"Everypony be silent before the judge."
The hustle and bustle of the Canterlot Royal Court fell silent as the porter announced the arrival of Judge Haystack. In the east wing stood a jury of twelve ponies from across Equestria, gathered at random. In the west, the public gallery contained members of the paparazzi, notepads in-hoof and assorted ponies of the public who had pushed their way in to hear the final day of proceedings.
On a plinth overseeing the court was the intimidating figure of Judge Haystack, an elderly black stallion with cold blue eyes, dressed in a red gown and a traditional white curled judges wig. A monocle held to his left eye aided him in reading the pile of documents before him. Well respected by the ponyfolk of Equestria, this was a case only he could preside over.
Behind him Princess Celestia sat on a throne with two Royal Equestrian Guards at her side. The princess was in full regal attire but as flawless as it was, she looked troubled and tired. Her stomach was covered with dressing - rumour in the press was that after the incident the Princess had lost parts of her digestive system and now had to carry a bag into which her effluence flowed.
Judge Haystack cleared his throat.
"We are here on the final day of proceedings to make a decision on a most troubling case. Noble jurors, many of you have served the court before but I must make this clear to you - cast from your minds anything you have read in the media. Base your decision only on the evidence presented to you here in the royal court."
A unicorn porter cast a spell and lifted a sheet of paper from the top of the judge's documents. Judge Haystack continued to orate.
"As with all cases of treason, there is the potential of a capital sentance. The jurors must consider their verdict well. Today, we will summarise before re-calling the main witness. Before lunch I will dismiss the jury and by sundown this evening I expect a decision. Porter, bring forth the accused."
The porter mare opened a discrete door embedded in the aged wooden panelling which decorated the court. Escorted by a single Equestrian Guard, Twilight Sparkle shuffled in, her front hoofes chained together with another chain leading to the thick neck of the guard. Twilight looked a shell of her former self. Her right eye was swollen and puffy, her mane unkempt and many small wounds covered her body. Twilight's time in the dungeons had been torrid. The guards were most displeased with the crime she was accused and had done many unspeakable things to her before she appeared in court.
The guard pulled Twilight from the door to a small platform, visible to all in the court room.
The gathered reporters scribed notes - their cameras confiscated before entering the court. Judge Haystack banged his hoof against his wooden table twice to gain the attention of the court.
"Twilight Sparkle, you stand accused of treason. It has been put to you that on the 2nd day of the summer solstice you did attempt to poison Her Majesty, Princess Celestia. Has your plea changed overnight, Ms. Sparkle? Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"
Twilight's eyes welled with tears as she looked up at the Princess. Princess Celestia looked close to tears too and could not meet Twilight's gaze. The Princess' stomach twinged, still damaged and likely never to recover despite her immortality - immortals realize that some wounds won't heal over time.
"Not guilty, I would.. never.."
"Thank you Ms. Sparkle, that will do."
The judge's papers were shuffled again by the unicorn assistant.
"Then, for the court, I shall summarise before we introduce our key witness to refresh the jury. On the second day of the summer solstice, our princess was struck down by a very serious illness almost seconds after drinking from her bedside water pitcher. It is only by the grace of her doctors that the princess survived. You, Ms. Sparkle, were seen entering the princess' quarters while she dried herself from a bath just minutes before she fell ill. Despite the timely intervention of the Princess' doctors, many operations have had to be performed. I shall not go into details but many of the consequences of poisoning our Princess has experienced have been painful and traumatic."
The papers shuffled again and the judge squinted, squishing his elderly eyebrow down onto the monocle. Princess Celestia shyed away as a few journalists looked up at her and scribbled into their note books.
"As the princess' protege, the guards naturally allowed you to enter but as you left the palace and the guards having heard the princess' cries soon after, you were seized and in your possession was exhibit five, shown yesterday - a small vial. Alchemists proved this to contain traces of concentrated ragwort, a substance toxic to ponyfolk."
Twilight shook her head resiliently as the judge continued.
"Furthermore, a week earlier it was well known in the palace that Princess Celestia and yourself had, and I quote the words of a Royal Guard, 'a furious argument seemingly over the abuse of magic'. In your statement you told us how yourself and the Princess had made amends soon after. You told us how yourself and the Princess had a history of playing practical jokes on each other - you told us that what you put into the Princess' water was a concoction you made which would..."
The judge raised his eyebrow and his monocle fell out, hanging on its golden chain against his robe.
"Make her extremely flatulent."
There was not a giggle or a cough in the court, the seriousness of the case was understood by all present. In the public gallery, Twilight's dejected friends watched. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sat together, Pinkie's hair straight, eyes tearful as she rested her head on Dash's shoulder. Fluttershy and Rarity both dressed up but looked far from festive as they heard the evidence against their dear friend. Even Applejack had dressed formally, the Apple family holding a small gathering before the court session in support of Twilight.
"But as is widely reported, the concoction left our princess close to death. Porter, please summon the main witness against the defendant, Ms. Trixie."
The reporters scribbled as the door swung open and in walked a blue unicorn mare wearing just a delicate purple scarf around her neck. Trixie stepped up to the witness stand and shook her silver mane.
"Ms. Trixie, you understand why you are here and before taking the stand you did swear on oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Is this so?"
Twilight's friends glared at Trixie as she nodded and addressed the judge.
"Absolutely your honour."
"And you are Trixie, of no fixed abode, your profession, entertainer. Is this the case?"
"Yes your honour."
"Then tell us what you saw on the night in question, please describe again to the jury what you saw."
Trixie adjusted her scarf and looked at Twilight with disdain.
"My lord, I was travelling from a show in Stalliongrad and passed through the Everfree Forest on my way to a return show in Ponyville. It was here that I saw the filly Twilight Sparkle. She was clearly angry, mumbling to herself in a patch of ragwort about fifty yards from the path I walked."
Trixie took a deep breath.
"I thought, why on earth is that pony in a patch of ragwort? It is poisonous! At first I thought she might... harm herself and I thought, 'Trixie, that is your good friend Twilight, you must help her!'. Twilight and I go WAY back, we both fought off the Ursa Minor that attacked Ponyville. I could NEVER let such a friend hurt herself."
Twilight shook her head and her friends snarled at Trixie, knowing that her version of events was certainly not the case.
"Twilight had not seen me but as I approached I heard what she was saying... 'kill, hurt, murder!' I am not a brave pony and I'm ashamed to say... I ran. I ran for fear that she would hurt me!"
Crocodile tears welled in Trixie's eyes.
"Its only.. when... when I heard about what happened to the princess... I... oh Princess..."
The porter magick'd a tissue to Trixie as she burst into tears. Judge Haystack banged his hoof again.
"That will be enough, thank you Ms. Trixie."
Trixie blew her nose and walked out of the court room. Checking through security she was given back her wand, hat and some bits and bobs. She sniffed and blew her nose again and as she stepped out of Canterlot Court she threw the tissue on the floor and smiled.
"Those stupid city ponies, so easy to manipulate!"
How dare they heckle her. How dare they ruin her show!
"I just wanted to be loved, to be cheered... those horrid six ponies... I heard Ponyville was the place to make friends but... they were so nasty!"
Trixie grumbled and adjusted her mane. She hadn't wanted the Princess to get hurt but she had been so, so angry.
She had bided her time and waited for the Ursa Minor incident to be forgotten. She had seen Twilight picking harmless ingredients in the Everfree Forest and stealthily followed her home. When Twilight had gone to hang out with her friends, she emptied the bottle and put in some ragwort.
She knew somepony would get ill, maybe even die. Hopefully that stupid marshmallow pony with all the looks and the blue hair, or the coward one who likes the bunnies. But Princess Celestia? She really didn't expect that.
"Good gosh I screwed up so bad... still, the plan worked. That bitch will regret the day she embarrassed the Great and Powerful Trixie! Friends, pah. I could have been the best friend those small-time ponies ever had!"
Back in the court room, Judge Haystack concluded the mornings proceedings.
"We shall adjourn for lunch. After lunch we shall have a statement from Princess Celestia before allowing the jury to retire and make their final decision. Court will resume in one hour from now."
The judge banged his hoof on the table and the reporters in the public gallery quickly pushed their way out of the courtroom in order to avoid the queues in the court cafeteria. Only five ponies remained, the friends of Twilight Sparkle, once the most trusted and loved protegé of the Princess.
Twilight Sparkle sighed and looked up at her friends as she was led back to her cell for her lunch of cabbage soup. Rainbow Dash gave a tearful smile and mouthed words to Twilight. The others smiled as best as they could, so many sad and empty nights since Twilight had been arrested.
"We love you Twi, we believe you..."
The Royal Court was again busy with the chatter of the hundred or so ponies gathered for the afternoon session. The members of the press gossiped and compared notes from the morning session where Twilight Sparkle had been accused of attempting to murder Princess Celestia. The evidence was looking damning and the pony who had given evidence against Twilight, Trixie, was now in the public gallery sitting on the back row, unknown to Twilight's closest friends who sat two rows in front.
The chatter fell silent as Judge Haystack returned gingerly to his position at the head of the court, his old bones creaking as he hoisted his rump onto the chair.
Up in her own viewing box, Princess Celestia had clearly been crying during the break. The stress of recovering from her poisoning and the overwhelming evidence that her most beloved student had been the poisoner weighed heavy on her shoulders. She could not believe that Twilight would ever do such a thing but the evidence told a grim story.
"Bring forth the accused."
Judge Haystack clopped his hoof on his desk and all eyes once again turned to the defendants entrance. Twilight stepped back into the courtroom and again tried to catch the Princess' gaze to no avail. She had been unable to speak to the Princess since being arrested. Surely the Princess could not believe she was the poisoner? Trixie's statement could be cast into doubt but it was still Twilight who had been the only one to visit the Princess only moments before she was struck down by the poison. Twilight's eyes filled with tears. Had she made a mistake? Had she somehow picked the wrong ingredients for her trick potion? No. Absolutely not. No pony could get haricot beans and ragwort confused. Somepony must have tampered with the Princess' drink earlier, Twilight decided.
"All assembled today, we will now hear a victim's statement from her royal highness, Princess Celestia, before a closing statement from the accused. Following this, the jury will retire and I shall expect a verdict before the court closes this evening. Those in the public gallery are reminded that there will be no leaving, no toilet breaks and no disruption until the end of the session."
A commotion outside the court room caught the attention of most in attendance. A door opened and Spike the dragon entered wearing a rather snazzy shirt and tie. The gold and black tie clashed terribly with his purple scales, Rarity thought idly before reminding herself that this was not the time or the place.
Spike was out of breath but jogged over to the court porter, handed her a note and ran back to the public gallery to sit with his pony friends.
The porter examined the note before trotting to the judge and passing it on. Twilight looked up at her dragon assistant with a questioning glance - Spike grinned and gave his friend a thumb's up as chatter started amongst the reporters.
"Quiet please. It would seem that we have a witness who is prepared to give evidence on behalf of the accused. This is highly irregular. Your highness, as the representative of the royal house as well as victim of the crime, will you allow this unconventionally late witness to stand?"
The Princess nodded and whispered into the ear of one of her guards who poured her a fresh glass of water.
"Very well, bring in the witness."
All heads turned to the witness stand as the door opened and a collective gasp was heard as in walked a large female gryphon.
Rainbow Dash groaned and whispered to Pinkie.
"Gilda? Oh great, this isn't gonna be good."
Pinkie shook her head and hissed to Spike.
"Are you crazy? Gilda hates ponies! She hates ponies so much she'll want to chop Twilight's head off herself, now, in front of everypony!"
Spike put his claws behind his head and rested back against his seat.
"Don't worry Pinkie Pie. Spike's got it all under control! You'll see."
Rarity whinnied and looked down her nose at her dragon admirer.
"I hope so Spike because time is running out! And I told you not to wear a tie that clearly does not.."
Judge Haystack banged his hoof to regain control of the courts attention.
"Quiet there in the public gallery or I shall have you all escorted out!"
Gilda stretched her wings and yawned before turning to the public gallery and looking up at Rainbow Dash. Gilda didn't look as angry or aggressive as the last time their paths had crossed.
"You are Gilda, is this correct? Of the Gryphon Mountains. You were told before entering the court that the evidence you give is under oath. Do you understand?"
"Yeah dude."
The judge banged his hoof causing Gilda's pupils to dilate.
"This is a court of law and you will refer to me as 'Your Honour'!"
"OK Your Honour! Sheesh!"
The judge shook his head at the insubordinate young gryphon, his age making him rather inpatient with adolescents. He scrutinized the note he had been handed again.
"I'm told you have some evidence which may throw doubt on the accusations against Twilight Sparkle. Please start from the beginning, speak clearly and describe what it is you saw Ms. Gilda."
Gilda ran her claws through the crest on her head and began to speak as clearly as she could, unfamiliar with being the integral part of such a formal gathering.
"Well uhh, Your Honour, I was chilling out in Ponyville a few nights after the summer solstice and like, I saw something weird. I mean, I see weird stuff all the time in Ponyville but no-one knows I'm there 'coz I usually hide on the rooftops, ya know?"
The judge raised an eyebrow.
"No, I do not 'know', Ms. Gilda. Why the rooftops? Why were you in Ponyville?"
Gilda shyed away from the judge's cynical glare.
"I, umm, lost a friend there and upset a few ponies. I'm like, totally not welcome there and sometimes I just sit on the rooftops and watch my ex-gal-pal. It sounds weird, whatever, deal with it."
Judge Haystack sighed and rubbed his forehead. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances, Pinkie did the 'loco in the coco' motion and pulled a silly face.
"Ms. Gilda, please tell us what you saw the evening in question."
"Yeah, so I was on the roof and I saw that Twilight pony going into her library. I mean, thats not the weird bit dude."
The judge glared, urging Gilda to hurry before his patience ran out.
"So she's gone in and I see this weird pony I've never seen before, she's like acting all you know, shifty. She opens the window in the library and magick'd something out. I was like, 'Woah! That takes some balls!', you know? Like, boldly stealing! But she didn't steal. She had took a glass bottle, you know like the ones they give you to wake you up? Yeah smelling salts. Like that and she pours it out onto the floor, puts something in it and puts it back and closes the window! I was like, W T F."
The reporters in the public gallery were scribbling furiously in their notepads. Twilight looked aghast. Was Gilda telling the truth? Had someone tampered with her potion?
"Ms. Gilda, thats a lot of detail to see from a rooftop."
"Dude, I'm half-lion, half-eagle, I can see for miles."
"And did you see where this pony poured the contents of the glass bottle? It may be required as evidence."
The porter magick'd another piece of paperwork to the judge.
"Already done, dude. That awesome dragon in the gallery got the alchemists to check it out, those guys were cool. They showed me how to.."
Judge Haystack gave Gilda another glare and she knew to hush. The paperwork was an alchemists report explained that a liquid was found at the location given by Witness G on leaves and grass. The liquid was a mix of haricot bean extract and bicarbonate. The notes added that the recipe was commonly used as a home-made cure for constipation and was also known to young ponies as a mix which could be used in practical jokes to cause extreme flatulence. It was also mentioned that hoof prints in the grass were found and that more forensic evidence could be acquired if necessary.
Up in the gallery, Trixie looked nervous. Her plan was falling to pieces. She turned her head and saw that a Royal Guard was blocking the exit.
"Well Ms. Sparkle it would seem your story about the intentions of your practical joke are looking more likely. Ms. Gilda, the mysterious pony you saw tampering with Ms. Sparkle's potion - would you recognize her if you saw her again?"
Gilda smiled and closed her eyes. She was really starting to enjoy the attention of all these ponies, she could definitely get used to it.
"Like, of course! She's right there dude, at the back of those ponies!"
Gilda pointed up at Trixie and everypony in the court turned to look. Pinkie Pie's turned to look and instantly her hair sprung into curls.
"You! You big meanie! You'll pay for this!"
Judge Haystack clopped his hoof angrily.
"Silence! Guards, arrest the suspect!"
The Royal Guard behind Trixie roughly grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and placed a hood over her head, a commonly used technique in restraining unicorns and snuffing out their magical abilities. Trixie screamed from under the hood.
"No, no! Princess, that potion was never meant for you, I promise, oh please! Don't have me executed!"
The guard pulled her from the room and the sound of Trixie's screams echoed around the court as she was taken down into the dungeon.
Princess Celestia burst into tears and looked down to Twilight Sparkle. She had doubted her most faithful student's guilt but the evidence had stacked against her. Ever the pragmatist, Twilight looked up at her princess and smiled with tears in her eyes.
The reporters chunnered to each other and scribbled, behind them Twilight's pony friends hugged each other before grabbing Spike and pulling him into a massive group hug.
"Order, order. It would seem that you no longer have any charges to answer, Ms. Sparkle, although I would recommend in future that you abstain from practical jokes against royalty. Trixie will be sitting where you are now in the following weeks and from her behaviour today she will seemingly have a difficult time defending herself. Court is dismissed, the defendant is free to leave. Anyone still in the courtroom in five minutes time will be arrested."
A final bang of his hoof ended the session and Twilight's guard removed the chains from her legs. Twilight reared-up in joy and planted a kiss on the guard's nose before running to her friends who were trotting down from the gallery.
Gilda watched as the six ponies were reunited, Spike running along behind them before scampering up Twilight's side to sit on her back and hug her neck.
Applejack hugged Twilight and kissed her on the cheek. Twilight's bruises hurt as she was hugged from all angles but she didn't mind.
"We never doubted you, sugar cube!"
Rarity produced a comb and began to groom her friend's mane.
"Oh Twilight, we missed you so! I'll show you how to cover up that black eye with makeup, oh you poor, poor dear!"
Pinkie was bouncing up and down holding Rainbow Dash's hooves as Gilda walked over to them, Fluttershy nervously moved away and comforted Twilight who was crying with delight.
"Hey, dweebs. You miss me?"
Pinkie Pie hugged Gilda almost knocking her over, the gryphon looked mortified. Dashy joined in and Gilda tried to suppress her smile. This lame pony stuff certainly wasn't doing anything for her street-rep.
"Wheee Gilda, why did you help our friend? I thought you never wanted to see us lame-o ponies again?"
Pinkie grinned and stared at Gilda. For Gilda, trying to hide her happiness was too much - she smiled back at Pinkie.
"When I heard someone had hurt Princess Celestia, I wanted to kick some ass! But when I was listening to the Ponyville town crier last night while I was chillaxing on Dashy's rooftop, dude, what I saw weeks ago with that sneaky pony suddenly like, clicked and I realized that woah, Twilight is probably innocent. Thats when I went to see the little purple kid who Twilight hangs around with"
Spike heard himself being mentioned and waved to Gilda from atop Twilight's back. Rainbow Dash ran her hooves down Gilda's wing and smiled at her old friend.
"You know, Gilda. You could have just knocked on my window and we could have talked..."
Pinkie squeaked and shook her head.
"Oh oh! But, but, but if you two had been talking, Gilda would never have seen Trixie doing that mean trick on Twilight!"
Fluttershy timidly approached Gilda and smiled.
"You are a good gryphon, Gilda. Thank you. Can we be friends, that is, if you don't mind?"
Twilight hugged Gilda from behind and all six ponies gathered.
"Thank you Gilda, for saving me. And thank you, all of you, for believing me. I couldn't ask for better friends. Now lets get out of here before that grumpy old judge throws us all in the dungeon, I have a serious hankering for some ice cream!"
Dash and Pinkie each held one of Gilda's talons and pulled her along.
"Coming, G? I got some new moves to show you. Queen Lame-o's gonna take you to school!"
Gilda sighed and allowed herself to be escorted, "Only for you Dash. But please dude, easy on the hugging. These feathers don't groom themselves you know..."
The ponies giggled and headed off to Sugarcube Corner, watched from above by the still tearful Princess Celestia. The Princess' horn glowed as she magick'd a scroll and quill.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student.
I am so, so, sorry. I have been so unwell from the poisoning that I could not defend you from the accusations that were made. I barely had the strength to stand on my own four hooves until last week and at that time I was presented with the evidence that was used against you.
I had to listen for the last week as your character was questioned and all the time I did not speak up and defend you. For that I am sorry, I had to wait until all the evidence was presented. Deep down I refused to believe you would hurt me but Trixie had certainly manipulated me. For an immortal, I feel a deep shame and naivety to have been tricked into believing that you had wanted me to suffer.
Trixie will be punished. She will most likely lose her life for what she has done to us. Oh Twilight, I cannot describe the pain I am in both from the anguish of having lost your trust, and the damage Trixie's poison has done to my body.
Please, come to see me tomorrow. My most faithful and beloved student, please forgive me, I have been so stupid. As you know, I can never have children and you are the closest thing I will ever have to a daughter.
Yours humbly,
Princess Celestia"
The Princess signed the letter and passed it to the guard.
"Please send this in one hour. Allow Twilight to relax with her friends before she reads it. Let us leave."
Later that evening, the six pony friends along with Spike and Gilda sat in Sugarcube Corner eating delicious looking sundaes. Even Gilda seemed to be having fun with the ponyfolk once Mr and Mrs Cake had put some rock music on the jukebox for her. The ponies had taken Twilight to the spa, the Lotus Sisters had opened it late especially for her. Applejack had put a brave face on things as she was massaged and groomed, Spike had sat outside eating some gems Rarity had brought to thank him for helping Gilda get a spot in the court case. Gilda had enjoyed having her beak polished but had drawn the line at having her hind claws trimmed. They were so very tickly.
After the spa, Rarity had opened Carousel Boutique and showed Twilight how to mask her black eye with make up while Fluttershy had gathered some herbal ingredients to apply to the small cuts Twilight had picked up sleeping on the gritty floor of the dungeon.
Rainbow Dash slurped the last of her sundae and spat a cherry pip at Gilda, who responded by pulling a tongue at the Pegasus. Dash had been wondering all evening whether to ask, but what the hay.
"Twi, ummm.. when you were in the dungeon, what did those guards do? I heard things can get pretty mean in prison."
Everypony objected, Fluttershy especially glared at Rainbow. Twilight however was not at all offended.
"Its ok girls. Rainbow, it was a horrid experience. I was bullied, spat at, hit. Although thanks to Rarity's fabulous makeover you wouldn't know now."
Rarity smiled at her friend and put her hoof on her shoulder. Twilight continued.
"As mean as they were, they were never, ummm, inappropriate. The guard to whom I gave a kiss on the cheek when I was freed? He was very kind. He told me he knew I was innocent and that deep down the Princess knew too. He even brought me flowers. He said it would make my cell less sad."
The ponies looked at each other and smiled.
"I think somepony has a crush!", giggled Applejack.
Twilight blushed and finished her sundae.
"Regardless, the thing I missed most while in that dungeon was you ponies and my most wonderful companion, Spike. You kept me going and hoping that I'd one day see you again, no matter how bad it got."
Everypony hugged as Mrs Cake brought over another round of sundaes and placed her hoof on Twilight's.
"Oh Twilight Sparkle, all of Ponyville is so happy to have you back! Mr Cake was so worried about Pinkie during your imprisonment."
"Thank you Mrs Cake, it is so good to be back!"
The ponies hugged as Spike jumped on the table, munching on his next sundae. Gilda sighed and joined in the hug.
"You ponies are SO lame."
Gilda ruffled her feathers and smiled down at Pinkie Pie. She tapped Dash on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.
"Dude, can I stay at your pad for a while? This place is pretty gnarly."