The Robbery of the Canterlot Mint

Twilight sat on a dais along with Princesses Luna and Cadance. To the left side of the courtroom sat the prosecuting team, headed up by the very best attorney in Canterlot, Common Law. He wasn’t known to lose cases very often, and they said he had a way of swaying juries. Thankfully, since this was a royal offense, Equestrian law demanded that the offending princess be tried by her fellow princesses. So there was no jury, and Twilight demanded complete fairness of herself. The only issue here was that the defendant was none other than her close friend and beloved mentor, Princess Celestia.

The purple pony felt sick when she looked to the right side of the courtroom and saw Celestia decked out in prison regalia. She looked so utterly defeated and tired. She bore scars from where her fellow inmates had beaten her, and her kind eyes betrayed the pain in her soul. Twilight could feel the disgraced and disowned ruler’s heart crying out for justice and mercy, and she swore to herself that she was going to do everything in her power to ensure that both were done. She wanted to be fair, but the thought of hearing the gavel bang down on a guilty verdict tore her spirit in twain.

I swear, she said to Celestia silently, I will uphold the law. I will perform my duty as an honest and just princess. If the evidence we’ve found is all we have to go on, you will be guilty. Oh, but I don’t want you to be! I love you as I do my own mother, Celestia! You’re my best friend!

She sent out a silent plea to her friends, who were still working hard gathering evidence at the bank, to find something that might acquit their beloved leader. She knew that if no further clues were uncovered that might point the hoof of misdeed at somepony else, then she and her fellow leaders would have no choice but to find their own guilty. It would permanently scar the relationship between the ponies and their princesses. Twilight’s stomach churned as she thought of every lesson learned about friendship being tossed aside by everypony in favor of tearing them down.

“Order! Order!” Luna called as she banged the gavel, “order in this courtroom! Now, then. This is case number 45689-B, Canterlot Mint vs. Princess Celestia, whom will be referred to forthwith as simply, Celestia. Counselor Common Law, please present your opening statement.”

Common Law approached the bench with a smug smile on his face. It was well known among the attorneys of Canterlot that he was only in this for the bits. He was considered an extremely greedy, miserly pony, and he would often stoop to low methods of attack in order to win a case. After all, he only got paid if he won. The Equestrian Bar Rules stated so, and he was not about to violate them. Sure, some of his tactics were harsh, but they were all legal.

“Your Majesties, great ones of Equestria, I thank you for hearing this case today,” he began, “for it is a case, not just of great importance to my client, The Canterlot Mint, but also to the very office of princess itself…”

As Common Law continued his opening statement, Twilight’s friends darted around the vault, trying desperately to find anything that might help Celestia out of her predicament. Twilight’s final words to them had been something of a command. “Find anything that could turn things around for her,” she had said firmly.

“Here!” Pinkie Pie said, “I found something!”

“What did you find, darling?” Rarity asked as she trotted over to her.

“I found a bit!”

The others groaned. As much as they loved Pinkie, she could be a little distracting when it came to serious affairs. “Come on, Pinkie! Quit horsin’ around,” Applejack said.

“AJ’s right,” Dash affirmed, “we don’t have a lot of time! The trial’s probably already started, and we don’t have a single damn clue! We just need one clue!”

Meanwhile, Moon Dancer was turning the discolored tuft of fur over in her hooves. She knew she had seen this particular shade of pink on somepony recently, but she couldn’t figure out who it was. It’s an incognito spell, the knowledgeable unicorn thought, I’d bet my life and my detective license on it. But whomever put it on themselves didn’t do a very good job. I mean, really. Even the most basic level unicorn can do a simple disguise. All it takes is a little concentration to keep up the illusion.

She was befuddled as to the source of the fur. On the one hoof, it looked as if it were somepony with a very small mental capacity. A good incognito incantation lasted for a day, and this fur had discolored within hours of the robbery. So, it would appear that they were dealing with somepony very inexperienced when it came to magic. But on the other hoof, the entire plan of breaking into the most secure vault in Equestria was extremely elaborate. Only two ponies had access to the vault: Princess Celestia and the bank manager, and he had been cleared hours before.

“UGH! I just don’t get it!” Moon finally yelled, causing everypony to stop and trot over to her, “I keep going over scenario after scenario in my head, and I can’t find one that makes any kind of sense!”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked.

“Look at this fur. It’s all discolored, and the incognito spell that was placed upon it is dissolving quickly. It looks like it’s half-pink and half-white. We could try and rule out Celestia based solely on this, but we also have to consider the strands of mane and gold necklaces we’ve found. They all bear her marks. The issue here is that the pony who performed this magic spell should be very inexperienced when it comes to such things, but they would also have to be smart enough to get in here. I just can’t figure it out!”

“I found something!” A shrill voice suddenly sang out.

The ponies all turned to where Pinkie had moved away from the group and was digging through a pile of the remaining bits. They all groaned again as they thought she was joking. “Pinkie, we don’t have time for this!” Rarity said, “I swear to Celestia, if you found another bit-“

Rarity was quick to shut her mouth when she saw what Pinkie had found. It was no bit. It was a very important clue. She yelled for Moon Dancer and the others to trot over and see it. When they did, their mouths fell open. “Why…this…is…” Moon began

“…I know,” Rarity said as they picked the object up, “this could blow the entire case wide open.”