It was an accident!

The next day Rarity found herself staring slack jawed at the morning newspaper, a sight that surely had many others in Ponyville reacting the same.

"Local party pony Pinkie Pie is found guilty for the murders of Derpy and Dinky Whooves, authorities believe alcohol to be the motivation!?" Rarity's magic fizzled out, but she was in such a state of shock that she didn't even hear the shattering of her coffee mug.

Similarly, Twilight was also staring blankly at the headline. Her face was pale and her mane was unkempt, she clearly hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night.

Fluttershy, in her cottage, had only stopped reading at 'found guilty' before she burst out of her home and ran toward the library in tears.

Rainbow Dash hadn't even bothered to get the paper, she already knew what the guards' conclusion would be.

"The royal guards have'n concluded that, confronted by an enraged Derpy about given' her foal spiked punch, Pinkie Pie murdered both the mother and filly?" Applejack felt a lump form in her throat upon reading that.

She had been the last to be informed about Pinkie Pie being arrested yesterday afternoon, after a terrified Fluttershy had informed her that Twilight had requested everypony's presence.

Though, it was Rarity who broke the news, while Twilight just sat there solemnly. Rainbow Dash wasn't present, of course, Rarity having told them the poor thing had seen something nightmarish.

"W-why would they th-think she did that?" Fluttershy whimpered, having showed up a wreck at Twilight's library just minutes prior.

"I don't know!" Twilight huffed as she did her best to comfort Fluttershy, of course the butter colored pegasus knew that frustration wasn't aimed at her.

"That's ridiculous, why would they-" Twilight shook her head back and forth, she couldn't continue that question. She knew why, it was probably the most logical conclusion.

To the royal guards, that is. Obviously Pinkie's FRIENDS -and most of Ponyville- knew that Pinkie Pie would never kill anypony, even if that situation happened.

But it wouldn't happen! Pinkie Pie would never let foals have alcohol, I know she wouldn't! Twilight screamed mentally, though she just couldn't tear her eyes away from the newspaper.

Just then the door to the library swung open, a huffing Applejack standing in its wake.

"Twilight, we need to go see Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said as she marched into the building, stopping in front of the two ponies who were huddled together.

"Hello, Applejack," Twilight sighed, she supposed she should also expect Rarity and Rainbow Dash to come barging in as well. "I know, don't worry. I've already bought train tickets, we'll be leaving for Canterlot this afternoon."

"Pinkie's in C-Canterlot?" Fluttershy sobbed.

"Of course she is, murder is one of the worst crimes a pony can commit. Convicted murderers are executed by princess Celestia herself, public or private depending on exactly what they did."

"What!?" Applejack yelled, confusion clear on her face.

"H-how do you know this information?" Fluttershy asked, looking up at Twilight with horror in her teary eyes.

Twilight gulped. "I've read a lot of books, girls. Some of them are not as pleasant as others."

In truth, most ponies didn't actually know what happened to serious criminals. Since the worst crimes, like murder, were so rare in Equestria. The public would just assume that Pinkie Pie would be sent to prison for a while.

Most ponies would be shocked when they heard about the execution, ponies just weren't used to crimes much worse than petty robbery.

Up in the clouds, far away from that scene, Rainbow Dash glided idly towards Ponyville. Her mind wasn't fully with her, so her body was just on auto-pilot for now. It probably would be that way until she finally got to see Pinkie, which she knew her friends were probably already dealing with.

She wanted to smile as her hooves trailed through a fluffy cloud as she descended, but even as the cumulus released her now damp legs her eyes still focused on nothing.

Dash gasped in shock as her hooves finally clacked against the cobblestone road, she swiftly looked left and right and sighed in relief as she determined that nopony had heard it.

Rarity was the last to arrive at Twilight's library, she was in an even worse state then Twilight. Not nearly as bad as Rainbow, but still having witnessed Pinkie get hauled away had a visible effect on her.

When the sun finally reached the position in the sky where the time could be considered noon, the five friends found themselves silently rushing into the train. They all sat in one car, none of them really focusing on anything as the train chugged along toward Canterlot.

When they reached the aforementioned capital city, they once again rushed out and into the streets. This time, however, they were being led by Twilight directly to the castle.

"They're holding her in the dungeon while they wait for Celestia to have the time to interrogate her, once that's done her sentence will be determined!" Twilight said as they galloped through the city.

"Oh my, Celestia is going to i-interrogate her?" Fluttershy whimpered.

"No, there's no way Celestia would believe that Pinkie's guilty!" Twilight said, more determined than ever to get to the castle as soon as possible.

"Then what is going to happen to her?" Rarity asked.

"Celestia 'll probably want to talk to us first, right Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"Most likely, yes!" Twilight answered, she gasped for breath as the group finally slowed down to a trot at the castle gates.

"I hope we can postpone Pinkie's interrogation, knock some friggin' sense into the princess!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Don't worry girls, I know things look bad but there's no way that Celestia will let Pinkie die that easily. We're going to get her out of there, and then she can throw us a big 'get out of jail free' party," Twilight said, biting her lip nervously as they walked into the throne room.

"I hope…" She whispered, as Celestia came into view.

Celestia looked up from the stallion she had been speaking with, before she declared that daycourt was paused for an hour. Nopony paid attention as the stallion grumbled while being escorted out of the room by guards, who promptly shut the doors behind them, leaving Celestia alone with the five mares.

"Twilight," Celestia started, giving her student a pained smile. "You've made a rather abrupt interruption." She continued, though her tone was as kind as ever.

"I sent you a letter, we're here to see Pinkie Pie!" Twilight said, stomping her hoof.

"I know, and I told you that I have a very busy schedule today and could not speak with you." Celestia said.

"I don't care! You're the princess of Equestria, you should be able to make time for important matters whenever you want."

"That was an important matter I was dealing with, my student. I know this situation is hard for you, but the world isn't going to just stop. There are other important situations going on right now, I'm sorry." Celestia frowned.

"You have an element of harmony locked up like some kind of animal, under the accusation of MURDER," Twilight said.

"A thing that said element of harmony could never commit, considering her very element is laughter," Rarity piped up. "Pinkie Pie lives to make ponies laugh, your majesty, it goes against her vary nature to hurt others."

"Plus the story the guards constructed just doesn't make any sense, Pinkie Pie is very responsible and would never give alcohol to foals!" Fluttershy said, her voice uncharacteristically bold.

"And if'n she did get confronted by an angry mamma about somethin', she'd just easily clear up the misunderstanding with cupcakes and smiles!" Applejack added.

There was silence, before Celestia's magenta eyes landed on Rainbow Dash.

Dash gulped.

"There's gotta be more to the story, princess! We know Pinkie Pie, she would never…" Her voice cracked and she trailed off, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, I am truly sorry. I am doing everything in my power to keep Pinkie Pie safe, I know just as well as you five that she would never hurt anypony on purpose," She took a deep breath.

"But this situation is delicate, I must listen to the guards and review the evidence they present. And then, when the time comes, I must interview Pinkie," Celestia said.

"You're not going to interrogate her?" Twilight asked.

"Not like I would an obvious murderer, I will be as gentle with her as I am with all of my subjects. I will determine whether or not I think she's guilty considering the evidence provided."

"But she's not guilty!" Rainbow Dash cried.

"We don't know that," Celestia said.

"But we have good reason to believe that she's not, based on our own evidence!" Twilight said, stepping forward.

Celestia raised a brow at her.

Twilight gulped. "Okay, I don't mean physical evidence. But Pinkie's our best friend, we know her better than anypony else."

"I know," Celestia said, before she gave the girls a soft smile. "Please don't fret, like I said I am very busy today- Already so that I couldn't interview her tonight, and now this little interruption probably means I won't be able to do so tomorrow night either."

Twilight and the others sighed, relief washing over them as the tension in the room faded away.

"Can we please see her?' Twilight asked.

"Of course, you did not need to ask me for permission to do that," Celestia answered.

As the friends left the room, Celestia gently called for Rainbow Dash. Dash stopped and turned around, hovering as her friends continued walking.

"Yes, princess?" She asked.

"What troubles you, my little pony?" Celestia asked, she gave Rainbow Dash a worried smile.

Rainbow Dash gulped, her eyes fell to the floor and she quietly landed on her hooves.

"I saw the body in Sugarcube Corner, your highness." She whispered.

Celestia's brow furrowed, she gave a nod in understanding. After that Rainbow Dash walked out of the room and after her friends.