury room who smiled back at him. “Look at me,” she said softly. “Please stand. Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court is be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, Celestia and Luna?”

“I do.”

“Please state your name for the record.”

“Thunderlane.”

“You may be seated.” The mare walked away, almost brushing against Breezefly as he walked up Thunderlane. He looked into Breezefly’s green-blue eyes and tried to see if he still had a little spark of friendliness that he used to have all the time. It was ironic, Thunderlane used to make fun of Breezefly all the time for being weak, but now Breezefly was about to interrogate him like a criminal.

“Now Thunderlane,” he spat, “the prosecution, the orphanage, and all of these ponies in the crowd want to believe that Firestorm is also responsible for Shiverwind’s death in order to make the case more comprehensive. Do you agree with that?”

Should I lie? He already knows the truth… “No.”

“You don’t think that all of the charges brought against Firestorm are legitimate?”

“Uh… that’s right.”

“Which charge is that?” Breezefly was purposefully taking foal steps.

“I don’t think Firestorm is responsible for Shiverwind’s death,” Thunderlane declared curtly. He briefly looked at Cloud Chaser before Breezefly blocked his vision.

“How odd of you to think that,” he said sarcastically. “I can guarantee you that Firestorm will go free if the culprit behind Shiverwind’s murder is not found. Cloud Chaser will be in danger if you do not tell the court who murdered Shiverwind.”

“Why is that?”

“You weren’t paying attention. I didn’t accuse Firestorm of killing Shiverwind when I examined him and your fillyfriend said that she wasn’t raped for information. This and many other things are really inconsistent. The jury is not convinced, Thunderlane. Not one iota of evidence has been produced. I have not proven and I have not tried to prove that Firestorm had raped your fillyfriend, he confessed that himself; I also did not try to prove that Firestorm killed Shiverwind. So, as we stand now, Shiverwind goes free if the jury deliberates. Even though he confessed, there is still no evidence. But there is one thing that condemns him. There is one thing that makes him guilty of gleaning information from Cloud Chaser. There is one thing that makes him guilty of attempting to frame you.

“On down the line, Firestorm has been framing ponies for crimes that seemed suspicious and plausible, yet were nevertheless not committed. Cadet after cadet after cadet he accused and the court declared all of them innocent and declared that the accusations were mere guesses. But yesterday, Firestorm pulled another card from the deck… and he guessed right this time. It just so happens that his accusation came true, did it not?

“Thunderlane.” He swallowed hard before saying, “Did you kill Shiverwind?” Breezefly stared Thunderlane down like a cornered beast until he couldn’t help but to feel some sympathy. He looked down at his document titled Black-White and he grew nervous. And then, after a long pause, Breezefly did what Thunderlane never would’ve expected. Breezefly kneeled down in front of Thunderlane like he was begging. “Please. Celestia.” Breezefly sniffled. “D… did you kill Shiverwind?”

Dead silence followed.

…

I’m doing this for Cloud Chaser. Firestorm will be locked up, I can end this.

…

Breezefly whispered, “My old friend is in there somewhere.”

I have to end this.

…

“I…” his voice evaporated. “I… I killed Shiverwind.”

One huge collective gasp rolled through the audience followed by a mixture of booing, yelling, mumbling, and hoof stomping.

The judge pounded his gavel again, but the crowd didn’t settle down. “Silence. Guards!” The police rushed into the crowd and wrestled everypony back down to their seats. They suppressed the anger in the crowd, but they didn’t completely defuse the bomb.

“Why?” Breezefly snapped, still kneeling on the ground. “Did you kill him out of defense?”

“No,” Thunderlane said firmly.

“Did you kill him out of ang-”

“-No!” Thunderlane shouted resolutely.

“W… why? Why?” Breezefly couldn’t hold back his burning terror. “Why!”

“Because… because… I believed killing him was… the right thing to do. After I saw how he treated me… and especially Cloud Chaser...” Thunderlane’s emotions shifted from raw fear to raw anger. “And I know now that Shiverwind didn’t deserve to die… but he didn’t deserve to talk to anypony. He didn’t deserve to talk to his daughters the way he did. I killed him out of justice... because he called me a rapist and he suspected me of running off with his daughter. He was a terrible, terrible stallion. But it was my fault. Cloud Chaser and I felt bad enough for him that we dug a proper grave for his body… even though I knew he didn’t deserve that either.”

“Was it out of respect or was it to hide the evidence?”

“The grave is definitely not hidden, it has a headstone.”

Breezefly stood up and backtracked a little. The audience still buzzed behind him. “If you killed Shiverwind, why did you accuse Firestorm of your crime?”

“At first I didn’t. I wanted to throw Firestorm in prison for raping my fillyfriend because I wanted clean my name by handing him over to the police. I tried to capture Firestorm to clear my name.”

“What?” Breezefly turned around, completely pissed that he said exactly what he tried to argue to Thunderlane not to say.

“Cloud Chaser wanted me to clear my name because she wanted me to live my life without any ghosts from the past.” Breezefly turned his back on him. “Listen, Breezefly, I’m telling you the truth: I wanted to turn Firestorm in so I could clear my name.”

“So it wasn’t anger. So it wasn’t defense.” Breezefly narrowed his eyes, “What kind of sick justice do you think Equestria operates using? Did you think that by turning him in, you would be able to wash away your past?” Breezefly snarled, releasing all of his pent up anger from the last few months, “I guess you can tell that hasn’t gone well. Thunderlane, I can’t, I can’t help you anymore. You’re too far gone for me to help. Maybe a stronger stallion will roll by, but you’re the same selfish stallion you were when you first met Cloud Chaser and Cloud Chaser is the same selfish mare when she first met you. I’m leaving you after this case.” Breezefly couldn’t stop himself from shaking. “Thank you, I have no other questions, your honor.”

“Does the defense have any questions?”

“Yes, your honor. I-”

“-Wait.” Firestorm interrupted.

“The defendant may not talk out of term. I ask you to-”

“-Ladies and gentlecolts of the court,” he boomed imperiously, knowing that the judge had all but lost control over the court. “Thunderlane here is the larger evil. He murdered Shiverwind out of what he calls justice, he tried to push that crime onto my record, and he wanted to throw me into prison all because he wants to wash his hooves of the blood he spilled eight weeks ago. I merely raped Cloud Chaser to gain information. Thunderlane is a much worse pony than I am. There’s no doubt about-”

“-No.” The singular word hushed the crowd. “Even though many ponies may believe that murder is a worse crime than rape… and I can’t say if I believe that or not. Firestorm will and forever shall be the worst pony to have lived in Cloudsdale. I may have blood on my hooves, but I stand here at this witness box as the lesser of two evils.” Breezefly turned his back on Thunderlane. “I may have only wanted to bring you to justice because I wanted to selfishly clean my name of my crime and in so doing, I put my precious Cloud Chaser at risk. She was held hostage after all.

“I know now that turning you in in exchange for clearing my name won’t compensate for my wrongdoing, and that telling the truth won’t make the guilt or the punishment go away,” Breezefly’s ears perked up, “but even after all of my crimes and my selfish reasons are said, I firmly believe that I am the lesser of two evils because I, whether you believe it or not, I feel guilty. I do have a guilty conscious and I’m proud of it. I wouldn’t be the stallion I am today if I didn’t feel guilty for the crime I committed eight weeks ago. I don’t know how I’ll reconcile my crimes when I’m in prison, but I can tell you that my guilt sets me free.

“Firestorm, on the other hoof, feels no guilt at all.” Breezefly turned around as the crowd went ballistic. “He is evil because he has no guilt.” Thunderlane shouted, “He is evil because he doesn’t care that he raped my fillyfriend. He is evil because he calls it a means to an end. He is evil because he framed all of those cadets for crimes they didn’t commit. He is evil because he treats her sister, Spitfire, like a criminal for harboring flyers that want to so fiercely turn over a new page in their lives, just like I do. Firestorm doesn’t care about laws or about hearts and spirits. Whatever form of justice he thinks he has, it’s twisted and wrong. I’m sorry, but he’s not reconcilable; remember that.” Knowing that the judge and the police were no longer in control of the crowds, Thunderlane stepped down himself and walked into the crowd.

The crowd overpowered the police and many of them flew straight towards Firestorm. Thunderlane couldn’t see what happened to Firestorm, but he could tell by the incessant screaming that it wasn’t good. With the crowds to protect him from the police, he managed to slip by all the way out of the courthouse.

Once he was outdoors again, he flew away from the courthouse. He didn’t even know where he was going, he just kept flying and flying. The sky was pitch black now and it was hard for him to imagine that all of this happened within the span of one day.

Thunderlane found a stray cloud floating above Cloudsdale and he sat on the fluffiness. Fear, anger, and sorrow all danced together in his heart and all he could do was think… emotionlessly… like Breezefly who could only see the world in black and white. He saw that Firestorm and Thunderlane were both criminals, and he acted accordingly. He didn’t care if Thunderlane felt guilty, he was still just as responsible as before.

Eventually, Thunderlane couldn’t even think anymore. He simply sat there, unable to do anything; his very soul was in shock.

The faint summer night breeze woke up his senses and he saw that the breeze came from the gentle flapping of Cloud Chaser’s wings.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I did you a great disservice today, Cloud Chaser. I’m no better than your father.” He looked down in defeat before she slapped him hard.

“Don’t you ever compare yourself with the stallion you killed. You’re still better than he was.” She paused suddenly. “Breezefly is right.”

“He doesn’t know what I… I…”

“I know he doesn’t have the same feelings that we have, that we’re capable of having. But he is right. If you want to show me strength, go back to the courthouse and turn yourself in. I’d rather visit you in prison than to escape with a ghost following us.”

“They’ll arrest you too. You aided and abetted.”

“Y’know.”

“What?”

“All of this would’ve been avoided if you just decided to buck me last night like I wanted.” She grinned.

“You…”

“I’m kidding. If you turn yourself in and if you’re locked up, you’ll finally be free. And me too, I’ll be there along with you.” They nodded at each other and flew back to the courthouse.

Firestorm felt a great weight lifted off of his shoulders as he flew for what he thought was the very last time.