Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

It was over. Hopper was captured and Equestria could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that a dangerous fugitive was off the streets and in the custody of Equestrian authorities. But, the damage that Hopper and Thumper had caused was not going to be repaired right away. It was going to be a long road for all who were involved.

"The Changeling known as Hopper is being treated at Ponyville hospital right now," said Instant Justice to the princesses in their new hospital rooms at Canterlot hospital. "Shall I prepare to have him placed on trial yet?"

"Not yet," said Celestia, who was now sitting upright in a hospital bed along with Luna, Cadence and Twilight. "It depends on whether he will survive his injuries or not. Furthermore, I don't know if Thorax would be willing to see him put on trial."

"I agree with Celestia," added Twilight. "Thorax will probably want to avoid a trial all together, given his nature and sensitivity to our well-being."

But, Instant Justice was still adamant on having Hopper go on trial for his crimes. These were his superiors after all, the ones who were targeted for death by a fanatical Changeling and his brother. Still, he kept his true intentions to himself.

"Unless," interjected Luna. "That he lets us deal with the vile creature who tried to kill us. I, for one, would love to oversee the trial of a creature who tried to kill us for the sake of restoring the Changeling Queen to her throne."

As Luna spoke, Instant Justice looked over to see Shining Armor looking furious while still holding his wife's hand. Given his history with Changelings, it would be no surprise to Instant Justice get support for a potential decision.

"In the meantime," suggested Celestia, firmly and orderly. "We must wait until Hopper even recovers from his self-inflicted wounds before we even think about a trial. However, for the moment, all we can do is press charges against him."

"What charges do you want against him?" asked Instant Justice.

"Attempted murder of Equestrian Royalty," remarked Shining Armor, crossly. "For a start and furthermore, why don't you charge him for the crimes that he and his fellow Changelings committed during our wedding?"

Cadence was not going to want to see her husband act like this and realized that he needed to have a cool head.

"Shining Armor, calm down," cried Cadence, firmly giving him one of her signature raised eyebrows. "You need to let Instant Justice here do his job."

"I am letting him do his job, Cadence," he snarled. "Of ridding Equestria of murderous monsters who kidnapped us twice and tried to kill us in front of the ponies we are supposed to protect. Not to mention who knows what he could have done in the Crystal Empire, going as far as to killing Sunburst and do something…"

"Shining Armor, that's enough!" snapped Cadence, sharply cutting her husband off in a slightly raised voice and her eyes wide open. Shining Armor wanted to protest, but did as he was told and allowed Instant Justice to do his job. He did it for the sake of his injured wife and sister, who were witnessing him behave in this manner along with his superiors. "Please, that's enough out of you."

Instant Justice sighed heavily at this, for Shining Armor was angry, just like he himself was. After all, like many ponies in Equestria, he had been affected in some way by the bombings that these Changelings had caused.

"All that matters is if he even survives at all," remarked Luna, looking over towards her sister. "Where is he even at right now?"

"At Ponyville hospital," answered Instant Justice. "He is alive, but only time will tell if he will truly survive his injuries. I'm afraid that no kind of magic can magically repair him so easily."

Shining Armor silently nodded at this remark, knowing that he would love to see a Changeling fiercely loyal to Chrysalis succumb to his wounds. But, he had to keep his composure for his wife, sister and superiors.

"Then all we can do is press charges and wait," sighed Celestia. "With a little luck, he could probably realize that he doesn't have the strength to go through a trial and we can send him to Tartarus. I really don't want to say this, but not even I could have the strength to go through a trial."

"None of us might," added Twilight, groaning slightly as her body was slightly pained. "But, that's up to Hopper if he decides to plead guilty and avoid a trial all together."

"Very well then," said Instant Justice. "I shall leave you to your rest and then, we can worry about whether or not he goes on trial or not later."

…

After saluting his superiors, Instant Justice left the hospital room and as he walked away, he was approached by a doctor pony.

"My lord justice," he said, walking over to Instant Justice. "I have some news in regards to your son."

Knowing that the information he was about to receive was critical, Instant Justice gave the doctor his full and undivided attention.

"What do you know?" asked Instant Justice. "How is he?"

"He's lucky to be alive, that's for sure," answered the doctor. "But, I'm afraid that I have some bad news."

"What is it?" demanded Instant Justice, trying to not let his emotions get the better of him. "Tell me, I've got to know!"

"I'm afraid that he will need to have his left rear leg amputated," sighed the doctor, clearly upset over how he was going to approach this situation. "There is a high risk of him developing gangrene."

Instant Justice was devastated to hear this and simply backed away, not deciding deep down whether to scream out of anger or out of pure sadness for his son. Either way, his son was now going to suffer like all the victims of the Changelings latest attack on Equestria.

"Thank you," he said, on the verge of tears. "Thank you, doctor."

Turning around and walking away, all that Instant Justice could do was simply to return to the waiting room and absorb what had just been said to him. To hear that his son would have to lose part of his body was very much unthinkable to Instant Justice. In fact, he didn't even know what to think anymore. He was sad, he was angry and the only ones to blame were the Changelings that caused this horrible act against Equestria.

…

At that moment, Starlight and her friends were sitting by the bedside of Discord and Trixie, who were now free of the heavy anesthetic that they had been under. However, the visit was interrupted by the sounds of hoof beats running down the hall.

"What's going on?" asked Sunset to a nurse who was also on the move.

"It's Fluttershy," answered the nurse. "She is waking from her coma."

Sunset's eyes widened with Starlight and Moon Dancer not far behind. But, Discord quickly took notice and even though he was unable to use his chaos magic, there was no doubt in his mind that he needed to be there for Fluttershy.

"Take me to her," he ordered, despite the fact that he was still very weak from his injuries he sustained fighting Hopper. "Take me to Fluttershy now!"