Sweet Revenge

Chapters

The Arrivals
The Reunion
The Preparations
The Perfect Crime
Triple Murder Discovery
Interrogaton and an Arrest
A Meeting at the Farm
Exposing the Assaults
The Penalty for Assault
Spreading the News, Part 1
Spreading the News, Part 2
A Morning Meeting & An Indictment
Sweetie's Promotion
Offering a Plea Deal
Visiting Ponyville
The Prosecution's Questions
Defense Mode
The Deliberations
Sweet Revenge
Confrontations & Sadness
The Verdicts & Sentence

The Arrivals

Thirty years had passed since what was classified as one of the most successful classes in Ponyville had graduated and despite being retired, Miss Cheerilee was at the school house getting things set up. While most of the other students had not returned since graduating, Apple Bloom returned to improve the farm after getting her degree in horticulture. That day though she would not be working the farm. Instead she was assisting her former teacher in setting everything up.

Both had been working hard but Cheerilee was fatigued. Apple Bloom noticed this and asked, "Are ya alright Miss Cheerilee? Ya need to stop and rest? Ah can handle everything."

Cheerilee gave her a smile, "You don't need to handle everything Apple Bloom. I am partially responsible for setting this......"

Apple Bloom would have none of it. She took her former teacher into the school house and ordered, "Ya sit down and rest. It is hot and Ah don't want ya gettin' heat stroke."

Cheerilee gave her a smile, "You're too kind Apple Bloom." She paused for a few second before asking, "So who all do you think will be coming?"

Apple Bloom replied, "Well Ah know Silver Spoon will since she lives here, Ah'm not sure about Scootaloo since she's in the air force, Ah'm not sure about Diamond Tiara because of the tax problems she's been havin', Ah'm sure Snips and Snails will be here, Ah'm not sure about Twist with her havin' her business and all...."

Cheerilee noticed that Apple Bloom had yet to bring up her other close friend. She asked, "What about Sweetie Belle?"

The mention of Sweetie caused Apple Bloom to stop and think. While she did still consider her a friend, hearing her name brought back memories of the note she had left for Silver Spoon when she was given her sperm. Cheerilee then asked again and Apple Bloom replied, "Ah'm not sure. It will depend on how things are up in Canterlot."

Apple Bloom then headed outside and continued to get everything set up. Once she got all the picnic tables set up, she got the apple treats and the cider all ready. Just as she finished getting everything set up, her former classmates began to arrive. The first to arrive were the ones Apple Bloom was certain would come, Silver Spoon along with her wife Shadow Blast and their children, Sunrise Gold, Pink Pretzel and Sweetie Silver Belle.

The moment she saw her, Sweetie ran immediately to Apple Bloom. She leapt into her arms and exclaimed, "Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom gave her an embrace and replied, "Sweetie, it is so good to see you!" The rest of the family approached the two causing Apple Bloom to continue, "Silver Spoon, how is everythin' goin'?"

Silver instructed Sweetie to let go of Apple Bloom. She gave her an embrace and replied, "Things have been going quite well."

Shadow Blast added, "Like Silver said, things have been going well. The kids are doing well in school, Silver's business is succeeding and things are going alright for us all."

Apple Bloom replied, "Well Ah'm happy to hear it."

While they were talking, her other former classmates began to arrive. The next to arrive was Diamond Tiara, who had a rather frustrated look on her face. When she arrived, all she received from Silver Spoon and her family were cold glares, ones that mirrored the expression that Apple Bloom gave her. This brought about frustration in Diamond but while she would never openly admit it to anyone, she knew that she had brought it all upon herself.

The next to arrive were Snips and Snails in grand fashion. As soon as they arrived, Snips set up a booth and yelled, "Hey, does anypony want an autograph from my best friend Snails?"

Out of all the former students, Diamond Tiara resented the buckball star. While most of them just gave him an irritated sigh, Diamond Tiara couldn't control her anger, "Seriously, you think we'd want Snails' autograph? You think we want the autograph of an idiot?"

Snails brushed the comment off but Snips did not, "Hey, you're just jealous! You're just jealous that Snails is a famous and wealthy buckball all-star!"

Diamond yelled, "I am not jealous of him. I'd never be jealous of the likes of him!"

Diamond stomped on the ground before heading in the school house to get away from everyone else. The next to arrive was Scootaloo. When she got out of her vehicle she immediately headed towards Apple Bloom but would stop when she saw her with Silver Spoon and her family. While the hate was gone by their senior year, Scootaloo still didn't want to have to deal with Silver or Diamond unless it was absolutely necessary.

She then began to look around for the friend she was closest with, Sweetie Belle. She was becoming frustrated when she didn't see her. She was even contemplating leaving until she heard the loud roar of an engine and heavy metal blaring from a vehicle. She had kept in contact with Sweetie Belle and knew plenty about her change in taste of music but she did not know how she had changed otherwise.

Finally a black crew cab pick-up pulled up and out of it came a white unicorn with a jet black buzz cut. The unicorn was clad in a black muscle shirt, black jeans and was wearing dark sunglasses. When Scootaloo saw this, she thought maybe that wasn't Sweetie Belle, she thought it was a stallion. She thought to herself, "Who is this? I don't remember any white unicorn colts growing up."

The unicorn however recognized the orange pegasus immediately. She approached her, put her fist out and said, "Scootaloo, long time no see!"

Scootaloo gasped, "Sweetie Belle, is that you?"

The unicorn replied, "Yes Scootaloo, it's me." She removed her sunglasses and revealed her emerald green eyes. She gave her a smile and laughed, "You didn't know who I was at first, did you?"

Scootaloo replied, "No, I didn't." She then began to examine Sweetie and noticed that unlike it was in high school when she was rather dainty, her arms were rather muscular. She took a closer look at her and noticed she was missing something she had when they graduated high school, large breasts. She asked, "Sweetie Belle, what happened? Your breasts used to be huge."

Sweetie pointed to her chest and ordered, "Hit me as hard as you can." Scootaloo had an unsure look on her face and Sweetie again ordered, "Hit my chest as hard as you can."

Scootaloo formed a fist and hit her as hard as she could. She gasped, "Sweetie Belle! I felt like I hit a wall! What happened?"

Sweetie lifted her muscle shirt and displayed what was something no mare should have, a ripped chest. Scootaloo looked at it in awe, "Wow Sweetie, it is like you're turning into a stallion."

Sweetie replied, "I'm not turning into a stallion but I do want to be built like one. It was because of my decision to become more masculine that caused Dark Song to divorce me."

Scootaloo knew little about the divorce except that it was quite bitter and featured all over the news since it involved a celebrity. She asked, "I heard about it on the news. I saw her crying on some celebrity TV show claiming you were becoming too masculine."

"Pfft." Grunted Sweetie, "She was nothing but a crybaby bitch there in the end. She whined about me working out more, she whined about us first relocating here when I became police chief and then finally decided to leave me when I took the police chief job up in Canterlot." She became more agitated as she continued, "She bitched about me not following her on her tours. DAMN IT, I do have a job! I was not about to quit my job just to follow her on her tours!"

Scootaloo knew about how Sweetie had become over time, "Well I can understand your frustration. I wouldn't want somepony trying to get me to just abandon my job." She paused for a minute and continued, "Well in my situation, I CAN'T just abandon my commitment to the military, I still have years to go before I could even do that but I plan on staying in the military for many years to come."

While the two continued to talk, Apple Bloom heard the two and let Silver Spoon and her family know that she wanted to talk to her long time friends. When she got to them, she heard them talking about their careers. She approached them and said, "Howdy y'all, it seems like it's been forever."

"It has." replied Sweetie Belle. She then pointed towards Silver and coldly continued, "You're really close to her, aren't you?"

Apple Bloom replied, "Well we have grown closer over the years." She saw a look of disapproval coming from her friends, "Ah know y'all don't particularly care for her but for a while, Ah was all she had."

Scootaloo laughed, "Oh come on now, don't believe those lies. She has always had that Diamond bitch as a friend and I know her daddy loves her."

Apple Bloom replied, "No she didn't. Her and Diamond had a fallin' out and her dad disowned her for a bit."

The mention of Diamond Tiara brought back bad memories for Sweetie. It brought back memories of the day she discovered those letters of betrayal. She was not about to throw any kind of tantrum though but that didn't stop her from making a snide comment though, "You know Apple Bloom, looking back on things I think her cheating on me was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Apple Bloom asked, "How's that?"

Sweetie Belle continued, "Had it not been for that, I wouldn't have went on to be the chief of police up in Canterlot nor would I have won a fair amount of money in the divorce either."

Apple Bloom knew some about the divorce but not a ton. She asked, "Sweetie, why did you and Dark Song part ways? Ah thought your love was really strong."

Sweetie didn't feel like going into much detail with Apple Bloom and gave a much shorter explanation, "Let's just say we grew apart."

"Well that's too bad." replied Apple Bloom, "But ya don't seem too upset about it." She then noticed that most of the students she had expected to come had arrived. She had plans on how things were going to go and headed off to see Miss Cheerilee to let her know that everyone had arrived.

Once Apple Bloom had left, Scootaloo looked over at Silver and her family and noticed something that she thought impossible. She pointed at them and asked, "Sweetie, how in Equestria does that filly of hers look just like you did when you were a filly."

Sweetie let out a laugh, "Oh lets just say it involved strange unicorn magic, artificial sperm and a threat!" She then pointed towards the school house and added, "I'm not going to share too much but I know Apple Bloom would gladly tell you! Hell she might even still have the letter I wrote to Silver Spoon that accompanied the 'fertilizer' that allowed that filly to turn out like that!"

Scootaloo couldn't help but snicker, "Oh so you're the 'father' huh? You think she'll ever demand foal support?"

Sweetie laughed, "Yeah right! Nopony would ever believe that one is mine! No way would anypony believe that little slut if she ran off claiming what she did about the sperm."

The two then saw Apple Bloom and Cheerilee coming out of the school house. All the students had been informed of how things would go so they all headed towards the school house. Sweetie continued, "And now we get to tell everypony else how things have turned out and in the instance of the two bitches, they can whine about how karma has bitten them in the flank!"

Scootaloo wasn't real sure what Sweetie meant by that comment, particularly about karma biting them but figured that with how Sweetie was at that point, that it was likely just her being her.

The Reunion

After heading into the school house to get Cheerilee, Apple Bloom and Cheerilee headed out and the former teacher began to address the crowd, "Good afternoon class and welcome to your 30th year class reunion." The students began to cheer as she continued, "It is obvious that you're all happy to be here but let's reunite with the one that made all this possible." She stepped to the side and motioned for Apple Bloom to head to the front of the stage.

Apple Bloom arrived at the front of the stage and began her address, "Howdy y'all. It certainly doesn't seem like it's been thirty years but here we are. Ah know this ain't like how other classes do it but Ah think we should tell each other how our lives have been."

She stood still and continued, "Well Ah wound up going to college in Fillydelphia to get my degree in horticulture and after that, Ah came back and really improved the farm. Thanks to everything Ah learned, Sweet Apple Acres is the most successful farm in all of Equestria."

Everypony clapped as Apple Bloom headed into the crowd and rather than joining her other friends, she joined Silver Spoon and her family. Then everypony began to look around at one another to figure out who would go next. Eventually Snips and Snails would head up. The first to speak was Snails. "Uh hi everypony. Uhm as you all know I was introduced to buckball by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I just seemed to be a natural and when, uh, I was put on a team with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, we started winning and became champions."

Snips knew that Snails wasn't going to go boasting but couldn't contain himself from butting in, "Yeah and he is a millionaire! He is rich and famous and I'm his manager." He then pointed back towards the table and continued, "And you all should come buy some official merchandise signed by my best friend Snails!"

His suggestion would be met with an unpleasant question, "You boys have a permit for that?"

"A what?"

"A permit." Sweetie Belle stated. She could tell the two had no clue what she was talking about prompting her to continue, "You two better be glad Ponyville isn't in my jurisdiction because if it was, you'd be getting hit with a very stiff fine."

Snips said, "Geez, no need to be such a grump!"

The two left the stage and Sweetie Belle suggested, "You know Scootaloo, you should go next and tell them how awesome things have been for you!"

Scootaloo nodded and headed up to the stage. Once she got there she began, "Hi everypony. Well you all know I'm Scootaloo and that I went to the Air Force Academy after graduation. Well I did very well down there. I did so well I graduated at the top of my class and was immediately commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Once I graduated, I was stationed in various places across the world, including multiple deployments on the E.S.S. Celestia down around Saddle Arabia. I moved up the ranks rather quickly and engaged in multiple bombing campaigns on enemy targets to keep the Saddle Arabians safe." She stood taller and continued, "And not that long ago, I was promoted to Colonel and now instead of risking being shot down in foreign bombing campaigns, I'll be teaching down at the academy and hopefully being promoted to general before too long."

While most of the class simply clapped, one would start shouting, "Way to go Colonel Scootaloo, you totally deserve your rank! Bombing all those enemies and keeping Saddle Arabia safe!"

Scootaloo replied, "You know Chief, you don't have to address me by my rank!"

Sweetie said, "Well neither do you."

Scootaloo headed back into the crowd and Sweetie Belle headed up to the stage. When she arrived, she began, "Well as you know, when I graduated I was a dainty little thing, absolutely nothing special, completely pathetic. In my second semester in college though, I took a criminal justice course and that is what led me down the path I went down. I initially majored in music but I eventually added a minor in criminal justice but later decided to do a double major in both music and criminal justice. Once I graduated I decided law enforcement was my true calling and well, as you can see I made the right call because I'm successful, I have a kick ass job as chief of police up in Canterlot....." she paused before continuing, "and thanks to my time up at Canterlot U, I met a girl who went on to be a famous singer, we married and when we divorced, I won a ton of money in that divorce so I'd say life has been great for me."

Scootaloo immediately shouted, "That is sweet Sweetie, that is beyond sweet!"

Sweetie Belle headed back into the crowd and was met by a fist bump from Scootaloo. Sweetie laughed, "You know, I'm betting out of all of us we've done the most with our lives." She pointed in the direction of Silver Spoon and added, "And unlike that slut, we didn't have everything given to us."

The next to head up was Diamond Tiara, with her head hung low. Things had not gone as well in life for her but she figured she'd share some of it, "Well after graduation father sent me to study economics at the university in Manehattan. I did alright but not spectacular. Father did trust me enough to take over the store after I graduated and that is about it."

A shout from the crowd would rattle her though, "Yeah and then you failed to pay your taxes and the government has put a lien on your precious store.....tax evader!"

With the exception of Scootaloo, everypony gave Sweetie an icy cold glare. Scootaloo gave her an elbow and snickered, "I don't get why everypony is so upset, you're just speaking the truth and it's not like anypony likes her to start with."

Sweetie nodded and then up headed Silver Spoon. She had a lot go on in her life over the past thirty years. Some things were wonderful and some things were awful. When it looked like she was readying herself to speak, Sweetie and Scootaloo moved to where they would be standing right in front of her. Sweetie Belle removed her sunglasses and gave Silver an icy cold glare, one that mirrored the look she gave her as she was moving out of their dorm room during their freshman year.

Silver began, "Well as you all know, after graduation I went to Canterlot to study music....." Sweetie leaned forward and her glare intensified, causing Silver to start to break. She began to sob and continued, "And, and I betrayed someone special, and, and then she hurt me....and eventually I wound up in jail and, and..."

Eventually her sobbing became worse and Shadow Blast joined her on the stage. She put her arm around her and said, "It's ok sweetie, it's ok. You don't have to tell them anything else if you don't want to."

Silver looked up, gave her a smile and said, "No, I'm telling them about the wonderful things." Shadow remained on stage with Silver and she continued, "And after I got out, I met Shadow Blast, we fell in love, got married and thanks to strange magic" she motioned for her kids to join them and continued, "and I had three wonderful children. My son is Sunrise Gold, one of my daughters is Pink Pretzel and the other is Sweetie 'Silver' Belle."

A majority of the crowd began to not only clap but cheer when they heard her good news with Apple Bloom cheering the loudest. When Sweetie and Scootaloo heard what one of her daughter's names were, both were in a state of shock. Scootaloo turned to Sweetie and gasped, "She named her after you? She named her after you even after everything that went down?"

Sweetie got a demented smile on her face and snickered, "Yeah and I can't help but wonder how that filly would react to knowing I'M her father?"

Scootaloo's eyes grew wide, "Oooooh, you're going to cause a blow up aren't you?"

Once Silver Spoon and her family left the stage, everypony began to talk among one another with even Snips and Snails gathered around Silver and her family, congratulating her over everything. Sweetie Silver Belle however wandered off on her own when she heard something, "Psst...hey kid."

Sweetie looked in the direction of the voice and saw what appeared to be a white unicorn stallion. She looked in her direction and said, "Mama says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

The unicorn approached her and continued, "Let's just say I know your mother and I have some advice for you. When you get older, ditch the girly look and go into law enforcement." She gave the filly a smile and continued, "I used to be just like you until I discovered my true calling and my life turned out just fine." She leaned in a bit closer and finished, "If you choose to go into law enforcement, you could become extremely successful and who knows, you could even become my successor someday. It would be a case of like father, like daughter."

Sweetie 'Silver' Belle gave her a strange look. Shadow Blast saw who her daughter was talking to, rushed her way and yelled, "Sweetie Silver Belle, never talk to strangers!"

She grabbed Sweetie and told her to go back to the rest of the family. She then got in Sweetie Belle's face and yelled, "Don't you EVER talk to my daughter again or else."

Sweetie gave her a sadistic grin, "Oh you mean MY daughter?" She raised her voice and continued, "I simply want what is best for her." She pointed towards Silver Spoon and finished, "I simply have a feeling you two will raise her to be weak, weak and pathetic like I was until I grew a set and toughened up."

Shadow shoved her and yelled, "Just leave me and my family alone!"

As Shadow stormed back towards the rest of the family, Silver saw what was going on. She began to cry, "What is she doing, why was she talking to our daughter?" She then turned down to Sweetie and asked, "What did she say to you?"

Sweetie asked, "She? But that unicorn looks like a stallion!"

They weren't sure exactly what was going on with Sweetie Belle. Her voice was deeper than it used to be but she still sounded like a mare yet she was built like a stallion. Finally Shadow would respond, "Some mares look like that. Some mares are more masculine than others."

Sweetie Belle had returned to Scootaloo and upon seeing what happened, Apple Bloom would join them and confront Sweetie over it, "Sweetie Belle, what was all that about? Why were ya harassing their daughter?"

Sweetie replied, "I wasn't harassing her. I was merely giving her sound advice on what she should do with her life. After all, she needs to be tough like her father." Her voice became more intense as she continued, "I don't want MY DAUGHTER turning out to be a weakling like her skank mommy."

This angered Apple Bloom greatly, "Ya know what Sweetie Belle? Ah have to get away from ya for a bit! Ah can't handle being around ya right now!"

Apple Bloom headed off to be with Silver and her family. Once she was out of earshot Scootaloo said, "Wow, I never imagined she'd get so close with Silver Spoon after what she did to you."

Sweetie replied, "Oh it is all over some letter I had her give to that little bitch when she gave her my sperm. It was at that moment that she went soft when it came to her." She turned to leave the reunion and continued, "I just need some time alone to process all this crap involving her."

Scootaloo wanted to join her friend but knew that with the way Sweetie was at that point, that it would likely be best to just give her some space. There was one thing Scootaloo wanted to know before she gave her her space, "Sweetie Belle, so how long are you going to be here? Will it just be a few hours or did you take some vacation for this?"

Sweetie Belle replied, "Well during my whole time working law enforcement in Equestria I haven't taken a single day off and I built up a fair amount of vacation. The thing is, if I don't use it I lose it so I've taken a month off. I'm thinking of doing a bit of traveling further back east, getting out of this region entirely."

Scootaloo sighed, "Alright, I was kind of hoping that we could hang out some time before too long."

Sweetie suggested, "Hey, after spending a couple weeks further back east I could always come down to Coltorado Springs and we can hang out since you work at the academy instead of studying there."

Scootaloo exclaimed, "That would be awesome. Just let me know when you're coming!"

Sweetie replied, "Oh I will but for now, I really need some time alone to think about things and then get to the airport up in Canterlot. I'll see you later."

The two wished one another well before heading off in their separate ways. With Sweetie Belle leaving the reunion early, Scootaloo decided to do the same. Sweetie then realized the time had come to set a plan in action that she believed would be the best for all of ponykind.

The Preparations

After leaving the reunion early, Sweetie began to think about everything that had happened. While her life had turned out exactly how she had wanted it to, she was less than thrilled with how Silver's life had turned out. She hated the fact that she was happily married with three children. She also had heard about how not only had she reconciled with her father but that he aided in her having a successful business. She had also heard rumors that her father, Silver Dime, had seen to it that she would receive 50 billion bits upon his death and to her that was unacceptable, completely unacceptable and that she had to find a way to see to it that such an undeserving individual would never be blessed with that kind of wealth.

"Oh we'll see about that Spoonie." she laughed to herself. A thought then crossed her mind, "The rich bitch will become richer when her daddy dies UNLESS she kills him for the money!"

Sweetie then realized the time had come to completely destroy Silver Spoon's life. One year in prison for assaulting a police officer was one thing but the death of her own father so she could get an outlandish sum of money was another. "What if her daddy was to die and everypony thought she murdered him?" She snickered, "Oh this is going to be sweet, too sweet!"

Sweetie Belle then got into her pickup and sped back towards Canterlot where she would then catch a flight to Omareha. What her plan was that she would fly there, rent a car and drive it to Ponyville. She knew that if a Canterlot vehicle was seen in town when Silver Dime was murdered, that she may be suspected but knew that nopony would think a thing about a Neighbraska vehicle in town.

As she was heading to Canterlot National, she couldn't help but think to herself, "Oh just you wait Spoonie, your charmed life is about to crash and burn!"

Sweetie Belle was pleasantly surprised when she learned that there were empty seats on a flight to Omareha International that was set to leave in a couple of hours. It did frustrate her that she would have to pay considerably more than she would have had she booked in advance but this was too important for her, way too important. As they swiped her debit card at the ticket counter Sweetie thought to herself, "This is expensive as Tartarus but in the end it will all be worth it. Crushing that bitch like a bug will be the ultimate victory for me, the ultimate victory for all that is good in this world."

The flight took roughly two and a half hours and once the plane landed, Sweetie disembarked and began to think about exactly how to go about all of this. As she was walking towards where she could rent a car, she began to think about the timing of her return to Ponyville. She knew that she couldn't return too soon after departing Canterlot. She also knew that there would be other items she would need to get, items that would likely be best bought in Omareha.

Once she got to the counter she also began to think about what kind of vehicle she should rent. She knew that renting a pick-up would be too much of a giveaway as to who she was. The clerk gave her a smile and asked, "So what kind of car would you like to rent?"

She replied, "A midsize car will be sufficient."

The clerk then asked, "So how long will you need this for and will you be returning it here or will you be returning it to another branch?"

This was one thing that Sweetie had not taken into account, where she would be returning the vehicle to. She then decided that returning a Neighbraska plated vehicle, one that would be seen in Ponyville in Canterlot would be very suspicious. She then decided that she would return it someplace else, maybe Coltorado Springs if she went to visit Scootaloo. Yes it would be more costly and keep her away from Canterlot for longer than she would like but again, this was too important to her. She replied, "I will need it for probably three weeks and I will be returning it to a different airport."

The clerk gave her a smile, "Well the current charge will be 1300 bits and when you return it to whatever airport you do, be sure it has a full tank of gas or your card will be charged extra."

Sweetie handed her her debit card and replied, "Alright, sounds good."

After getting the keys and finding the car in the lot, Sweetie took off into the city to take care of some things. The first thing she did was rent a motel room for a couple of weeks. She knew that if she headed straight back to Ponyville, that despite her being in a completely different vehicle, that she might be suspected.

Once she got into her room she plopped down on the bed and began to talk to herself, "Ok, what am I going to need to pull this off? What am I going to need to make sure that Silver Slut's charmed life is ruined once and for all?"

She paused momentarily before answering herself, "Well I will need a full body suit so I don't leave any DNA evidence anywhere. I am also going to have to time things just right. After all, for what I have planned I have to break into Silver's house and acquire some of her mane." She paused for a moment before adding, "A skeleton key that will unlock any lock and some brass knuckles to handle her daddy's security guards."

She then realized that she simply couldn't drive on into Ponyville and acquire some of Silver's hair without any problems. She sat up and said, "Alright Sweetie, you have to go find a computer away from the motel and look up social events in Ponyville. I'm sure some are coming up and THAT is when you break in, acquire some of her hair from a brush and then wipe out the rich old man. I will see to it that she does not receive any money upon his death, no way in Tartarus is that little bitch deserving of 50 billion bits!"

Sweetie then left her room and headed to a local mall. She figured that is the place where she could find a full body suit, something that would cover her from head to toe. It took her a while but near the center of the mall, she found a store that sold items like that. As she was looking through them, she was thrilled when she found information on the tags that stated what height they were for and for waist size. She grabbed the body suit and then began looking for the brass knuckles. It did not take long for her to find them so she was easily able to grab them and then go pay for her items.

At the very center of the mall in the food court were plenty of computers that were hooked up to the internet. Sweetie looked up events in Ponyville and noticed that there was going to be an event held in three nights at the store that Silver Spoon owned. She got a huge smile on her face knowing that would be the perfect time to take care of the first part of her problem. She knew that not only would Silver be gone but so would Shadow Blast and their kids.

Sweetie kept a neutral, almost emotionless look on her face as she was figuring out exactly when she would need to leave to get to Ponyville. While the flight from Canterlot to Omareha was quite short, driving there would take considerably longer. She did know though that she would have an extra hour to get there given she would be crossing into a different time zone so she could leave early that morning and likely arrive in Ponyville with plenty of time to acquire what she would need to frame Silver Spoon for the murder of Silver Dime.

Two days had passed and Sweetie Belle was early to rise. She showered and grabbed a bite to eat before she got on the road and headed west, in the direction of Ponyville. One thing Sweetie Belle did though was leave her cell phone in her motel room. She knew that if there were records of her phone receiving signals from Ponyville that she would be suspected. As she continued to drive down the road, she had a gleeful smile on her face as she was imagining Silver Spoon being arrested for the murder of her father and rather than getting billions of bits over his death, her getting a life sentence in prison.

The sun was near the horizon when Sweetie arrived in Ponyville. She then began to think about how she was going to get the body suit on. Then it hit her, there was a road that went into the Everfree Forest that she could park the vehicle in while she changed and then took care of what she felt must be done for the good of all of ponykind.

Once she drove about a half a mile into the forest, she pulled over. She got out and put the body suit put on before heading into Ponyville. It was after dusk but there was still a bit of light coming in from the west so she stood at the edge of the Everfree and monitored things. Off in the distance she could see a large crowd gathered in the community's business district. She figured that was likely where the celebration was being held for Silver.

Sweetie knew roughly where Silver and Shadow's house was, a decent distance away from the celebration. She then knew the time had come, she knew the time had come to acquire some of Silver's hair and then go and kill a stallion she believed was being far too generous to a pony who deserved nothing but pain and suffering. She knew the time to kill Silver Dime had come.

The Perfect Crime

It was finally dark in Ponyville when Sweetie Belle set her plan in action. Most everypony was in the business district but Sweetie still knew that she would have to move unseen in the event that somepony may have stayed home. There were a couple of houses with lights on so Sweetie rushed by those but soon she got into an area where all the lights with the exception of outside lights were off.

She got to a fairly nice looking house and noticed that one of the cars in front of it had a license plate that read "SBSS." She figured that the plate likely represented Silver Spoon and Shadow blast so she headed to the entrance to the house. She began to reach for her skeleton key but then realized something, she realized that she could just use magic to unlock it. When she flared up her horn and cast the necessary spell, she did not hear a click. She was a bit frustrated until the door pushed open. She laughed, "Seriously, they don't even lock their door? This is going to be too easy."

She headed in and flared up her horn to create some light. She had been in houses with a similar design to theirs so it did not take her long to find the master bedroom. She headed in and made a left towards their bathroom. Much to Sweetie's delight, the bathroom had no windows so she turned on the light and began to search for Silver's mane brush. She was looking through drawers until she opened one that had two brushes in it. One was clearly Shadow Blast's and the other was Silver Spoon's. Sweetie sighed in disgust when there was almost no mane at all in Silver's brush.

She groaned, "Ugh, how the hay am I going to do this without any of her mane?"

She then looked off to the side and noticed a trash can that had wads of mane in it, silver colored mane. She got a smile on her face and said to herself, "Well thank you Silver Slut, you've provided me with more than enough mane!"

She grabbed a couple wads of mane and then turned the light off before heading towards the exit to the house. Once she exited the house, she headed towards the Silver mansion. She had a strong feeling that Silver Dime was likely at the celebration being held for his daughter and thought that maybe getting in wouldn't be overly difficult. Luckily for her, she knew exactly where Silver Dime's bedroom was. She knew one thing though, she knew that she would have to go in through a window to minimize the chances of getting caught.

She found the window into Silver Dime's bedroom and crawled in through it before closing it. She had her horn flared up and headed into his closet where she would lay in wait. She powered down her horn and stood there with a sadistic grin on her face. She then heard a couple of voices, voices that were clearly those of security guards.

"You know, I'm surprised Dime didn't double security tonight with him having been having visions of being murdered."

"I'm surprised too but maybe he felt a lighter shift tonight would be ok with his daughter's big party going on."

"You're probably right....well everything looks clear in here so how about we go into the den and watch some TV?"

"Sounds good, Dime shouldn't be home for a couple more hours anyway."

The two left the bedroom and Sweetie Belle knew that she was likely going to have a fair amount of a wait. She was less than thrilled over this but figured that the wait would be worth it. It wasn't too long until she then began to think about the brass knuckles and how she would rid herself of them. She then got a smile on her face and whispered to herself, "I'm going to get these babies bloody and then I'll find a way into Silver's house and put them there! Then when the cops search the place and find them, they'll believe she did it!"

Two and a half hours passed and finally the lights came on in the master bedroom. Silver Dime began to get out of his formal attire and into his sleeping attire not knowing that there was somepony laying in wait in his closet, a pony who did not have his best interests in mind.

Roughly fifteen minutes later he was ready for bed and had turned off the light and crawled into bed. Sweetie was somewhat conflicted. She wasn't sure if she should launch her attack right then and there or wait until she heard him snoring. She knew that she didn't have too much time because she did still have to get the brass knuckles planted in Silver's house before the pre-dawn light arrived. Luckily for her, Silver Dime was quick to fall asleep so she readied herself for the attack.

She opened the door to the closet and headed out towards the bed where Silver Dime was in a peaceful slumber. She got a smile on her face and snickered, "You have been far too generous with that little bitch, well that stops now!"

She then unleashed her attack and began to beat him savagely with the brass knuckles. He quickly woke and was screaming out in agony, "Help, help! Somepony help....."

He would be silenced though when Sweetie screamed, "Shut up you bastard, shut up!"

After bloodying up his face and bruising him badly, she began to choke him. She wasn't sure if he would die from the injuries of being beat badly but knew that strangling him would do the quick. His calls for help quickly got quieter the longer Sweetie was choking him. After a couple minutes of cutting off his air supply, he let out one more deep breath before expiring.

Sweetie leaned down and could tell that he had passed and was ecstatic. She then opened his hands, placed some of Silver's mane in each hand before closing them into fists. She wanted to make it look like there was a struggle and that he had ripped out some of Silver's mane trying to get her to stop. She then got up just as the door flew open as two security guards came rushing in to see what was going on with their boss. One of them turned the light on and saw a figure in a black full body suit. One of the guards flared up his horn and yelled, "Freeze!"

Sweetie Belle knew that with one of them being a unicorn, that he could cause problems so she decided to attack him first. She launched herself at him and began punching him violently until she had knocked him out cold. The other guard, who had been checking on Silver Dime then came after her. He yelled, "You will not get away with killing him!"

Sweetie took to him and yelled, "Wanna bet?"

She then took to him and began to beat him ruthlessly. During her punching she struck him directly in the temple, killing him instantly. She then knew she had to do the same to the other guard since he had heard her voice and seen her in her body suit so she pounced on the downed guard and began punching him until she had torn his face open. She leaned down and listened for a breath but heard none. She knew she had to get out of there so she turned off the light, crawled out the window and closed it.

She then knew there was one more thing she needed to do, she had to find a way to get the brass knuckles in Silver Spoon's house. She then crept over to the house that Silver Spoon and Shadow Blast lived in. She knew where the master bedroom was so she headed to that side of the house to where their bedroom was. She carefully removed the screen and opened the window. There on the bed lay Silver Spoon and Shadow Blast, holding one another lovingly during their slumber. She heard Shadow let out a deeper breath and had her concerns that she was going to wake up.

Sweetie Belle initially planned on levitating the brass knuckles into one of their drawers but then realized that her horn gave off too much light so she grabbed them and tossed them in, causing them to bounce under their bed. Shadow again began to stir so Sweetie quickly shut the window and put the screen back in place before taking off. It was still dark so she was easily able to rush back into the Everfree Forest where she had parked.

Once she got back to her car she removed the body suit. She noticed that parts of it were soaking in blood and that it would have to be disposed of one way or another. She did know one thing, she knew that she couldn't take it with her and risk leaving blood stains in the car. She was unsure about what the best method would be but then she decided she would see if she could use her magic to incinerate it.

Sweetie flared her horn up, she grabbed it in her aura and fired energy at it. She had never done this spell before and was unsure if she had that ability. After ten minutes of releasing energy, the suit burst into flames and then fell to the ground as a pile of fine ash. Once she had completed the spell she was rather tired but knew that she couldn't risk hanging around that close to Ponyville, she knew that she had to at least get a good distance away from the town if she was to avoid being suspected.

The predawn light began to show along the eastern horizon as she exited the Everfree Forest and began to drive east. Sweetie wasn't sure how far or for how long she could continue to go but deep down she had this feeling that she was going to have to try and get all the way back to Omareha without passing out and wrecking.

Once it got fully light Sweetie's fatigue lessened some and she was able to keep going. She was hungry and there were some places to stop and eat along the way but Sweetie didn't stop. She figured that she could simply eat something at the restaurant near the motel she was staying at.

Once she got back to Omareha, Sweetie again had grown very tired, even more tired than before so once she got back, she simply headed to the motel, went into her room, locked the door and plopped down on her bed. As she laid there trying to get to sleep, she began to snicker, "And now it is just a matter of time before Silver Spoon crashes and burns. When they find Silver Dime and his guards dead and discover those brass knuckles under her bed, her charmed life will be gone! This will be a victory for all that is good in this world, a victory for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and most importantly, a victory for Equestria!"

Triple Murder Discovery

It was dawn in Ponyville and all seemed calm. It would not be long until Silver Dime's day shift security guards would arrive at his mansion. One of the guards, a unicorn, was the first to arrive. Given Silver Dime's unnerving concerns as of late, the door had been kept locked more often and he always had to knock before being let in by the other guards. He pounded on the door and heard nothing. He pounded more loudly and yelled, "Mr. Dime, it is me Locked Vault. Are you ok?"

Locked Vault heard nothing as the other day guard, Secure Lock, arrived. Locked turned to his co-worker and said, "You know, something doesn't seem right. Normally Mr. Dime or one of the other guards would have opened the door by now."

Secure replied, "Well you're a unicorn. Just unlock the door and go in, I have a bad feeling something horrible has happened."

Locked Vault unlocked the door and the two guards headed in. All they heard in the mansion was a deafening silence. In the front room everything looked as it normally would. They then began to check other rooms and would be surprised when they discovered the TV was on in the den but there was no sign of the night guards. The two gave one another nervous looks and then began to check the bedrooms.

The first three they checked were guest rooms and everything appeared as it normally would. They then checked the bedroom Silver Spoon had as a filly and nothing was out of place in there either. Secure Lock suggested, "Let's check Mr. Dime's bedroom, I have a feeling something is wrong."

When the two entered the bedroom they screamed in horror. Laying lifeless on the floor were the night guards and then in his bed was laying Silver Dime, his face badly bruised and it appeared that he was involved in a struggle. They noticed that he had closed fists and that there was silver mane in both of them. Locked gasped, "What the hay, silver mane?"

Secure suggested, "I don't know about all this but I think we probably should go tell Princess Twilight about this. I think this is something the princess should probably know about."

Locked Vault agreed and the two rushed over to the castle and pounded on the door loudly. It was not long until Spike opened the door. When he saw that it was a couple of security guards he asked, "Who are you and why are you pounding on the door like this?"

Locked replied, "We need to speak to the princess. A tragedy has struck at the Silver mansion."

Secure added, "When we went into work this morning, we discovered that Mr. Dime and the two night guards had been brutally murdered."

Spike's eyes grew wide and he rushed back to get Twilight. He headed into the library to find Twilight studying books on advanced magic. He yelled, "Twilight, you have to come to the front door. Two ponies are here and said that Silver Dime was murdered last night."

Twilight groaned in frustration, "Ugh, why didn't they go to the police station? Investigating murders is NOT part of my job description."

Twilight followed Spike to the front door where Locked Vault began, "Princess Twilight, I'm so glad to see you. You have to come with us, there was a triple murder at the Silver mansion last night. Silver Dime and his night guards were brutally murdered."

Twilight sighed in frustration, "May I ask why you didn't go to the police station instead of coming and interrupting my studying?"

Secure Lock replied, "Your Majesty, three ponies were murdered last night and you were the first one we thought of."

Twilight sighed, "Fine but we're going to the police station first. This is something Silver Shield needs to know about." Spike was beginning to follow them but would stop when Twilight added, "Spike, stay here. This is something that I need to handle with these guards alone."

Spike sighed in frustration as Twilight and the guards headed to the station. There was silence among the three as they knew that Twilight was somewhat irked being bothered by this and the two guards weren't sure what to think. They were trying to figure out who could have broke in and killed their boss and the night guards and why they would have done it. Before they knew it the three reached the police station just as Chief Silver Shield was arriving at work.

He saw the three and immediately spoke to Twilight, "Good morning princess, what brings you by?"

Twilight pointed at the two guards and replied, "I think it is best if you ask them. They've seen the crime scene while I haven't."

Silver Shield turned to the guards and asked, "Ok, the princess said something about a crime scene. What is this about?"

Locked Vault began, "Well we were headed to work this morning but once we got there, we discovered a tragedy had struck in the Silver mansion."

Secure Lock added, "We discovered that Silver Dime and the night security guards had been brutally beaten to death. We don't know who could have done it or why they did but we think you should check this out."

Silver Shield replied, "Alright, let's head over to the Silver mansion."

Twilight added, "I'm joining you since these two came to me first."

As the four headed towards the crime scene, Twilight began to smile a bit. She began to wonder if perhaps she hadn't been right all along about Silver Spoon and how she may cause problems. She also knew about how she would receive 50 billion bits upon her father's death. She thought to herself, "So, she killed her daddy for the money did she? With any luck we can get her arrested, put her on trial for this," her smile got bigger as she thought, "get a conviction and then lock her up where she belongs!"

When they arrived at the mansion, the guards led the officer and Twilight into Silver Dime's bedroom. Silver Shield gasped in shock when he saw the badly beaten corpses. He began to examine them and suggested, "Well we're going to have to get them transported to the morgue and have the coroner examine these bodies. Then we can figure out what happened to them."

Twilight began to examine the corpses herself and suggested, "Whoever did this had brass knuckles." She then took a much closer look at Silver Dime and saw something in his clenched fists, silver mane. She called for Silver Shield over to take a look, "Chief, come here. I think I found something that may give us a clue as to who did this."

The chief joined her and looked in shock at the mane in his fists. He gasped, "Wait a minute, that looks like Silver Spoon's mane! What I don't get though is why would she kill her father and these guards?"

Locked Vault suggested, "I know you're going to think I'm nuts but he had it in his will that she would receive fifty billion bits upon his death and what if she decided she wanted the money early?"

Secure Lock gasped, "You really think Silver Spoon would kill him with as good as he has been to her?"

Twilight knew that any input from her would likely affect their thoughts some, especially that of the police chief. She suggested, "Chief, Locked Vault makes a very good point. I need you to go to the police station, get a camera and take some pictures of the crime scene, especially of Dime's fists with the mane in them. Then we can go and search where I think the murder weapon might be."

Silver Shield agreed and headed back to the station while Twilight and the guards remained. Twilight continued to look around the bedroom, focusing heavily on the mane in Silver Dime's fists. She used her magic to create a couple plastic zipper bags and said, "Well, once Silver Shield gets back and gets all the pictures taken, we'll have to put that mane in these so the lab can run tests to see if this belongs to who I think it does."

The guards were a bit surprised by the comment. Locked Vault asked, "Princess, are you sure you can even do that?"

Secure Lock added, "Aren't you worried that you handling the evidence might make it unusable in court?"

Twilight gave the two a smile, "It will be Silver Shield who handles it and gets it put in these baggies, I'm simply overseeing this."

Ten minutes had passed when Silver Shield returned and not only did he have a camera, but he also had some baggies with him. Twilight gave him a smile, "Well I guess these won't be necessary." She then noticed he also had some vials with him to collect dried up blood with too. She continued, "So are you going to do this alone or do you have deputies to aid you with this?"

Silver Shield replied, "Unfortunately I'm alone on Sundays so I'll have to do this alone." Given that he was a pegasus collecting all this would not be easy so he asked, "Princess, could you help me collect this evidence? It is always easier when I have a pony with magic assisting me with this."

Twilight replied, "I can help. We don't want this evidence getting contaminated while we are handling this."

Silver Shield then asked, "Princess, given the color of that mane in Silver Dime's fists, would you mind helping me do a search of Silver Spoon's house? Having a unicorn, or an Alicorn in your case, with me makes doing searches so much easier."

Twilight replied, "Of course I'll help. If we can find who killed Silver Dime I'll help you with it."

Twilight began to help the chief collect the dried up blood samples and carefully remove the mane from Silver Dime's fists. As she was doing this, she was elated. She was thrilled that she was able to assist in collecting this evidence because not only would it result in it being more cleanly gathered but that she would be heavily involved in any kind of trial that may come from this.

Interrogaton and an Arrest

After taking the evidence to the police station, Silver Shield and Twilight headed to the place where both believed that the murder weapon might be. As they proceeded Silver Shield asked, "So Twilight, what are we going to do if we do find those brass knuckles here?"

Twilight replied, "It depends. Just finding brass knuckles won't help us much but if they are bloodied, we put them in a plastic bag and send them off to the lab for further analysis AND I would advise we take Silver Spoon and Shadow Blast both in for questioning. Given the nature of that crime scene, chances are both of them were part of this."

Silver shield asked, "I know those two have kids. What do we do with them while we have their parents in for questioning?"

Twilight replied, "I know Apple Bloom is close with all of them. We can take them over to Sweet Apple Acres and see if she'll watch them."

Silver Shield agreed and before they knew it, they had reached their destination. Given the nature and reason for this visit, Twilight decided that she would be the one to knock. It wasn't long after she knocked that the door was answered by Shadow Blast. She immediately gave Twilight a smile, "Princess Twilight, what brings you by?" Her smile quickly faded as she saw the police chief with her, "And officer, what brings you by?"

Silver Shield replied, "We need to come in and do a search. Something happened last night and we have reason to believe that a search here is necessary."

Silver Spoon heard the discussion and came into the front room. She was curious about something, "You said something happened last night? What happened?"

Silver Shield kept it simple, "We just need to do a quick search and with any luck, we can get out of your manes rather quickly."

Twilight and Silver Shield began to search the house for anything that might allow them to figure out if their suspicions were correct. Twilight headed into the den and was immediately greeted by their kids. Sweetie 'Silver' Belle was the first to run to her, "Hi Princess Twilight!"

The filly embraced her, an embrace which Twilight returned. Then their other kids approached her, seeming less enthusiastic. Pink Pretzel asked, "Princess, what brings you by?"

Sunrise Gold asked, "Why did you and that stallion come here and what is this about you believing a search is necessary?"

Twilight could tell that Sunrise Gold and Pink Pretzel had their suspicions over this and she wanted to put them at ease. "It is nothing big, the police chief and I......"

She would then hear a yell, "Princess Twilight, come back to the master bedroom. I think I found something."

Twilight rushed back towards the source of his voice and saw him pointing down towards the bed. He requested, "Twilight, I forgot my gloves at the station. Could you use your magic to pick that up for me?"

Twilight grabbed it in her aura and levitated it into a baggie that the chief was holding before sealing it shut. The two headed back into the living room. Silver Shield said, "Shadow Blast, Silver Spoon, we need you to come with us to the station for further questioning."

Shadow gasped, "What? Further questioning?"

Silver noticed the bloodied brass knuckles and asked, "Where did those come from?"

Silver Shield replied, "I'm hoping you could tell us that." He then turned to Twilight and requested, "Could you go and get their kids so we can take them to Sweet Apple Acres before taking them to the station?"

Twilight nodded and headed towards the den. Shadow wanted to know more, "Officer, I want to know what this is all about. Why are you taking us to the station and why is Twilight taking our kids to Sweet Apple Acres?"

Silver Shield replied, "Actually, we're all going to the apple farm and then Twilight and I have some questions to ask the two of you."

Once Twilight returned with their kids a distraught Sweetie rushed to Silver, "Mommy, what's going on. Why do we have to go to the apple farm?"

Silver was distraught herself and was having trouble answering but Shadow Blast would answer, "Sweetie, everything is going to be ok. The princess and the police chief just need to talk to us alone, everything will be just fine."

After leaving their house, Silver Spoon, Shadow Blast and their kids accompanied Twilight and Silver Shield to Sweet Apple Acres. When they arrived, it was like most every other day at the apple farm. Apple Bloom and her elder siblings were busy harvesting their crop. Apple Bloom had a curious look on her face when she saw her friends being accompanied by Twilight and a police officer.

She approached them and immediately Sweetie ran to her, "Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom embraced her, "Sweetie!" She broke the embrace and then approached Twilight, "Howdy Twilight, what are ya doin' here?"

Twilight replied, "Apple Bloom, we need to talk with Shadow Blast and Silver Spoon over something that happened last night and their kids can't be present."

Apple Bloom asked, "Ah don't understand, what happened?"

Silver Shield replied, "We can't give out that information right now. Nothing will be released until we get more information."

Twilight then grabbed Shadow Blast and Silver Spoon in her aura and they headed towards the police station. Twilight knew that normally immobilizing ponies with one's magic was illegal but given the situation they were in and the fact that Silver Shield wasn't saying anything about it, she figured that doing it was just fine.

Once they arrived at the police station Twilight released them from her hold. Silver Shield ordered, "Go in, we have some questions to ask you and some things to show you."

The two headed in and were followed by Twilight and Silver Shield. Silver Shield then led him into his office and motioned for the two to sit down. Once they got sat down Shadow immediately wanted to know something, "Officer, what is all this about? Why did you bring us here, what do you want to talk about and where did those brass knuckles come from?"

Silver Shield began, "Well last night a tragedy struck at the Silver mansion. Silver Dime along with two of his security guards were found brutally murdered."

Silver Spoon immediately burst into tears, "Dead, my father is dead? But why would anypony want to kill him?"

Silver Shield grabbed the bag with the brass knuckles in it along with the baggies that had the silver mane in it. He presented them all to the two and asked, "With the evidence we found at the crime scene and in your house, Twilight and I were hoping you could provide us with answers to those very questions."

Silver continued to cry, "I didn't do it if that is what you're thinking. I'd never kill my dad!"

Twilight, who was standing behind the two, had a slight smile on her face. Silver Shield asked, "If that is the case, then why was your mane discovered in his clenched fists and why were those bloodied brass knuckles found under your bed?"

Silver continued to cry loudly so Shadow would answer, "Look, after Silver's party last night, we headed home and did not leave the house until you made us leave this morning."

Silver Shield asked, "So you are saying that the silver mane we found does not belong to your wife and those brass knuckles just somehow magically appeared under your bed?"

Silver finally responded with an an angry cry, "Look, I didn't kill my dad ok? That mane could belong to somepony else and somepony could have planted those knuckles under our bed." She let out an ear splitting screech, "Somepony else did this, I know it. Somepony probably stole some of my mane, probably broke in to my dad's house, killed them and then planted those things under our bed! Ugh....I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Sweetie Belle was behind this, I wouldn't be surprised if she was the murderer because I know she wants to ruin my life!"

It was all Twilight and Silver Shield could do to not break down laughing. Twilight snickered, "Sweetie Belle? She wasn't even in town so it certainly couldn't have been her."

Silver Shield added, "Drop the wild accusations Silver, it is only making you look more guilty." He paused for a moment before adding, "Now I am going to take these up to the lab in Canterlot and hopefully we can get some DNA results within a few days." He pointed towards Silver's head and finished, "Silver Spoon, we will need a piece of your mane to compare to the mane that was found at the crime scene."

Silver pulled out a piece of her mane and placed it in a baggie that the chief was holding. He then said, "Well now that we have that taken care of, I need to know something. Shadow Blast, are you a heavy sleeper?"

Shadow asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

He asked, "I want to know if your wife could have left the house without waking you up and been gone long enough to commit the murders and return home without you knowing it."

Shadow had a scowl on her face but knew that going off on a police officer would not bode well for her or Silver Spoon. She replied, "Well I'm not sure. Silver Spoon has never woken me up at night."

He turned to Silver and asked, "Have you ever got up in the night and woke your wife up, such as when you have to go to the bathroom?"

Silver knew what he was up to and was not one bit pleased by it. She lunged over his desk, shoved him and yelled, "You're just trying to get me to incriminate myself so you can have me locked up just like Sweetie Belle did."

Silver Shield got up and stated, "Silver Spoon, You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand?"

Silver again began to cry, "What, you're arresting me just for shoving you?"

Silver Shield had a slight smile on his face, "You know, I'd think you'd know not to shove a police officer after what happened in Canterlot in your past."

Shadow Blast wanted to try and deescalate the situation, "Officer, I know my wife shoved you but it wasn't intentional. Please don't get her on this, please don't charge her with assaulting a law enforcement officer."

Silver Shield pointed towards a corner and motioned for Twilight to join him. Once they got to the corner he whispered, "Princess, do you think I should get her on this or should I just let her go since it was an act of impulse?"

Twilight never had liked Silver Spoon from the moment she first caused her problems and wanted to make everypony's lives easier. She whispered back, "I'd say we charge her with it. I saw it with my own eyes and besides, having her locked up will keep her from just bolting so she can escape facing triple murder charges."

Silver Shield replied, "Alright, I'll haul her up to Canterlot when I take the evidence up to the crime lab and Shadow can go get their kids and take them home."

Twilight nodded and the two returned to his desk. Twilight ordered, "Silver, stand up, hands behind your back."

Silver reached her arms out and shoved Twilight and yelled, "You too? You just want me locked up because you hate me!"

Before Silver could do anything else that would get her in further trouble, Shadow pleaded with her, "Silver, just do as ordered. Maybe we can get him to drop the charges....just please don't resist."

Twilight commented, "Chief, it looks like we'll be adding assaulting a princess to her list of crimes."

Silver Shield chuckled, "Yeah it looks that way!" He then turned to Silver Spoon and ordered, "Your hands, behind your back....now."

Silver put her hands behind her back and began to cry in agony as her hands were cuffed. As she was being led out to the police cruiser, Shadow approached the two, "Twilight, officer, must you two do this? Think about our children, they will be devastated when they learn she has been put in jail."

He pointed towards Twilight and said, "She assaulted a police officer AND a princess so not charging her is not something I can do. The security cameras in the station saw her assault both of us so it would be up to Twilight to not charge her."

Shadow turned to Twilight but would not receive what she wanted to hear, "I'm sorry Shadow Blast but your wife does have a history of assaulting police officers and she shoved me so I'm not going to let her off on this so whether she is indicted and convicted on triple murder charges or not, she'll be returning to prison."

Shadow Blast began to cry, "You know what Twilight, I know you're only doing this because you hate Silver Spoon. Applejack has told me about your hate and I didn't want to believe it but she is right about you, you are consumed with hate."

Twilight ignored the comment and asked, "Chief, do you want me to help you transport her up to Canterlot?"

Silver Shield replied, "Nah, I'm good besides, I have my concerns what ponies here would think if we took her up there together. I don't want ponies panicking down here."

Twilight began to head back to her palace and said, "Very well."

Silver Shield belted Silver Spoon into the backseat and set the evidence up with him before Shadow could even say goodbye to her wife. Shadow tried chasing after Silver Shield but to no avail. She then took off after Twilight and begged her, "Please your Majesty, pardon her for shoving Silver Shield and don't charge her for shoving you. Just like it was when she shoved Sweetie Belle, it was an act of impulse. She didn't truly want to harm either one of you."

Twilight sighed in frustration, "That right there is her problem, she can't keep her emotions in check. Sorry Shadow but I'm not pardoning her and I am pressing charges."

Shadow sighed in frustration, "Oh I'm sure if it were Sweetie Belle who shoved an officer you'd pardon her because you think that she is a perfect little angel." She sighed deeply before yelling, "Hell, Sweetie Belle could probably shove you and you'd think she was simply greeting you in her own way!"

Twilight threw her arms up in frustration, "Look, just drop it alright? Besides, Sweetie Belle would never go shoving one of her own to start with and I know her well enough to know that any shove she'd give me would simply be an overly enthusiastic way of saying hello."

Twilight resumed her journey back to her castle completely ignoring Shadow's further pleading. Finally she gave up her pursuit and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres to break the bad news to their kids and the Apple Family. She knew her kids would be distraught but she worried the most about Sweetie because her bond with Silver Spoon was so much stronger.

When Twilight returned to the castle she saw the door was open and that Spike was standing there with a very unhappy look on his face. Once she got within earshot he yelled, "How could you? How could you allow that cop to arrest Silver Spoon and take her away?"

Twilight was in no mood for his complaints, "Spike, things happened that I can not reveal at this time. All I'll say is that I'm likely going to be heavily involved in a very serious court case if things turn out the way I'm thinking they will."

Spike yelled, "You framed Silver Spoon for....."

Twilight angrily screamed, "Just drop it, ok? I said I can't reveal the things that happened."

Spike screamed, "Fine! I'm going to Sweet Apple Acres and then I'm going to comfort Shadow Blast and her family because I know they'll need it."

Spike slammed the door shut and Twilight mumbled, "Whatever." She then began to think more about what happened at the police station and realized one thing, that she needed to go up to Canterlot to press charges against Silver Spoon and hopefully arrive at the same time Silver Shield did. She left her castle, took flight and sighed, "If I hurry, I can catch up to him."

As she was flying west, her shadow passed over Spike and he saw where she was headed and knew that she had plans that would not be in Silver Spoon's best interests. He began yelling for her to stop but she paid no attention to him as her plans were far too important.

A Meeting at the Farm

When Spike arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, he saw Shadow Blast and Applejack near the gate while Apple Bloom was with the kids by the barn. Spike immediately asked, "Shadow Blast, what happened? Why did Silver Spoon get arrested?"

Shadow Blast was crying uncontrollably, "S-S-Spike, Si-Silver shoved Twi-Twilight and Sil-Silver Shield...."

She continued to sob and Applejack finished for her, "Spike, Silver Spoon shoved Silver Shield and Twilight and to top that off, Shadow told me about some evidence they found at their house."

Shadow Blast had calmed down somewhat and went into further detail, "Ok, last night Silver Dime and two of his security guards were brutally murdered." She began to get agitated, "Well, Silver Shield and Twilight visit the crime scene and somehow silver mane was discovered in Silver Dime's fists and then I don't know how it happened but....." she let out a loud screech, "bloodied brass knuckles were found under our bed and now they think Silver Spoon did it, they think she killed her dad and his guards."

Spike's jaw dropped open when he heard this. He asked, "But how, didn't you two go to bed last night after her big party?"

Shadow replied, "We did but then Silver Shield asked me if I was a heavy sleeper and asked Silver if she ever woke me up and well, things went downhill from there."

Spike asked, "What happened?"

Shadow again began to cry, "We-well she shoved Silver Shield, Twi-Twilight ordered her to put her hands behind her back and....and then she sho-shoved Twilight and she got arrested!"

Spike gave Shadow a gentle embrace as she continued to cry. At that moment he truly began to wonder what all Twilight was really up to. He knew for a fact that she still despised Silver Spoon over her behavior as a filly and couldn't get it through her head that Silver Spoon had changed. He commented, "Shadow, I have a really bad feeling about this. Twilight must have assisted in gathering evidence and interrogating you two. If we don't do something, Silver Spoon will get wrongfully convicted for a crime she never committed."

The very thoughts of that caused Shadow to break down crying again. Applejack turned to Spike and said, "Ah can't believe it. Ah know Twilight never did forgive Silver Spoon but for her to do this? Ah don't know if Ah can even think of her as a friend anymore."

Spike sighed, "I know how you feel and it wasn't that long ago that she took flight towards Canterlot" he paused before becoming sad, "to press charges against Silver Spoon for shoving her."

Shadow glumly added, "And I know it was caught on the station's cameras. It will be just like it was with Sweetie Belle, it will be on camera and who knows how long the judge will give her."

Spike offered a suggestion, "Look, if we're quick, maybe we can make it to Canterlot before Twilight gets there." He turned to Applejack and suggested, "And maybe she'll listen to you, maybe you can persuade her to not press charges and to get her to pardon Silver Spoon for shoving that cop."

Applejack replied, "Well Ah can try but Ah can't guarantee nothin'."

She quickly rushed to her pickup and hit the road without asking anypony if they wanted to join her. She knew that the life of a loving mother could very well rest on her getting to Canterlot before Twilight could go and press charges. She knew the chances were slim that she could persuade Twilight but figured that slim chances were better than none at all.

Once Applejack had departed, Shadow and Spike headed to the barn where her kids and Apple Bloom were talking. When Apple Bloom saw him she greeted him, "Howdy Spike, what are ya doin' here?"

Spike replied, "Getting away from Twilight and after what your sister and Shadow Blast told me, I have a very bad feeling."

Sweetie 'Silver' Belle asked, "What do you mean you have a really bad feeling? Is something really bad going to happen to mommy?"

None of them had told the kids about what happened involving the shoving or the murder accusations. Shadow replied, "Sweetie, we don't know if anything bad will happen or not. Hopefully this will just be some mix up and Silver can come back soon."

The three kids continued to hold their heads low. While they were trying to remain strong, the three of them knew that things weren't as ok as the adults were letting on, especially Sunrise Gold. He sighed, "You know what, I know you're trying to make us feel better but just be honest with us. Princess Twilight Sparkle and that cop are going to get mom locked up, aren't they? They're going to claim mom killed grandpa and convince some judge she is guilty, aren't they?"

Pink Pretzel asked, "Really brother, you think they're going to do that?"

Sunrise sighed, "I do think that." He turned to Shadow and continued, "Mom, you don't have to hide this from us anymore. We're not little kids who have to be sheltered from cold, hard truths anymore so why don't you just tell us?" He cast his gaze at Apple Bloom and Spike and added, "Or one of you two. I'm not sure about my sisters but I would rather know the horrible truth than live in some fantasy land believing that everything will be ok when it's not."

Out of the three Sunrise Gold had more suspicions and seemed to be in deeper thought than his sisters. Shadow had noticed this and never said anything for the sake of his sisters but since he knew, she finally admitted some of what happened. "Sunrise, you're right. Things aren't going well. Twilight and that cop found things that caused them to believe that Silver killed your Grandpa Dime and then at the police station, your mom shoved both that cop and Twilight."

Pink Pretzel had a sick feeling in her stomach, "That can't be good, can it?"

Shadow replied, "It can't. If Applejack can't sway Twilight, Silver will go to jail simply for shoving Twilight and that cop and if she was to get convicted over killing Grandpa Dime, we'll likely never see her again."

Sweetie rushed to Shadow, clung to her and started crying, "No, please no! Don't let them take mommy away from us."

While Sunrise Gold and Pink Pretzel were distraught as well, they were doing a much better job of keeping their emotions in check. Sunrise Gold however, seemed suspicious in his own right, "You know, mom one time brought up that Sweetie Belle pony she dated for a while and mentioned what a bitch......"

Shadow cut him off, "Sunrise Gold, watch your language."

Pink Pretzel added, "You know, I could see her finding a way to frame mom. From everything mom has said about her, she reminds me of the type that would do it and find a way to get away with it."

Apple Bloom put in her opinion, "Sweetie Belle could have done it, she has been involved in law enforcement for a long time so she'd know how to cover her tracks."

Shadow replied, "She could have but she wasn't even in town and I tried bringing Sweetie Belle up but Twilight laughed at me."

The five sighed in frustration knowing that things could very well go in a bad direction. All they could do was hope that Twilight would change her mind and that they could find out everything that happened with the murder of Silver Dime, what really happened instead of what Twilight and Silver Shield believe happened.

Exposing the Assaults

Twilight had been flying west towards Canterlot as quickly as she could in hopes of catching up with Silver Shield. She wasn't sure if he was going to head to the crime lab first. She had her concerns that if he went to the crime lab first, that Silver Spoon might be able to escape but if he took Silver Spoon to jail first, that something may happen to the evidence that may make it unusable.

Once she got up to Canterlot, she was able to track Silver Shield down right as he was pulling up to the crime lab. She saw that he still had Silver Spoon with him. Once he got out of the police cruiser Twilight landed and said, "Oh good, I caught up with you. I figured it would be best if I'm with you when you take her in so I can press assault charges against her."

Silver Shield replied, "Alright and since you're here, you can keep an eye on her while I take the evidence into the lab."

Twilight agreed, "That sounds good to me. After all, we can't have her in here alone in the event somepony was to try and free her."

Silver Shield nodded, grabbed the evidence and headed into the crime lab while Twilight got in the front seat. At first there was an uncomfortable silence until Silver Spoon pleaded, "Please Princess Twilight, please don't press assault charges against me." She began to sob as she continued, "Think about my children, especially Sweetie. They will be devastated without me and my business could go under if I'm not there to run it."

Twilight at first ignored her until she cried further, "Please Twilight, think about my family."

Twilight sighed in frustration, "Look, you assaulted a police officer AGAIN and you assaulted a princess. If you are allowed to get away with this, you'll just keep it up."

Twilight then went silent as Silver Spoon again began to cry loudly. When Silver Shield returned to the cruiser Twilight asked, "So how long is it going to take to get the results?"

The officer replied, "They said a week at the most." He paused for a moment before pointing back and adding, "Has she been doing that the whole time?"

Twilight answered with a smile, "Yes she has but once we get her in jail maybe she will shut up." She paused before laughing, "I hope so because she'll drive everypony else, even the other inmates, up the wall!"

Silver Spoon screamed, "If you were in my situation you'd be crying too!"

Both Silver Shield and Twilight ignored the comment as Silver Shield was driving the cruiser to the police station. Luckily for the two it was only half a mile away so they didn't have to put up with too much of her crying. Once they reached the station the two got out of the cruiser while Silver Shield headed back to the back seat and opened the door. He unfastened the belt and ordered, "Up-up Silvy. We can't take all day."

The mentioning of that nickname caused Silver Spoon to begin crying again. She resisted when he was trying to pull her out of the cruiser but would stop when Twilight grasped her in her aura. He gave Twilight a smile, "Thanks, I thought she might try to escape."

Twilight replied, "No problem, just trying to make everypony's lives easier."

Once they got Silver Spoon out, they took her to the back side of the station and led her in as they do with all ponies who are being jailed. Once they got her inside, the jailer commented, "Brought another one in I see." He was shocked though when he saw Twilight was there too. He bowed and added, "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

Twilight replied, "For right now this can't be discussed but with any luck, we can get this one into court, present the evidence to the judge and then get her locked up."

Silver Shield uncuffed her and the jailer got her locked up. He then turned to Twilight and suggested, "How about we head up to the DA's office and let him know what is going on so charges can be pressed."

Twilight replied, "Sounds like a plan, you lead the way."

The two headed towards the elevators and before they got out of eye shot, Twilight looked back and gave Silver Spoon a smile before turning forwards. The smile angered Silver Spoon to the point where she yelled, "Oh you're just loving this aren't you Twilight?"

The jailer yelled, "Could you be quiet? Such yelling is not allowed in here."

Silver Spoon sighed in frustration and sat down on a bench. Being locked up in that cell brought back so many memories for her, bad memories. Visions of her shoving Sweetie Belle and then being locked up flashed before her before visions of her getting sentenced to a year in prison. For so long life was going wonderful for her but now she was beginning to see the darkness of her past creeping back into her life.

As she sat there, so many thoughts were running through her mind. She began to think that everything that had happened to her was some sort of plot to ruin her life. She believed that the murder of her father and the evidence was planted by either Twilight or someone close to her. She also believed that the cop and Twilight said things to cause her to shove them and then she said to herself, "It has to be Sweetie Belle. They're all on her side and want to help her ruin my life."

Once Twilight and Silver Shield got up to the fifth floor, they headed towards the DA's office. The mare at the desk said, "Princess Twilight, officer, how can I help you?"

Twilight replied, "Well both of us need to speak to the district attorney. We need to file charges against a pony who assaulted both of us."

The clerk nodded and yelled back, "Legal Eagle, there are two ponies here who need to speak to you about filing assault charges."

He yelled back, "Alright, send them back."

The two headed back and when he saw who was there, what he thought would be just a random filing became much more. He turned to Twilight, "Princess Twilight, who in their right mind would assault you? I thought you were loved by all."

Twilight replied, "Well it involved a serious crime that happened in Ponyville, one that I was helping Silver Shield gather evidence for and in the questioning of who would be considered a pony of interest by you guys."

Silver Shield added, "She was in the station with me during their questioning and well, one of them shoved me and her. Right now that pony is down in the jail until we decide on what to do regarding her shoving us."

Legal Eagle asked, "Do you have this individual shoving you two on tape?"

Silver Shield replied, "It was captured on camera and if you'll let me borrow your computer, I can log into the station's surveillance system and show you what happened earlier today."

Legal Eagle motioned for him to come to his side of the desk and requested, "Come and show me. With any luck, you can show me this, we can get this pony before the judge and have this taken care of."

Silver Shield joined him and logged into the station's surveillance system and showed him the events of the day. He was shocked when he saw the events that went down, especially given who it was that assaulted them. He gasped, "Wait a minute, isn't she the same one that assaulted a police officer up here in the past?"

Silver Shield replied, "She is."

Legal Eagle said, "Well since we can access this here, we can access it in the courtroom computer as well. Let me contact the judge and see when we can hold court." He then picked up the phone, dialed a few numbers and waited for it to be picked up.

It was not long until it was answered.

"Hello, Judge Swift Justice speaking."

"Your Honor, this is Legal Eagle and we have clear as day evidence of a crime that was committed by a pony we currently have in custody."

"I'm assuming it is one on video that you want me to hold court over as soon as possible?"

"Yes. I do want to let you know one thing though, Princess Twilight is up here as she was one of the individuals assaulted."

*gasps* "Alright, meet me in courtroom two at four with the pony in custody. Assaulting a princess is a serious crime that must be punished ASAP."

*CLICK*

Once the phone call was finished, the DA said, "Well, it is three. Let's go down and get this pony and get this taken care of. With any luck we can get him or her sentenced before the day is over."

Twilight said, "Oh and just so you know, there is evidence in the crime lab right now that may tie her to a triple murder down in Ponyville so if you could get her time to be served up here, it would be easier on all of us."

Legal Eagle replied, "Ok, normally assault convictions like this would wind up in them getting sent to the minimum security jail in Ponyville but hopefully Swift Justice will sentence her to the medium security prison up here instead."

Silver Shield commented, "I certainly hope so. Having to transport her back and forth if the evidence does lead to her going to trial would become very costly."

Twilight added, "And I know the taxpayers would not like that at all."

Once the three got to the elevators, they began to head down to the jail. While Legal Eagle simply viewed this as another assault case, Silver Shield and Twilight felt differently. Silver Shield hoped that this would make the lives for everypony easier by having her in custody in the event the DNA tests tied her to the crime. Twilight however was hoping that maybe this would be the way to get her friends to see that Silver Spoon was no angel and that this was their chance to purge her from Ponyville at least for a while.

Author's Note

Legal Eagle's dialogue

Judge Swift Justice's dialogue

The Penalty for Assault

Five minutes after leaving the DA's office the three head downstairs to the jail. When Silver Spoon saw who was with Twilight and Silver Shield, she got a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew that a pony dressed in a suit was likely the district attorney and that like it was when she assaulted Sweetie Belle, that she would be going to court immediately. The jailer went to open the cell door and ordered, "Hands behind your back, now."

Silver Spoon had already got herself in enough trouble in refusing to comply with that order so this time she did it without questioning. Once they got her cuffed Legal Eagle said, "Alright, let's get her up to the courtroom. I'm sure Swift Justice wants to get this done as quickly as we do."

There was silence as they headed towards the courtroom. Silver Spoon knew that anything she was to say could be taken the wrong way and be used against her in court. She was unsure as to whether the judge that would be overseeing the case was the one who sentenced her to a year in jail or not. She did know though that if it was the same judge, that he would likely remember her and give her a longer sentence over shoving Silver Shield because of her prior shoving of a police officer.

Once the four got to the courtroom, the bailiff was there but the judge had yet to arrive. Legal Eagle decided to address Silver Spoon, "Silver Spoon, I do not know what your response is going to be when asked about this but my advice is to simply admit to this since it is on video and perhaps the judge won't give you such a long sentence."

Silver Spoon remembered when she was in court for shoving Sweetie and how she had claimed it was an accident but got called out on it. She decided this time that she would simply admit to it but state that it was done out of impulse and that she had no ill intentions or desire to harm either Silver Shield or Twilight.

Right as the clock hit four the bailiff announced, "All rise, court is now in session. Presiding is the Honorable Swift Justice."

Swift Justice entered the courtroom and Silver Spoon was relieved somewhat because this was not the same judge who sentenced her in the past. He appeared to be a younger judge so she hoped that maybe he wouldn't have an old-school, harsh sentencing mindset.

Once Swift Justice sat down he said, "You may be seated."

All sat down as the judge began to look through the papers on his desk. He then turned to Silver Spoon and began, "Ms. Spoon, I have seen the surveillance videos from the Ponyville police station and you lunged across the chief's desk and shoved him. May I ask why you did that?"

Silver Spoon stood and replied, "Your Honor, I was simply angry that Silver Shield would try to get me to slip into incriminating myself like that."

Swift Justice commented, "Ms. Spoon, you could have simply voiced your displeasure rather than lunging across the desk to try and attack him."

Silver Spoon knew she needed to remain calm, "I know but they were acting like they think I killed my dad and his security guards when I was sleeping that night. They asked me if I ever woke my wife up thinking that I could have got out of bed, went and killed my dad and his guards and got back in bed without waking her up!"

Swift Justice continued, "Ms. Spoon, that is standard protocol in questionings like that. They do not think you killed your dad and his guards."

Given Silver Spoon's thoughts, this hit her wrong, "How do you know, are you a mind reader or something?" She raised her voice, "And I know that they're on Sweetie Belle's side, they're probably going to......"

Swift Justice pounded his gavel on his desk, "Order in the court. Ms. Spoon, such behavior is not allowed in my courtroom. One more outburst like that and I will hold you in contempt of court, understood?"

Silver quietly replied, "Yes your honor."

Swift Justice continued, "And your shoving of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why in Equestria would you shove royalty like that?"

Silver Spoon tried to remain calm, "Because she ordered me to put my hands behind my back when that isn't part of what she should do." She began to get more agitated, "Isn't it against the law for a princess to do this? Doesn't a cop have to order that?"

Swift Justice flashed his horn three times and responded, "That is your last warning. Please remain calm Ms. Spoon." She nodded and he continued, "Regarding everything Twilight did, a princess can aid in gathering evidence, interrogating suspects and everything else she did if she was involved in the situation. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could do so if they aided in the investigation.

Silver Spoon held her head low and sighed, "I'm sorry Silver Shield, I'm sorry Princess Twilight. I'm sorry for pushing you."

Swift Justice asked, "Ms. Spoon, so are you going to go claiming these were accidents or are you going to take responsibility for your actions?"

Silver Spoon replied, "Your Honor, I know what I did was wrong and I take full responsibility for it."

Swift Justice flared up his horn, grabbed the gavel in his aura and stated, "Ms. Spoon, for your assault on Officer Silver Shield, you shall receive a sentence of two years since you have assaulted law enforcement officers in the past. Any assault on royalty requires a three year minimum sentence and I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and give you minimum." He paused before continuing, "Also, normally ponies with your kind of sentence would be sent to the minimum security facility in Ponyville but because you assaulted multiple ponies, your sentence will be served at the Canterlot medium security prison." He then pounded the gavel and said, "Court is adjourned." before powering down his horn.

Silver Spoon broke down crying in agony, "No, please no! Please don't lock me up, please don't take me away from my family, please no!"

Swift Justice had yet to leave the courtroom and said, "I am sorry Ms. Spoon. I gave you the bare minimum on both instances and unless Princess Twilight chooses to pardon you, you will be serving five years."

The judge and Silver Spoon both turned to Twilight awaiting whether she would give her a pardon or not. Twilight had never liked Silver Spoon from the very moment she first pulled a nasty prank on Fluttershy with Diamond Tiara and she also knew that if she pardoned her, it would set a very bad precedent. She knew that she would then have ponies begging her for pardons and if she didn't grant them, they would think she was giving Silver Spoon preferential treatment because she lives in Ponyville.

Twilight lit up her horn and replied, "After doing some thinking, I am choosing against granting a pardon because it will set a bad precedent. I do not want anypony thinking I'm showing her favoritism because of where she lives."

Swift Justice finished, "Very well. Bailiff will you escort her to the jail where she will have her one phone call before taking her to the prison facility."

The bailiff replied, "Yes sir."

As the judge left the courtroom and Silver Spoon was taken away, Twilight, Legal Eagle and Silver Shield began to talk amongst themselves. Twilight was the first to speak, "I'll admit, I was hoping for more than five but that will give us all more than enough time to determine whether she can be indicted for the murder charges or not."

Silver Shield agreed, "I do agree but we'll just have to wait for the DNA results to come back. If they come back negative, we'll either have to try and find the killer or simply let this become a cold case and move on."

Legal Eagle commented, "If the DNA evidence comes back negative, this will likely become a cold case because I have no clue on who else would have committed this murder or why they did it. Now let's get going, I'm sure we all want to get home at a decent time."

The two agreed, left the courtroom and departed for home. While they were leaving, Silver Shield was kind of hoping that the DNA evidence would clear Silver Spoon despite it seeming a whole lot like she did it. Legal Eagle had no vested interest either way so he would take a wait and see approach.

Princess Twilight however, she was hoping that the DNA evidence would provide proof that Silver Spoon was responsible for the crime so that Ponyville could finally be rid of what she deemed a bratty child who caused so many problems for so many years. She then thought to herself, "Oh I bet Sweetie Belle will be stoked when this news breaks!"

Spreading the News, Part 1

As she was being led down to the jail for her one phone call, Silver Spoon was filled with fear and despair. She had no idea how she was going to tell her family about the sentence and she knew her kids would take it especially hard. It also bothered her because with her only getting one phone call, she had a feeling that she may not get to talk to Apple Bloom since she wanted to talk to her as well.

Once they got to the jail she was locked up and the jailer gave her the station's cell phone so she could make her phone call. Another fear she had was that nopony would answer and she wouldn't get to talk to anypony. That was the case when she got arrested the first time, nopony answered and she did not get any further calls.

Once she took the phone, she dialed Shadow Blast's number and after four rings it was finally answered.

"Hello."

"Shadow Blast, it is me Silver Spoon."

"Silver Spoon, I've been worried sick! Where are you?"

*begins to sob* "H-Honey, I'm in the jail in Can-Canterlot. I got-got sentenced to five y-years for shoving th-that cop and Twilight."

*gasps* "You what, you got sentenced to five years in prison?"

"Y-yes. They sentenced me to five years and the judge s-said that was the minimum sentence for it. I just wish none of this wo-would have happened." *becomes angry* "I don't care what anypony says, I still can't help but wonder if Sweetie Belle wasn't involved in this."

"Silver, we can't worry about that right now. What we have to worry about is getting Twilight to change her mind. When she gets home maybe I can either talk to her or have all her friends meet with her and get her to pardon you."

*still crying* "I hope so. C-can I talk to the kids?"

"I wish you could but I got held up late at work. They're still at the apple farm, maybe if they'll let you have a second call, you could call Apple Bloom."

*sad* "I think they on-only give us one call before they take us....to the prison. Maybe you could come up, up and visit."

"If they'll let you have visitors I'll come but I don't know about bringing the kids. Sunrise Gold is kind of angry right now over this and I'm really afraid of how Sweetie will react to seeing you in jail." *starts crying* "I-I don't know if-if she could handle seeing y-you in jail."

"Just please bring them up if you can."

"TIMES ALMOST UP SILVY, SAY YOUR GOODBYE"

"I'm sorry Shadow but I have to go, I love you."

"I love you too Silver Spoon"

*CALL ENDS*

After the call ended Silver cried, "Can I have a second call so I can talk to my kids too?"

The jailer replied, "Sorry but the rule is one call per inmate."

Two guards came into the room and got Silver cuffed. One said, "Alright, come on."

The two grabbed Silver by the arms and led her to the police cruiser where she was belted in the back seat and was being taken towards the medium security prison. As she was being transported, she looked at the buildings passing her by and was filled with sadness and fear. She knew that unless Twilight decided to pardon her, she would not see the outside world again for five years. What bothered her the most was not being able to be with her family, the ones who made her so happy.

Then one other thing hit her, Canterlot was where Sweetie Belle was the police chief. She was not sure whether the police chief was involved in handling prisoners outside of the city jail but thinking about having to confront her terrified her. She knew how Sweetie would react, she knew that she would likely gloat about it and be worse towards her than she ever had been before. She wept to herself, "Please Twilight, please pardon me. Please don't take me away from my family."

As Twilight and Silver Shield were exiting the station, a large pickup pulled up next to the cruiser that the chief had driven up there. Out of it came Applejack and she immediately walked up to Twilight, "Twilight, Ah want t' know somethin'. What happened t' Silver Spoon?"

Twilight could tell that she was not in the best of moods and this caused her mood to sour a bit, "Look, I know what you're going to say but I simply can't go giving out pardons. If I give one to her, everypony will be begging me for them and I am not going to go forgiving criminals."

Applejack's eyes grew wide as she yelled, "She got sentenced t' prison, didn't she?" She got in Twilight's face and yelled louder, "Ya locked her up didn't ya?"

Twilight sighed, "Applejack, I did not lock her up. The judge gave her the minimum sentence on both charges, for her assaulting me and assaulting Silver Shield."

Applejack calmed down a bit and asked, "And how long did she get?"

Twilight replied, "Five years, which is rather lenient for assaulting both a police officer AND a princess."

Applejack raised her voice again, "Well ya could have given her a pardon, Ah know ya could have done that."

Twilight decided to tell her the same thing she told the DA, "Look, if I went and gave her a pardon, I'd have other ponies begging me for them too and if I didn't grant them, they'd say I'm giving Silver Spoon preferential treatment because of where she lives."

Applejack sighed, "Well Ah hope ya are happy cuz Ah know Celestia won't be."

Twilight looked down at her watch and said, "Look Applejack, this is the way the law works and I need to get going." She turned to Silver Shield and added, "You have a safe trip back home."

Twilight then spread her wings and took off towards the palace. She realized that Applejack may go and tell Celestia her own version of what happened, a version filled with nothing more than lies and wild accusations against her and Silver Shield.

Once Twilight got to the palace she immediately headed to the throne room and was greeted warmly by Princess Celestia, "Twilight, it is so wonderful to see you."

Twilight replied, "It is good to see you too princess. I just thought I would let you know about a rather strange event that happened down in Ponyville."

Celestia gave her a curious look, "Oh, what happened."

Twilight began, "Well this is going to take a while." Celestia nodded and Twilight continued, "Well three ponies were murdered down there last night and two ponies who discovered the crime scene came to me first before we went to the police station. Well we went to the crime scene and found evidence that may tie a certain pony to the crime so we went and searched her house and found what we believe might be the murder weapon."

Celestia commented, "Alright."

Twilight continued, "Well we took this pony along with her wife in for questioning and one of them shoved both the police chief and me during our interrogation so Silver Shield arrested her and brought her up here. Since her shoving both of us was caught on camera, the DA took her before Judge Swift Justice and he gave her five years in prison."

Princess Celestia asked, "You brought up evidence that may tie a pony to a murder. Where is this evidence?"

Twilight replied, "It is in the crime lab right now. We are hoping to get the results in a few days so we will know whether to indict this pony on the murder charges or not."

Celestia gave her a smile, "Good. This way if the evidence does tie this pony to the murder, she will be locked up here and won't be a flight risk."

Twilight continued, "That thought was not lost on me. She, her wife and one of my friends is begging me to give her a pardon but I think it would set a bad precedent. If I gave her one, everypony would expect one and if I denied other pardons, they'd claim I only gave this pony one because she lives in Ponyville."

Celestia gave her a warm smile, "Smart thinking Twilight. This is one of the many reasons I am glad I made you a princess. You are great with diplomatic affairs, you are great at spreading friendship and you think with a level head....."

Princess Celestia would get cut off when Applejack came running into the throne room, "Princess Celestia, we have a huge problem......" She then saw Twilight was in there and asked, "Twilight, what are ya doin' here?"

Twilight replied, "Just giving the princess a status report on a crime that involves royalty."

Applejack glared at Twilight before turning to Celestia, "Princess Celestia, a pony has been arrested in Ponyville and has been sentenced t' prison solely for shovin' two ponies."

Celestia replied, "Applejack, Twilight has told me about that and from what she told me, justice has been served. Assaulting a police officer and a princess comes with a price."

Applejack was in a state of shock that Celestia was so easily siding with Twilight over this. She then began to wonder if Twilight told her the whole story and decided to bring up Silver Spoon's life situation. "But Princess Celestia, Silver Spoon is a mother of three, she owns her own business and she is a lovin' mother and wife."

Princess Celestia had heard about Silver Spoon some from Twilight in the past and wasn't overly fond of her. She said, "Applejack, parents across the country commit crimes and they aren't pardoned so why should Silver Spoon get special treatment?"

Applejack's jaw dropped open over how Celestia still didn't seem to care about her life situation or the fact that a loving family would be broken apart over her imprisonment, "Ya know what princess, Ah thought ya would understand what was goin' on but yer views are just as bad as Twilight's, law and order."

Celestia sighed, "Applejack, this is about fairness. We can't go allowing every criminal to get away with assault."

Twilight added, "And if the evidence proves it, murder."

Applejack threw her hat on the floor and gave both princesses a look of hate, "Ya know what, Ah don't think Ah can be friends with either of y'all anymore" she then turned to Twilight and added, "And Twilight, ya shouldn't expect many friends when ya get home. Spike is mad and the girls are mad."

She then stormed out of the throne room leading a stunned pair of princesses. Celestia asked, "So Twilight, what now?"

Twilight replied, "Well I might stay up here in my old study tower until the DNA evidence comes back. Maybe if I hang around for a few days up here, they will have calmed down and we can discuss things in a situation that is less emotional."

Celestia said, "That is likely for the best." She paused for a moment before offering, "Twilight, what would you think of joining Luna and I for supper. We can go over this with her as well."

Twilight gave her a smile, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, besides I'm so hungry!"

Twilight was not only happy but relieved that Princess Celestia understood why she did the things she did and was even happier when Luna also agreed with what she did. She knew then that all she had to do was wait for the results came back and if they did tie Silver Spoon to the murder, that maybe her friends would stop being mad at her and realize that Silver Spoon was not a good pony after all.

Author's Note

Shadow Blast's Dialogue

Silver Spoon's Dialogue

Guard's Dialogue

Spreading the News, Part 2

It was evening in Omareha and Sweetie Belle was in a sports lounge watching a buckball game. She had been relaxing and doing enjoyable things since returning from Ponyville. She began to cheer loudly as Canterlot was one score away from dethroning defending champion Ponyville. Once the ball got back into play again and it looked like Canterlot was going to be victorious, the screens on the TV went blue with the words "Breaking News" on them. Sweetie and everypony else began to boo loudly.

The TV then went to the news where the anchor began,

"We have breaking news in both Ponyville and Canterlot. This morning the bodies of three ponies were discovered in the Silver mansion in Ponyville. The bodies of the three were badly beaten, bloodied and bruised. When the authorities searched the crime scene they found silver mane in the clenched fists of Mr. Silver Dime, one of the wealthiest ponies in Equestria.

Officer Silver Shield along with Princess Twilight Sparkle then did a search in the house of the only pony in the town with silver mane and a set of bloodied brass knuckles were found. The pony, Silver Spoon along with her wife Shadow Blast were taken in for questioning. During the questioning, Silver Spoon assaulted both Ponyville police chief Silver Shield and Princess Twilight Sparkle."

The whole room gasped in shock and a smile began to creep on Sweetie Belle's face but she wasn't going to celebrate until she knew that her plan worked.

The anchor continued, "The evidence has been taken to the crime lab up in Canterlot and Silver Spoon was transported there to face a judge for her assaulting a law enforcement officer and a princess. Given that the assaults were caught on camera, Silver Spoon was convicted on one count of assaulting a police officer and on one count of assaulting a princess. In total Silver Spoon will be serving five years in prison but if the crime lab is able to tie the mane found at the crime scene and the bloodied brass knuckles do have blood of the victims on them, Silver Spoon could face a much longer sentence. As more information is released, we will be able to give you more information.....and now we return you to our regularly scheduled programming."

The game was already over when they returned to the game coverage and Canterlot had won so Sweetie cheered, "Yes, yes, yes, we won, I won!" Some of the ponies began looking at her strangely with what she said so she corrected herself, "I meant we won, Canterlot won."

Everypony then focused back on the post-game coverage but Sweetie left and headed back towards her hotel room. Once she returned she continued her celebration but much more quietly. She was jumping around her room, pumping her fist skywards and whispered, "Yes, yes, yes! That little bitch's charmed life is gone, it's done, it's over!"

Her phone then rang and when she saw it was Scootaloo calling, she immediately answered.

"Hi Scootaloo, how's it going?"

"Hey, did you hear the news? Silver Slut got five years in prison for assaulting a police officer and Princess Twilight!"

*exclaims* "I know, you have no idea how happy I am. I feel like this is a victory for me, no, make that a victory for us!"

"I know. I never imagined she'd be so stupid as to actually shove a cop and a princess, especially with her going to jail in the past for shoving you."

*snickers* "Oh I can only imagine how her family must be feeling right now, this must feel like a total kick in the balls for them, well if they had any that is!"

"And I can't help but wonder how Apple Bloom is taking this. I know she had grown very close to her and her family." *pauses before continuing* "Now about that evidence that could cause her problems, what is all that about?"

"You know, I'm not sure. I wasn't there so I don't know what was found at the crime scene but if she did wind up killing her father, she is nuts. She's supposed to get a ton of money when he dies."

"Maybe she wanted that money early. Why she would though I don't know because I've heard he was already giving her tons of money to start with."

"Well all we can do is just wait and see." *yawns* "Well it is getting late here, I think I'm going to hit the hay. Talk to you later."

"Talk to you later Sweetie Belle!"

*END OF CALL*

After hanging up the phone Sweetie collapsed back on her bed and continued to pump her fist in celebration before finally trying to go to sleep. That night it was very hard for her to go to sleep as all she could think about was Silver Spoon in a jail cell crying her eyes out. She then began to think about what would happen if Silver was to get indicted and convicted on the murder charges. She whispered to herself, "That would be the ultimate victory! She'd never see the light of day again!"

Sweetie was woken up a bit earlier than she would like but it wasn't by the sun, it was by her phone. When she picked it up she saw that it was Legal Eagle calling. She immediately picked it up,

"Hi Legal Eagle, what's going on?"

"Chief, I know you're on vacation and you're probably not wanting to think about anything involving law enforcement right now but I just thought I'd let you know that a triple murder occurred in Ponyville and somepony assaulted the police chief and Princess Twilight during her interrogation."

"Yeah, I heard that on the news last night. It is crazy that somepony would assault a cop and a princess. You'd think they'd know they'd wind up in jail for that."

"I know. Anyway, the assailant got five years in jail and now we are waiting on results from the crime lab to see if this pony may be facing murder charges as well."

"Well we'll just have to wait and see. I will say this, I'm glad this didn't happen when I was the chief down in Ponyville since I do have a past with her."

"I was going to bring that up. Well anyway, you enjoy the rest of your vacation....I simply wanted to see if you knew."

"Thanks, you have a good day."

*END OF CALL*

After her phone call, Sweetie wanted to try and put all of this out of her mind. She didn't want to simply hide out in her hotel room and she knew she couldn't be all smiles out in public. She then said to herself, "Just try and not think about this at all. Just live in the here and now, in Omareha. Don't focus on anything going on in either Ponyville or Canterlot."

Author's Note

Scootaloo's Dialogue

Sweetie Belle's Dialogue

Legal Eagle's Dialogue

A Morning Meeting & An Indictment

Author's Note

Legal Eagle's Dialogue

Twilight's Dialogue

A Morning Meeting & An Indictment

Five days had passed and Twilight had been staying in her old study tower waiting for the results to come back from the crime lab. She had no desire at that time to return home because she knew that her "friends" would do nothing but complain about Silver Spoon being sent to jail for five years for assaulting ponies in a position of power.

It was early in the morning when Twilight was getting up and preparing to go to the palace so that she could have a big breakfast with Celestia. Just as she was leaving her phone rang. When she saw that it was the district attorney she picked it up.

"Hello."

"Hi, Princess Twilight, this is Legal Eagle and I just thought I'd let you know that the results are in on the evidence."

"Oh, so are we going to be able to indict Silver Spoon or not?"

"Well the mane that was found in Silver Dime's fists did indeed belong to Silver Spoon and the blood plastered on those brass knuckles did belong to him and those two guards so we will be able to get her for this."

"Sweet! Now maybe my friends will stop being such bitches to me."

"Ok. Well I also got the corner's report and it appears that Silver Dime's death was the result of being brutally beat but it has also been determined that strangulation is what killed him in the end. With one of the guards, it has been determined that he was savagely beat until he died and with the other, a strike to the temple was what killed him but he was continued to be beat after death."

"So, what do you think we can get her on?"

"Well judging from the coroner's report we will be able to get her on two counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder since one of the guards was killed so quickly."

"What about how she kept on beating that one guard after he was already dead? Isn't there some sort of crime against doing that to a corpse?"

"Yes there is and what I am shooting for will require we get her on that too." *pauses before continuing* "I'm wanting to get her put in a super-max facility. Criminals like her should never see the light of day again or be allowed visitors."

*becomes happy* "Alright, so what now? Do you simply announce an indictment or what?"

"Well we need to go before Princess Celestia for this, the sooner the better."

"Well I'm just about to head out to the palace now, how about you meet me over there in an hour."

"Alright, sounds good."

*CALL ENDS*

As Twilight was leaving her study tower, she felt a sense of elation. She felt like this would be not only her chance to rid Ponyville of Silver Spoon for good but also for her friends to finally see that she was right all along. She hoped that they would finally see that she was never deserving of the forgiveness that they all gave her and that she wasn't deserving of all the comfort and support they had been giving her either, especially when it comes to the Apple Family.

It was not long until Twilight got to the palace and headed straight to the throne room where she was greeted warmly by Princess Celestia. "Twilight, it is good to see you." She paused for a moment before asking, "Here for breakfast I take it?"

Twilight replied, "Yes but also Legal Eagle is coming by as well. They got the results from the crime lab." Twilight became more excited as she continued, "The DNA results match, we can indict her!" She paused before calming down, "And the corner's report came back and it sounds like we'll be able to get her locked away for quite some time."

Celestia gave her a smile, "So us along with Legal Eagle will be holding a press conference I take it?"

Twilight replied, "That we....."

Twilight was interrupted by a guard when he entered the room and said, "Your Majesty, you have company."

Celestia replied, "Send them in."

The guard nodded and into the throne room came Legal Eagle with a smile on his face. Celestia saw this and said, "Well it looks like this is going to be a big day for all of us."

Legal Eagle suggested, "What do you say we hold the press conference for this around ten, down at my office."

Celestia agreed, "That sounds good to me since that is where the indictment press conferences generally happen."

Twilight added, "I do think it would be best though if Celestia nor myself take part in the press conference." She turned to Celestia and continued, "Having us be part of this kind of press conference may cause some ponies in this country think that we are using our power to lock her up."

Celestia again agreed, "That will likely be for the best so it might be best if you go down to your office alone but I would like to invite you for breakfast before you go to work."

Legal Eagle licked his chops, "Sounds good! I haven't had a decent breakfast in quite some time anyway." He paused for a minute before continuing, "I want you to take a look at not just the DNA reports of the evidence but also the coroner's report. I will then let you know what I am hoping to get her on."

He handed Celestia the papers and as she was looking over the coroner's report, her eyes grew wide in shock. She never once imagined that such crimes would be committed in Equestria. While there was the occasional murder in the big cities, she had never heard of anypony doing what was stated in the report. After reading them she suggested, "Well along with murder charges, I do think that abusing a corpse should be thrown in there as well."

Legal Eagle commented, "That is the plan. I really think we need to send a clear message that such crimes will not be tolerated in Equestria and will be punished severely."

Twilight agreed, "Sounds like a plan. I just hope that we will be able to get a good, impartial jury that won't have any ties to Silver Spoon, her friends or the victims in any way. We do need this to be a fair trial after all."

Legal Eagle replied, "Given that Silver Spoon went to college here and lives in Ponyville, that automatically strikes anypony from here and Ponyville from the list. I'm thinking maybe our jury pool should be from cities back east where nopony has even heard of Silver Spoon."

Celestia said, "Agreed." The castle chef was coming in to take their orders and she added, "Now lets get some food in our system before you give your press conference."

The three then dropped all discussions involving the indictment and upcoming trial while they ate. If there was one thing that Celestia did not like it was serious discussions while she was eating her meals or snacks. In her opinion, those were times that only cheerful discussions should take place.

It was nearing ten and Legal Eagle had returned to his office. One thing that surprised him was that there were no media outlets present. He was hoping for this so he decided to contact the local TV station and notify them of what he was going to announce. When they told him that they couldn't get there right away, he pushed the announcement back until two in the afternoon so that they could be there and broadcast it to the city and the nation.

When the clock struck two, the local TV station broke into its regular programming and notified the public of the announcement. Not long after that, Legal Eagle was on camera and he started his announcement.

"Good afternoon citizens of Canterlot. As many of you know, five days ago the bodies of three ponies were found brutally murdered in Ponyville. Evidence was found at the crime scene that tied us to who we believe was the murderer. Then after doing a search in the suspect's home, we found what we believe is the murder weapon so the following individual is being charged with these crimes.

Silver Spoon of Ponyville, has been charged with murder in the first degree involving Silver Dime. Silver Dime was found bruised and bloodied. The coroner's report stated that Mr. Dime was brutally beaten before being strangled to death. At the crime scene, mane from the suspect was found in his clenched fists, which indicates that there was a struggle. The blood of Mr. Dime was also found on bloodied brass knuckles found in the suspects home.

Silver Spoon has also been charged with murder in the first degree involving the death of one of the security guards. The guard was found bruised and bloodied. The coroner's report states that the victim was brutally beaten in a way that the assailant could ensure he would pose no threat to her. Blood from the victim was found on the brass knuckles we discovered in the suspect's home.

Silver Spoon has also been charged with murder in the second degree involving the other security guard. The coroner's report states that the victim was killed by a quick strike to his temple yet he continued to be beat and bloodied after death.

Silver Spoon has also been charged with three separate charges of mutilating a corpse as the coroner's report indicates that Ms. Spoon continued to beat and tear open the skin of all three victims after they were already dead.

Currently Ms. Spoon is being held in the Canterlot medium security prison after being convicted of assaulting a police officer and assaulting Princess Twilight Sparkle. We do hope that we can get a good jury put in place so that we can get this trial going sooner rather than later."

After he finished his address the TV station returned to its regularly scheduled programming. Legal Eagle realized that finding a decent jury would be tough but given that he was going to draw from the big cities back east, he knew it would be easier than trying to find locals who would be unbiased.

Sweetie's Promotion

Three weeks had passed since departing for her vacation and Sweetie Belle was returning to Canterlot, ready to get back to work on the upcoming Monday. She knew that things were going to be tough, she knew that keeping a neutral facial expression would be next to impossible given how elated she was that not only was Silver Spoon in jail but that there was a chance she could be locked away for good.

It was not long after arriving in Canterlot that she received a phone call from a number that she did not recognize. While she normally did not like answering calls like that something was telling her to answer it. When she answered it she would be shocked by who it was,

"Hello, is this Sweetie Belle?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Alright I know I am likely the last pony you would expect to hear from but this is Princess Celestia and I need you to come to the palace immediately. This involves your job."

*nervously replied* "What's going on? I'm not in trouble am I?"

*giggles* "Goodness no but I do need to speak to you over something very important. All I am going to say is you will like what I have to tell you."

"Ok, I'll get there as soon as I can! See you soon your Majesty!"

"See you soon Sweetie Belle."

*END OF CALL*

After hanging up, Sweetie Belle couldn't help but wonder what it was that Princess Celestia wanted to discuss with her regarding her job. She remembered how in the past that the police chief had to go before Celestia and got fired but with the princess saying she'd like the discussion, she knew that nothing bad was awaiting her.

She thought to herself, "What if she is going to give me a pay raise or put me in charge of more than just Canterlot?"

She then did her best to clear her mind and focus on what was most important, getting to her destination without getting in an accident. Once she arrived at the palace she was greeted by two guards. One asked, "Who are you?"

The other added, "State your business."

Sweetie replied, "I am Sweetie Belle, the chief of the Canterlot PD and it wasn't that long ago that Princess Celestia contacted me and said that she wished to speak to me."

The guards were informed of this so one said, "We have been informed of this so follow me to the throne room so she may speak with you."

Sweetie Belle followed the guard full of wonder and was a tiny bit excited. She still couldn't wonder what it was that Celestia wanted to talk about. Once they arrived at the throne room the guard said, "Princess Celestia, she is here."

Sweetie headed in, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, you wished to speak to me?"

Celestia replied, "I did but there is no need to be so formal, just Celestia please."

Sweetie gave her a smile and asked, "Celestia, what is it you wished to discuss with me?"

Celestia got up and replied, "Follow me. I need you to come to my private office where I handle affairs involving government employees."

Sweetie followed her and her curiosity and excitement were growing. She now knew that it did involve her job and perhaps some form of advancement. Containing her excitement was getting harder and harder the longer she followed the princess. At the end of a long haul was the entrance to an office with a rather large door. Celestia opened it and ordered, "Follow me so we may talk."

Sweetie entered and saw a huge desk in what was obviously an office built for royalty. She sat down and asked, "Celestia, what is this about?"

Celestia began, "Sweetie Belle, I know you have a degree involving law enforcement from Canterlot University and I know you have been involved in law enforcement for over two decades. I also have records that indicate you never missed a day of work and only recently took any vacation time. I also know that during your times of being the police chief in Ponyville and up here in Canterlot you did an excellent job so I have a question for you."

Sweetie asked, "What is it?"

Celestia asked, "What would you think of receiving a huge promotion? What would you think about becoming the chief of the national police?"

Sweetie's jaw dropped open, "Really? You're offering me the position of being the police chief for the national police?"

Celestia replied, "I am. In this job you would be working directly under me. Your primary job would be overseeing other police departments. You would make sure that they are staying within budget, not engaging in any unlawful behavior such as police brutality out in the streets or abusing inmates. You would also make sure that no activities such as sexual harassment or sexual favors for promotions take place."

Sweetie replied, "I'm taking it this will be more of a desk job?"

Celestia replied, "Well somewhat but it will also involve a lot of travel to check on departments every now and then." Celestia paused before adding, "You will also be involved in handling the highest level criminals as well. You will be involved in discussing things such as plea deals I will offer them and transporting the worst of the worst to either maximum security prisons or to super-max facilities." She saw a smile develop on Sweetie's face and finished, "Also, your pay will be triple what it currently is. So what do you say?"

Sweetie replied, "You bet I'm interested! So do I have to apply for it or are you simply giving it to me?"

Celestia said, "I am simply going to give it to you." She grabbed some paperwork and handed them to her before continuing, "Now you do have to fill out an application and the proper tax forms since it is the law but since you want it, it is yours."

Sweetie began to fill out all the paperwork as Celestia used her magic to create a new badge for her new national police chief. As she was filling out the paperwork, she was ecstatic. When she was contacted by Celestia, she had a feeling that something good was going to happen but never did she imagine that she would be in charge of making sure that everything flowed smoothly in the country's police departments. She also began to wonder if this made her the most powerful police chief in the country. She wasn't about to ask about it though as she did not want to risk the job the moment she got it.

After completing the paperwork and giving it to Celestia, Celestia levitated her badge to her and said, "Welcome aboard Chief." She paused before adding, "Also, I want you to know that your office will be here in the palace, just to the right of mine." She got a smile on her face and finished, "As of right now, you are the most powerful police chief in the whole country."

Sweetie exclaimed, "That is sweet, beyond sweet!"

Celestia giggled, "I figured that is what you would say but now I need you to do something very important." She paused before continuing, "I need you to head to the medium security prison and offer a prisoner being held there a plea deal."

Sweetie Belle had a very strong feeling as to who it was. She did not like the idea of Silver Spoon being offered a chance to get out of being locked up for life but with the job she had now, she knew that she had to behave in a much more professional manner and not allow personal grudges to interfere with her job.

She replied, "Alright. Who is it that you want me to go and talk to about this?"

Celestia replied, "The inmate's name is Silver Spoon. She is already serving five years for assaulting a police officer and assaulting Princess Twilight but recently she has been indicted on some very hefty charges. I am hoping that maybe she would be willing to talk and we could lock her up for a decent amount of time all while avoiding the need of a trial."

Sweetie asked, "So do you want me to simply ask her if she would be willing to take a plea or what?"

Celestia replied, "Yes. If she is willing to, call me and put me on speaker phone so the three of us may discuss this. If she does not and wants to take her chances, call me and let me know so I can notify the DA."

Sweetie said, "Alright." She paused before asking, "After dealing with Silver Spoon, I was kind of thinking about traveling down to Ponyville and telling my sister the good news." She paused before adding, "I can tell her and my friends can't I?"

Celestia gave her a smile, "Of course you can! It isn't like I'm making you the head of some sort of secret police!" She paused before adding, "Now go and see if Silver Spoon is up for a plea deal and then you have a safe trip to Ponyville."

Sweetie replied, "Alright Celestia, hopefully we can get her to agree to a plea and put this whole mess behind us."

Celestia agreed, "I certainly hope so."

As Sweetie Belle left Celestia's office, she was a bit conflicted on what she was hoping for. One part of her wanted to see Silver Spoon receive the maximum punishment possible while another part of her was hoping that she would accept a plea deal and all the drama involving Silver Spoon could finally be over and done. All she could do was wait and see what her meeting with Silver would bring.

Author's Note

Sweetie Belle's Dialogue

Princess Celestia's Dialogue

Offering a Plea Deal

After leaving the palace, Sweetie Belle headed towards the prison where Silver Spoon was being held. She wasn't overly thrilled of having to deal with her and had her concerns that she might recognize her. She then thought that as long as he didn't reveal her eyes that everything would be fine. Those emerald eyes would be a clear giveaway and any kind of drama was the last thing she wanted.

Once she got to the prison, she entered and was greeted by a prison guard. He asked, "Who are you and what is your business?"

Sweetie flashed her badge and replied, "I am here on orders from Princess Celestia. I need to speak to an inmate named Silver Spoon."

When he saw her badge, he immediately said, "Wow, I never expected the chief of the national police to come here." He then radioed one of the other guards, "Lieutenant Rose Garden, the chief of the national police is here. She needs to speak to an inmate named Silver Spoon upon orders from Princess Celestia."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

A couple minutes passed before the lieutenant arrived. She said, "So you need to speak to Silver Spoon?"

Sweetie replied, "I do."

"Alright then, follow me."

Sweetie Belle followed the guard into the prison and was pleased to see that the conditions there weren't as nice as they were down at the minimum security prison in Ponyville. After a five minute walk, Rose Garden yelled, "Silver Spoon, you have a guest."

Silver Spoon was laying down but got up and saw a mare in a black shirt, black pants and was wearing dark sunglasses. She glared at the mare and asked, "Who are you?"

This was one thing that Sweetie did not want to reveal to Silver Spoon because she knew that if she did, it would ruin any chances of her being willing to discuss a plea deal so she decided to not tell her her name.

Sweetie quickly flashed her badge and replied, "My name does not matter but I am the chief of the national police and I am here on orders from Princess Celestia. She wants me to discuss the charges against you and something that could be done to do away with the need for a trial."

Silver Spoon stood up and approached the bars. She asked, "And what does she want you to discuss with me?"

Sweetie replied, "She is wanting me to discuss a plea bargain to make a trial unnecessary."

Silver Spoon didn't know exactly what he was talking about. She asked, "What is a plea bargain?"

Sweetie sighed in frustration, "You really don't know what a plea bargain is? I thought everypony knew what that was." She paused before continuing, "Ok, basically you will plead guilty to the charges against you in exchange for a reduced sentence."

Silver Spoon screamed, "What, Princess Celestia wants me to admit guilt to crimes I did not commit?"

Sweetie sternly said, "Calm down, no need to be so loud or upset." She paused before continuing, "As you know, the charges you are facing are very severe. Right now you are facing two charges of first degree murder, one charge of second degree murder and three charges of mutilating a corpse. If you are convicted on these, a life sentence in a super-max facility is more than likely. If you were to get that kind of sentence, upon conviction you would be housed underground and you would not be allowed any visitors." She paused and got a bit of a smile on her face, "Long story short, you'd never see the sun again and you'd never see your family again."

She did not like the smile that Sweetie gave her. She yelled, "You think that would be funny don't you?" She raised her voice and screeched, "It seems like everypony is against me! I know Twilight is against me, it seems like Princess Celestia wants me locked up, I know that DA is probably wanting to throw me in a super-max prison and if Sweetie Belle knew about this, she'd probably want me to get the death penalty!"

Sweetie gave her a slight smile before flaring up her horn and warned, "Look, just calm down alright." She paused before adding, "Now tell me, would you be interested in a plea deal or not? If you are, I will call the princess, put her on speaker phone and she can discuss it with you directly. I would strongly advise you consider it because the evidence against you is overwhelming and the chances of you getting an acquittal are next to zero. So what is it?"

Silver Spoon sighed, "Alright, call her and we can discuss the conditions of this."

Sweetie Belle dialed the direct number to Princess Celestia and it was immediately answered,

"Chief, is that you?"

"It is. I am currently visiting Silver Spoon and after discussing what could happen upon a conviction with her, she has agreed to talk."

"Alright, put me on speaker phone."

*PUTS CELESTIA ON SPEAKER PHONE*

"Hi Silver Spoon, this is Princess Celestia."

"Hi your Majesty."

"Ok, I'm not sure if the chief has brought this up or not but the charges against you are very severe and you have a mountain of evidence against you."

"The chief has brought it up."

"I also don't know if she brought this up or not but if you are convicted, you will likely be sentenced to life in prison at a super-max facility with no chance for parole."

"That was brought up."

"Alright, this is where the plea bargain comes in. If you will simply plead guilty to all the charges against you I can see to it that you won't wind up in a super-max facility nor will it be a life sentence."

"Look, I am not going to plead guilty to crimes I didn't commit just to make the lives of you, Princess Twilight, or the DA easier. I will prove my innocence because I did not commit those crimes." *becomes angry* "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the results from that crime lab are a lie or Twilight found a way to get my mane and then went and killed my dad because I know for a fact that she still hates me!"

"Silver Spoon, the crime lab does not falsify results like that and your wild accusations against Twilight do not sit well with me."

"Well then, maybe Sweetie Belle did it. She has been involved in law enforcement for a long time so I know she could do this and easily frame me because out of everypony, I know she wants to take away everything I love the most."

"Drop the wild accusations Silver Spoon. I am giving you one more chance here. All the evidence points to you so do you want to accept a plea deal of some sort of do you want to risk never seeing the light of day again?"

*yells* "I'll take my chances. I know the whole monarchy is against me and I know the whole justice system is out to lock me up." *screeches* "Buck you Tia......"

*SWEETIE BELLE TAKES BACK THE PHONE*

"Well Celestia, I suppose we have our answer."

"That we do so now I am going to let you get going so you can get to Ponyville to visit your sister."

"Talk to you later Celestia, you have a great day."

"You have a great day too and have a safe trip."

*END OF CALL*

As Sweetie and Rose Garden headed out of the jail Sweetie Belle sighed, "Well if she wants to take her chances and she gets locked up underground, that will be her problem." She then began to laugh, "Well I suppose her precious Shadow Blast and those bratty kids of hers will have to deal with the fact that Silver Spoon may as well not exist at all."

Rose Garden chuckled, "Yeah I guess not. Oh well, that is their problem, not ours."

Sweetie commented, "This may sound bad but I really hope she gets convicted. Princess Twilight's friends are mad at her right now and maybe a conviction here will get them to realize that she is right."

Rose replied, "I don't know what is going on with the princess and her friends but if that is what it takes for her friends to stop being mad at her, then that would be for the best."

Silver Spoon could still hear their conversation and began to get suspicions about who the chief was. She then began to think more about the voice of the chief. While it was deep for a mare and she had the build of a stallion, she thought about one thing, her height. The chief stood at roughly the same height as a mare from her past, a mare she knew who would love to sink her. She angrily yelled, "You know what chief, you're really Sweetie Belle aren't you? You're the one who is seeing to it that I'm locked up aren't you? You're the one who is seeing to it that my life is destroyed, aren't you?"

Sweetie and Rose ignored her and left the jail. Once they exited Sweetie said, "Well I'm going to get going. I plan on visiting my sister down in Ponyville and while I'm at it, I'll likely pay Princess Twilight a visit too since she will be involved in this mess."

Rose replied, "Alright, you have a good day chief."

"You too."

Sweetie Belle exited the prison and took off towards Ponyville. She hoped that nopony would think anything of Silver Spoon's accusation of her actually being Sweetie Belle. As she was exiting the city she said to herself, "Who in Equestria would believe that bitch anyway? Who would believe a little bitch who most everypony believes killed three ponies?"

Visiting Ponyville

Author's Note

Twilight's dialogue

Sweetie Belle's dialogue

Celestia's dialogue

Visiting Ponyville

An hour after departing Canterlot, Sweetie Belle was pulling into Ponyville. Once she got slowed down enough, she rolled down her windows and cranked her music up, something that the locals in Canterlot have frowned upon for decades. She first headed towards The Carousel Boutique but noticed that Rarity's car was not there. She then figured that she may be at Sugarcube Corner so she headed there and sure enough, her car was there as was Applejack's pickup and Shadow Blast's car.

Once she headed in she received several strange looks. She headed to Rarity and said, "Hi sis, how is everything going?"

Given that Sweetie's voice was deeper than it used to be, she was unsure as to who she was. She asked, "Who are you and why are you calling me sis?" It then hit her, Sweetie Belle's voice was not squeaky and high pitched like it was when she was younger. She asked, "Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie replied, "Yes, it's me." She then asked, "So how has life been going for you?"

Rarity was unsure as to whether her sister had been paying attention to things or not but decided to say it in a way where she thought she didn't, "Well things have been going terrible. Three ponies were murdered here, Silver Spoon got accused of it and then she shoved Twilight and the local cop."

Shadow then cut in and began to cry, "An-and, she is in jail up in Canterlot."

Applejack added, "Ah tried t' get Twilight t' pardon her but she wouldn't. Ah honestly think she wants Silver Spoon locked up. She thinks Silver wants us out of Ponyville, she even said it the day she opened her shop."

Sweetie knew about the situation involving them not getting along all that well but decided to ask all of them herself, "So I take you aren't exactly getting along with Twilight all that well?"

Rarity was the first to comment, "No darling, we are not. She is responsible for tearing a loving mother away from her wife and kids."

Rainbow added, "Yeah and she seems to be happy she got her locked up if you ask me! She seems to be happy she isn't here in Ponyville now."

Fluttershy continued, "She did seem happy when Silver Spoon got arrested."

Pinkie added, "She is being a meany-mean hooves if you ask me. The rest of us forgave Silver Spoon but she didn't and always refused to."

Applejack finished, "Ah have asked her multiple times t' pardon her but she always says no and she seems t' be gettin' more irritated every time Ah do."

Sweetie sighed, "Well I'd get irked if somepony kept asking me over something like that all the time too so I can see where she's coming from."

Shadow raised her voice, "Well of course you would. You have a bad history with my wife and you're probably thrilled she's locked up. Silver thinks you may have killed her dad and framed her for it and I can't help but wonder if she isn't right."

This was something that Sweetie was expecting and didn't let it get to her. She calmly stated, "Well I was out in Omareha at the time the murders happened." She paused before adding, "To be honest, I didn't even know any of this happened until they cut into the buckball game."

Pinkie gave her a very suspicious look, "Do you Pinkie Promise that you were in Omareha when the murders took place?"

Despite having been gone for decades she still remembered it. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye that I was in Omareha when the murders took place." This eased Pinkie's suspicions as Sweetie asked, "So where is Apple Bloom, I'd like to catch up with her."

Applejack replied, "Well Ah don't know if she wants t' see ya. Ya know how close her and Silver Spoon are and she thinks ya had something t' do with her windin' up in prison."

Sweetie grunted, "Oh yes, the hell with her long time friends but some brat who treated us all like shit is a pure angel." She threw her arms up in the air and added, "Whatever, I'll go visit Twilight since her loyalties don't lie with a little bitch who did nothing but bully us." She raised her voice and finished, "Hell I wouldn't be one bit surprised if she hasn't forgiven Diamond Bitch too."

Sweetie left the sweet's shop and was less than thrilled with them. She was fully expecting Shadow Blast to be unhappy but she didn't expect the others to be radiating the negative energy they were. Despite Applejack saying that Apple Bloom likely would not want to see her, Sweetie headed towards Sweet Apple Acres to see if her old friend might want to talk, well that and get a good feel of exactly where Apple Bloom stood on things.

Over at Sweet Apple Acres Apple Bloom was out checking on the machines involved in harvesting the apples when she heard loud music blaring and the roar of an engine. She saw a black pickup pulling up and she sighed, "Ah hope that ain't who Ah think it is." She then looked at the license plate and when she saw it read "4-SB187" she knew who it was. She signed in frustration knowing it was somepony she really didn't want to talk to.

When Sweetie got out she shouted, "Hi Apple Bloom, long time no see."

Apple Bloom headed towards her and replied, "Yeah, it's been a while." She paused before deciding to see if she knew anything about what happened with Silver Spoon, "So Sweetie Belle, how has life been treatin' ya?"

Sweetie exclaimed, "Life has been going great! I just got promoted from being the chief of the Canterlot PD to being the chief of the national police and my pay has tripled." She paused before adding, "Now I'm the most powerful police chief in the country and I work right under Princess Celestia."

Apple Bloom's jaw dropped open upon hearing this, "Really, ya are the head of the national police now?"

Sweetie asked, "I am. So how has life been treating you?"

"Not so well. Silver Spoon got arrested for allegedly murderin' her dad and for shoving the local cop and Princess Twilight. Ah honestly think this was all a set up although Ah'm sure ya knew about Silver Spoon's arrest and the charges against her."

Sweetie replied, "Well I was out in Omareha at the time when the news broke of the arrests for her shoving Twilight and Silver Shield." She then sighed, "I would think she would know not to shove law enforcement officers and even more so when it comes to shoving a princess." She then began to laugh, "And the murder charges being a set up? Yeah, uh-huh. I heard about Silver's mane being found at the crime scene and the brass knuckles. Sounds like she's guilty to me!"

Apple Bloom yelled, "Well of course ya would think that. Ya are probably hopin' that she gets locked up for life or that she gets put t' death."

Sweetie became more serious and stared her down, "For starters, there is no death penalty in Equestria but I'd love to know why you care so much about her? Don't you remember how she treated us growing up, don't you remember how she was pretty much Diamond Bitch's little side kick in constantly bullying us? Don't you remember her making fun of Scootaloo because of her wings never fully developing? Don't you remember what that bitch did to me, to a pony who was your friend?" She paused for a minute before adding, "Let me guess, you bought into that bullshit article that only appeared in the Ponyville Express about Diamond Tiara claiming she was a bad friend and threatened to sue her?"

Apple Bloom knew that Sweetie was bringing up everything she did to try and turn her against Silver Spoon. She replied, "Look, when she got out of prison, Silver Spoon had nopony who cared about her and prison changed her. She became a pony who cared about other ponies and was remorseful over everything she did t' harm so many others."

Sweetie laughed, "Uh-huh. Never once did I believe that you would be so easily deceived by somepony who treated us all like shit for so...."

Apple Bloom yelled, "Ya know what Sweetie Belle, ya loved her for a long time and ya caved in t' her on just about everything so ya have no room t' talk."

"Point taken but you feel so sorry for her over some bullshit article when you know who the real Silver Spoon is. She proved she hadn't changed when she betrayed me." Sweetie paused before adding, "Oh well, that was the best thing that ever happened to me now that I think about it. I have become the most powerful police officer in the country, I won millions of bits in that divorce from Dark Song so I suppose I shouldn't be upset over you supporting her so much." She paused again before finishing, "Hell, I'd say my life is perfect now. I'm plenty wealthy and I'm the most powerful police officer in Equestria."

Apple Bloom replied, "Ya know what, Ah can't handle talkin' with ya anymore." She pointed towards her pickup and yelled, "Just go, Ah want nothin' t' do with ya ever again."

Sweetie grunted, "Whatever."

Sweetie Belle then left Sweet Apple Acres and then decided to go and visit the one pony in Ponyville that wouldn't suspect her of anything or treat her like dirt. She decided that she would go visit Princess Twilight.

After leaving Sweet Apple Acres, she then headed towards Twilight's Palace to hopefully visit with her. She pulled up to the castle, got out and pounded on the massive doors. It would not be long until Twilight would answer.

Twilight did not recognize the mare standing before her, "Who are you and to what do I owe this visit?"

Sweetie flashed her badge and said, "You don't remember me? You should, I"m Sweetie Belle!"

Twilight remembered about how Rarity brought up how her younger sister had done things to make herself look more masculine, to make herself look tough. She commented, "Wow, Rarity wasn't joking when she said you had the build of a stallion." She paused before asking, "So how has your life been going?"

Sweetie replied, "It has been going very well. I've had a pretty busy past couple of days. I got a big promotion and I had a discussion with Celestia involving a plea bargain involving Silver Spoon but she rejected it"

Twilight laughed, "Let me guess, she is claiming she didn't commit the murders?"

Sweetie laughed in return, "Yep. Despite every single bit of evidence pointing towards her, she still claims she didn't commit the murders." She paused and became more serious, "Right now she is claiming either you did something to frame her or she thinks that I did something to make it look like she did it despite me being out of town."

Twilight sighed, "Figures, she never took responsibility for anything in her life so why would she this?"

Sweetie nodded and replied, "I do have a question, how are things going with your friends?"

Twilight held her head low and sighed, "More like former friends at this point. They all think I'm so horrible for never forgiving Silver Spoon, they're mad at me for not pardoning her of the assaults and they've only gotten worse since the indictments." She began to sob softly, "And Spike has moved over to Sweet Apple Acres over this. I just feel like I have nopony here for me."

Sweetie replied, "Well since I work directly under Princess Celestia now, she pretty much sets my schedule. She told me to come on down here and visit everypony I wanted to share the news with." She paused before adding, "I might see if she would let me spend a few days down here with you because I can tell you could use the company."

Twilight gave her a smile, "That would be wonderful. Anymore I feel like everypony here either hates me or barely tolerates me."

Sweetie shook her head, "Ungrateful jerks. If it weren't for you Equestria would have either been shrouded in eternal night, we'd be living in eternal chaos or Tirek would have enslaved us all. They should be thanking you instead of shunning you because of their love for a bitch who has done nothing but lie and cheat her whole life."

Twilight agreed, "My thoughts exactly. I don't know if you know about this or not but in the local paper there was some sob story involving Diamond Tiara telling everypony how Silver Spoon was a horrible friend, or something along those lines and almost everypony believed it, key word though, almost."

Sweetie replied, "I do know about it but it must have been a local thing. The paper up in Canterlot never published anything about it and I don't think any other paper did either." She then began to laugh, "It must have been a horribly slow news day for them to print something that insignificant, not to mention it being a crock of shit."

Twilight laughed, "I never even thought about that but chances are you're right." She paused for a moment before adding, "Hey what would you think about me fixing us a snack? I'm guessing you're pretty hungry."

Sweetie licked her chops, "That sounds great princess. A snack sounds so good."

While Twilight was fixing their snack, Sweetie received a phone call. When she saw that it was from Princess Celestia, she immediately picked it up,

"Princess Celestia, is everything ok?"

"It is but I do have some news that will affect you directly, news that you may not like."

"Oh, and what is this?"

"Well Gold Shield, the current head of the national police has decided to not retire after all so he will be remaining as the chief of the national police....well more like he will be co-chief of the national police."

"Co-chief? Does that mean that him and I both will be doing the job?"

"Yes but I am thinking that it might be best if your office is in a different city. That way you two can oversee separate parts of the country."

*sighs* "So where are you going to want me to move to?"

"Could I talk to Twilight? I have an idea but it will require her approval."

"Alright, she is in the kitchen. Let me go and get her."

Sweetie headed into the kitchen and yelled, "Twilight, Princess Celestia wants to speak with you."

Twilight stopped fixing their snack, took the phone and answered,

"Yes Princess Celestia?"

"Twilight, I don't know if you heard me or not but Gold Shield has decided to not retire from being the chief of national police after all."

"So does this mean Sweetie Belle won't be getting that promotion?"

"Actually she still will be but I will want her working in a different city. Given how things are going for you, I was thinking about seeing if she could live in your castle with you and have her work in Ponyville."

*becomes happy* "Of course she can live in my castle and work from here! It will be nice to have somepony who isn't mad at me around here."

"Could you put me on speakerphone so I can talk to all three of you?"

"Certainly."

*PUTS CELESTIA ON SPEAKERPHONE*

"Hi, Sweetie Belle?"

"Yes Princess Celestia."

"You know how I was thinking you could live and work in another city since Gold Shield decided to not retire?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well I was thinking you could live in Ponyville with Twilight and your office would be in her castle."

"Really? I'd get to live down here with Twilight?"

"Yes. I think that would be a great place for you and Twilight could really use somepony around her that doesn't hate her or isn't mad at her."

"I'm all for it. I'll just have to go up to Canterlot, pack up my essentials, sell the rest and then turn my house up there into a rental."

*snickers* "Always thinking ahead I see! Anyway, I think this would be the best."

"Thank you Princess Celestia! So will Sweetie still be working directly under you or what?"

"No Twilight, he will be working directly under you but she will need to come up here for a couple of weeks for training under Gold Shield. Oh and Sweetie Belle, I do want you to come back to work this upcoming Monday so that you can get your training done."

"Alright Princess Celestia, that I can do."

"And then you can have an extra week of vacation so you can get relocated, alright?"

"Alright, sounds good."

"Well Twilight, well Sweetie, I have a cake being brought into the throne room so I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, talk to you later."

*END OF CALL*

After the call ended Twilight gave Sweetie a smile, "Well it looks like I'll have somepony around here that isn't mad at me after all."

Sweetie replied, "To be honest, I'm kind of glad that I will get to come back down here. I do kind of miss Ponyville. Yeah I'm probably not much more popular than you are right now but hey, at least we'll have the company of one another."

Twilight said, "That is true." She paused before suggesting, "How about we have that snack I offered you and then you get back up to Canterlot. Yeah you still have a couple days before you start training but I figure this way you can start preparing for your move."

Sweetie replied, "That sounds good. If I have everything boxed up once I complete my training, I can just move down here and hopefully not have to make more than a couple trips back and forth at the most."

"Well anyway, it will be nice to have somepony around since Spike moved over to Sweet Apple Acres over my not pardoning Silver Spoon."

Sweetie sighed, "That is sad. I never thought he would just run off like that. I thought he'd be by your side for his whole life."

Twilight replied, "Well I suppose things like this will wind up showing you where certain creatures' loyalties lie and with Spike, it certainly wasn't with me."

Sweetie added, "Same goes with Apple Bloom, in the end she proved to be nothing more than a backstabbing tyrant."

After they had their snack, Sweetie headed back up to Canterlot. She was happy that she would be able to return to Ponyville and work directly under Twilight but she did have his concerns on how those that both of them used to be close to would react to this. She began to wonder if they might think that they were working together to sink Silver Spoon and anypony else that they might decide to target. She did know one thing, she knew that Twilight would probably fully approve of her next target, Diamond Tiara.

The Prosecution's Questions

Author's Note

Given that a good part of this chapter will be a court proceeding, much of it will be in back and forth dialogue format.

The Prosecution's Questions

One month had passed and Sweetie Belle had completed her training and was now living in and working from Twilight's castle. Things were far different from how they were in the past though. No longer did Twilight's friends come to visit, Spike never talked to either of them and Apple Bloom wanted absolutely nothing to do with either one of them. It still bothered Twilight some but when it came to Apple Bloom, Sweetie no longer cared that she wanted nothing to do with her. To her, she had sided with an enemy and to her, that was an unforgivable sin.

Monday morning arrived and the day had come for Silver Spoon to finally face the music for the deaths of her father and his security guards. Both Twilight and Sweetie Belle were early to rise that morning as they had to be up in Canterlot by nine since Twilight had aided in gathering evidence and Sweetie talked to Silver Spoon about the plea deal.

As they were leaving the castle Twilight commented, "You know, I hope this doesn't turn into a long trial. I'm hoping it will be short and sweet."

Sweetie added, "Something that won't hold us up for too long and hopefully the jury won't take forever to reach a verdict." She paused before laughing, "Well with the way the evidence points to her, I'd think they wouldn't need any more than five minutes to come back with a guilty verdict, sentence her to a super-max facility and then we can all forget that bitch ever existed."

Twilight replied, "That would be nice but given that juries get paid for their time, they may take a while. Even if they come to a decision in five minutes, they may just sit there and bullshit for a week before coming to a decision....well that and maybe laugh about Silver Spoon going to prison!"

Sweetie commented, "Maybe." The two headed to her pickup and said, "Well let's get going, we can't be late because if we are, we could be facing our own charges."

The two got in Sweetie's pickup and as they pulled away from the castle, she cranked her music up. The first couple times Twilight rode with her, the volume kind of hurt her ears but by this point she had grown to like not only the type of music she listened to but having the volume cranked up like that.

Once they pulled up to the courthouse, they noticed that multiple media outlets were present, including national cable news outlets. Twilight's jaw dropped open, "Wow, this must have become national news!"

Sweetie turned the music down and replied, "Well given who was murdered, it doesn't surprise me. It isn't like she went and killed three random ponies off the street."

The two headed into the courtroom and discovered the place was packed. Not only was everypony who would be questioned present but national news outlets had their cameras set up and it looked like half of Ponyville had shown up, including all of Twilight's former friends. They all gave Twilight and Sweetie deep scowls, scowls that they completely ignored. Their main focus was on Legal Eagle who had a look of confidence in his eyes and Silver Spoon, who was sitting there with a look of despair in her eyes.

The two sat among the other witnesses and waited for court to start. At nine the bailiff said, "All rise, court is now in session. Presiding in the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon is the Honorable Balanced Scales."

When Silver Spoon saw the judge, she was terrified as it was the same judge who had sentenced her to prison after shoving Sweetie Belle. Once he sat down he said, "You may be seated."

Everypony sat down and he began, "Today we begin the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon." He turned to Silver and asked, "I know you have claimed your innocence to the authorities Ms. Spoon but I am going to ask you one more time. How do you wish to plead to the charges against you?"

Silver Spoon was not thrilled over the question but she knew that with the stakes this high, that she could not raise her voice or do anything else to upset the older no-nonsense judge. She replied, "I would like to plead innocent."

"Very well." He paused before turning to Legal Eagle, "Mr. District Attorney, why is it that this defendant, Ms. Spoon, has been brought before the court?"

Legal Eagle began, "Your Honor, mares and stallions of the jury, this defendant, Silver Spoon has been brought before the court because evidence points to her murdering three ponies in Ponyville. One of these ponies was her father and the other two were night security guards, ponies who the victim, Mr. Silver Dime, paid to protect him from such attacks.

The evidence found not only at the crime scene but also in the defendant's home overwhelmingly provides proof that she murdered the victims. Not only was her mane found in the clenched fists of Mr. Dime but also blood from Mr. Dime along with the two security guards was found on the brass knuckles found under the defendant's bed, the brass knuckles that are believed to be the murder weapon.

From what the prosecution understands, Ms. Spoon was to receive 50 billion bits upon the passing of her father, Mr. Silver Dime. That is an astronomical amount of money and perhaps she wanted the money early. I am pretty sure that many ponies would kill if it meant they would receive that amount of money."

Balanced Scales replied, "Very well." He then turned to the defense attorney, "And why does the defense believe that the defendant has been wrongfully accused?"

Moonstone, the defense attorney replied, "The defense believes that Ms. Spoon is not guilty of this crime because she herself along with her wife have stated that both of them were asleep at the time of the murders. Another reason is that it is not believed that Ms. Spoon would have the physical strength to strangle anypony over the age of eight."

The Questioning of Locked Vault

"Very well." Balanced Scales then turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to question first?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution calls Locked Vault to the witness stand."

Locked Vault headed to the witness stand and was asked, "Do you Locked Vault swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Locked Vault replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle began, "Locked Vault, from what the prosecution understands, it was you along with Secure Lock who first discovered the murders. What happened to cause you to discover the bodies?"

Locked began his testimony, "My co-worker and I are Mr. Dime's day guards so we were heading in to work to relieve his night guards. When we arrived at the mansion, nopony answered after I had knocked so I used my magic to unlock the door and we headed in. The first thing we discovered was silence, which should not have been the case. We then began to search the house and the first thing we discovered that the TV was on in the den of what seemed to be an empty house.

We then began searching other rooms and when nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary or out of place, we searched Mr. Dime's bedroom and that was when we found him along with the two security guards laying there dead."

"So what was your initial reaction when you saw the bodies?"

"Well we were horrified when we saw them and the very first place we rushed to was the palace of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Why did you go to talk to Twilight right away rather than going to the police station to inform Officer Silver Shield."

"Well at the time we were both so distraught and shocked over this that Twilight was the first one we thought of."

"After going and talking to Twilight, what happened after that?"

"Princess Twilight along with the two of us headed to the police station to inform Chief Silver Shield and then the four of us headed to the crime scene where the silver mane was discovered."

"Locked Vault, when you saw the silver mane in Mr. Dime's fists, did you wonder if Ms. Spoon had killed the three victims?"

"To be honest, I didn't even think about that. My number one priority was notifying the authorities."

"Very well. Your honor, I am through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Moonstone and asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine this witness?"

"I do your Honor."

Moonstone approached the stand and asked, "Locked Vault, you say that you and your co-worker rushed over to Twilight Sparkle's palace upon discovering the bodies. While the defense knows that she is the first one you thought of, the defense believes that the princess does not particularly care for the defendant. Was the reason you rushed there first because you knew that Twilight may not particularly care for the defendant?"

"Like I said, Secure Lock and I rushed to Twilight's castle first because she was the first one we thought of. Regarding the princess's views on anypony, that did not cross my mind. When I saw my boss and two of my co-workers brutally murdered, things like that did not cross my mind. I simply wanted to report what happened."

"Very well, the defense is through questioning this witness."

The Questioning of Princess Twilight Sparkle

Balanced Scales asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to question next?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution would like to question Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight headed to the stand where he was asked, "Do you, Twilight Sparkle, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Twilight replied, "I do your Honor."

Legal Eagle began, "Princess Twilight, from what earlier testimony has indicated, you were the first one that Locked Vault and Secure Lock came to upon discovering the murders. What was your reaction when they came to you first?"

Twilight replied, "Well I will admit I was a bit irritated since handling things like this is not what a princess normally does but I then joined the two in heading to the police station to notify Silver Shield of the crime."

"Alright, you went to the police station and the prosecution is assuming the four of you then went to the crime scene."

"That is correct."

"Upon arriving at the crime scene, what were your thoughts upon seeing the bodies of the victims?"

"I was indeed shocked that such a crime would occur in Ponyville. I knew that the evidence at the scene had to be gathered so I assisted Chief Silver Shield in collecting it in a way that it could not be contaminated."

"After collecting that evidence, what did you do next?"

"Silver Shield and I then allowed the guards to go and we then headed to the defendant's house where we did a search for the murder weapon, which was found underneath the defendant's bed."

"When what is believed to be the murder weapon was found, what happened next?"

"We sealed the brass knuckles in a baggie as we did the silver mane and then took the defendant's children over to Sweet Apple Acres where a friend of the defendant lives before taking Ms. Spoon and Ms. Shadow Blast in for questioning."

"Regarding this questioning, what happened?"

"Well the defendant denied committing the crime before shoving Chief Silver Shield and then ultimately me as I was aiding Silver Shield in arresting her."

"What happened next?"

"After that, Silver Shield took Silver Spoon up to the city jail and took the evidence to the crime lab while I went home."

"Very well. Your Honor, I am finished questioning this witness."

He then turned to Moonstone and asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine."

With a smile on her face Moonstone replied, "We do."

She then approached the stand and asked, "Princess Twilight, from what the defense understands you do not particularly care for the defendant. Is that correct?"

Twilight replied, "That is correct."

"Why is it that you do not care for the defendant?"

"This dates back many years. As a filly, the defendant often times played very mean pranks on many ponies down in Ponyville. She and her friend were horribly cruel to three fillies down there, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She also played pranks on myself and my friends. She and her friend were particularly cruel to Fluttershy, a friend of mine who is rather shy and whose feelings are more easily hurt than others."

"Princess Twilight, that was many years ago. Why would you hold on to such a grudge for so many years over what some would consider simple pranks?"

"I held on to those because I never truly believed she had reformed, even after she and this friend of hers stopped with the childish behavior. Also, it was what she did while she was in college to one who I think of as a friend, how she betrayed her when my friend truly loved her."

"Princess, did this betrayal affect your life in any way, shape or form?"

"No it did not but I certainly did not like seeing a friend of mine have her feelings hurt and have her sweet, loving heart crushed."

"Alright, moving on to the murders and the arrest. What were your thoughts when you saw the murdered corpses of Silver Dime and his security guards?"

"Like I said earlier, I was indeed shocked that such a crime would happen in Ponyville and wanted to aid Silver Shield in catching whoever committed the murders."

"When you were shoved and Silver Spoon was arrested and then sentenced to five years in prison, how did that make you feel?"

Despite knowing that it would not look good for her Twilight was truthful, "I will admit, I was elated. I felt as though this was karma working to punish a not so nice pony for her past bad behavior."

"So you were happy to see the defendant locked up? You were happy to see a loving mother locked up? Would you ever kill anypony to frame somepony that you did not like so they would be locked up for even longer?"

"No I would not. I do not like the defendant at all but I certainly would not murder anypony for any reason. Taking lives for any reason other than in self-defense is wrong."

"Princess Twilight, what about this friend of yours who the defendant betrayed? Would she go as far as killing somepony to frame somepony that she does not like in an effort to completely destroy their life."

"No, this friend of mine would not do that. She is a pony who believes in law and order and would never commit a crime for any reason."

"Very well. Your Honor, we are through questioning this witness."

The Questioning of Shadow Blast

After Twilight left the stand, Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Who does the prosecution wish to call next?"

Legal Eagle replied, "The prosecution would like to call Shadow Blast to the stand."

Shadow Blast headed up to the stand where she was asked, "Do you, Shadow Blast, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Shadow replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle began, "Shadow Blast, from what the prosecution understands, you and the defendant are married and share the same bed. Is that correct?"

Shadow replied, "It is, we do."

"During nights, has Silver Spoon ever woke you up when she has to get up to use the restroom or would you say you are a heavy sleeper?"

Shadow Blast had put up with this before and wasn't thrilled about answering it but she knew she had to, "She has probably only woke me up once or twice during the night so I couldn't be sure how many nights she even gets up."

"So what you are saying is that she could have got up in the night, went over to Mr. Dime's mansion, killed him and the security guards and then returned home and you wouldn't know she did it?"

Shadow sighed, "Look, if she were gone for that long I would ultimately wake up and even if I wouldn't, I know my wife would never do anything like that. She is a kind, sweet and loving mare who loves her family and would never harm anypony for any reason."

"You say this but from what the prosecution understands, she was set to receive 50 billion bits upon the death of her father. Now that is a massive sum of money that many ponies may act differently if they were set to receive it. Would your wife jump on the opportunity to collect that early?"

*angry* "No she would not. Her father has been very good to her and has provided her with everything she could possibly need. She would have no reason to kill him. She knows that if she was to do that, it would ruin not only her life but all of our lives and that is the last thing she would ever do."

"During your questioning, she shoved not only Chief Silver Shield but also Princess Twilight Sparkle during questioning. If she has nothing to hide, why would she shove two ponies in a position of power?"

"Well she felt as though she was being tricked into admitting guilt to crimes that she did not commit."

"Very well. Your Honor, the prosecution is finished questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Moonstone and asked, "Do you wish to cross-examine this witness?"

Moonstone replied, "We do." Moonstone then turned to Shadow Blast and asked, "Shadow Blast, from what the defense understands, the murders happened on the same night that a large party was held for your wife, is that correct?"

Shadow replied, "It was. That evening a huge celebration was held for Silver Spoon and her successful business."

"I am assuming that it went fairly late into the night and that after the party was over, you and your wife were likely very tired."

"We were, both of us were very tired. I remember that night Silver Spoon was so tired that she fell asleep very quickly."

"Was she so tired that she would sleep through the rest of the night and would not wake until the following morning?"

"That was the case. She slept through the entire night and we do hold one another in a tight embrace at night. When we woke the following morning, we were both laying in the same position. Had she got up in the night for any reason, getting laid back down, especially returning to the same position without waking me would be impossible."

"So basically there is no way that she could have got up in the night?"

"That is correct."

Moonstone turned to Balanced Scales and said, "The defense is finished questioning this witness."

The Questioning of Silver Spoon

Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Is there anypony else the prosecution wishes to call to the stand?"

Legal Eagle made direct eye contact with Silver Spoon and replied, "Yes, the prosecution would like to call Silver Spoon to the stand."

Silver Spoon nervously approached the stand. When she arrived she was asked, "Do you, Silver Spoon, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Silver replied, "I do."

Legal Eagle decided that he was going to try and break her. He decided that he was going to get very aggressive and intimidating to maybe try and get a confession out of her. He began, "Ms. Spoon, from what the prosecution understands there was a time when you and your father were not on good terms. Is that correct?"

Silver Spoon was horribly nervous but knew that as long as she remained honest, that everything would be ok. "That is correct. At one time him and I were not all that close."

"When was it that things began to sour between your dad and yourself?"

"It was when I lost my scholarship after the end of my first semester in college. We still communicated but during my time cleaning rooms after dropping out of college he seemed to be rather cold to me." She then began to cry, "It-it was when I got arrested that, that he basically cut ties with me. And-and when I got out of prison, he said I-I wasn't his daughter anymore and disowned me."

"That had to have upset you quite a bit. Your own father disowning you, that probably angered you quite a bit didn't it?"

"I-I was more devastated than I was angry. All I wanted was for him to welcome me back into his life, I never wished ill will upon him."

"Now from what I understand, when he passed you were set to receive 50 billion bits. Now that is a lot of money and I can't help but wonder" *pauses* "would you kill somepony for fifty billion bits?"

*screams loudly* "NO, I WOULD NEVER KILL ANYPONY!"

Balanced Scales banged his gavel and said, "Silver Spoon, such behavior is not allowed in my courtroom. Calm down or I will hold you in contempt of court, which is a crime in itself. Do you understand?"

*quietly* "Yes your Honor."

This gave Legal Eagle more ammo to work with, "Silver Spoon, you seemed rather defensive with your response. If you truly are innocent, you would have responded with much more composure and not yelled like that."

Silver Spoon was angry by this point but knew that any further outbursts would not bode well for her and that even if she were acquitted, she would still have more time added on because of the contempt. She let out a slight growl, "Well you would be like that if you were in my position."

"This is about you, not me. Anyway, if you had the opportunity to get fifty billion bits in nothing flat, would you jump on it?"

*nervously replied* "Well I would think it would be nice to have that much money but I would never kill anypony over it, especially since my dad had it in his will that I would receive that much."

*raises voice* "Silver Spoon, from what the prosecution understands at one time you were not a very nice pony. We understand that there was a time when you did nothing but take advantage of those around you, including your marefriend in college." His voice became more intense, "As many ponies know, wealthy children are often spoiled rotten and will stop at nothing to get what they...."

Silver Spoon screamed and despite having her hands cuffed behind her back, lunged forward, causing her head to make contact with Legal Eagle. The entire courtroom gasped in shock and the judge was not one bit happy. He banged his gavel and stated, "Silver Spoon, I am adding three years onto your current five year sentence so whether you are acquitted or not, you will still have 8 years in prison." He calmed down and added, "Legal Eagle, you may continue."

Legal Eagle had a smirk on his face as he stated, "The prosecution rests your Honor."

Balanced Scales asked, "Does the defense wish to cross-examine the witness?"

Moonstone replied, "We do."

Moonstone approached the stand with a concerned look on her face and asked, "Silver Spoon, this has to have been a very hard time in your life. It is clear that these accusations are bringing you a great amount of heartache. Is that why your responses have been defensive in nature?"

Silver replied, "Yes, it is. Everypony seems to think that I am a cold blooded killer when I am anything but. Yes I was an unpleasant mare in the past but I have changed, I am no longer mean spirited like that."

Moonstone then began to examine Silver's rather dainty arms. She pointed to them and said, "Silver Spoon, it is clear that your arms are not exactly muscular. Do you think that you would even have the strength to hit with so much force to bloody and kill ponies like what happened to the victims, even with brass knuckles? Also, do you think you have the strength to strangle anypony?"

Silver began to cry, "No, I don't. Ponies don't even take that into account. I don't have the physical strength to kill like they think I did."

"I understand that you have plenty of ponies out there who do not like you. Do you think that any of them might have the ability and know how to make it look like you did it."

"I do know one who would likely have the know how but she was not in town at the time the murders took place."

"I know your wife was asked about this but on the night the murders took place, there was a huge celebration held for you that evening, correct?"

"Yes, there was a celebration held for me that ran pretty late. When my family and I got home, we were exhausted. When we went to bed, I was out like a light."

"And I am assuming you got a full night's rest, that you were not woken up nor did you wake up for anything?"

"No I did not. The next thing I remember was being woken up by the sun."

Moonstone gave her a kind smile before saying, "The defense is through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales said, "Very well. Since the prosecution has rested, the court shall go into recess for two hours and then the defense can call witnesses to the stand."

The judge banged his gavel and the courtroom began to empty as everypony was headed to the nearby restaurant district to grab a bite to eat. Silver Spoon however was led to a holding cell where she would be allowed to have a meal of her own.

As they were exiting the courthouse Twilight and Sweetie Belle had smiles on their faces. Sweetie laughed, "Can you believe what she did Twilight? Can you believe that she would lunge at Legal Eagle like that?"

Twilight replied, "I can't. I honestly didn't expect her to be so dumb. Well now she has eight years that she must serve regardless but with the way things are going, I have a strong feeling Legal Eagle will get what he wants, what we want! I have a feeling Ponyville will finally be rid of her once and for all." She paused before adding, "And when that happens, we can have Scootaloo come up and we can hold an epic celebration!"

Sweetie replied, "Oh yeah, I'm sure she will be as happy as we will be!"

Defense Mode

Author's Note

A lot of this chapter will be done in back and forth dialogue since much of it is questioning in court.

Defense Mode

Almost two hours had passed and the courtroom was once again full. Silver Spoon sat there, feeling like things were only going to get worse as the day progressed. She felt like everypony, even the judge was out to get her and she knew that if one specific pony was to get called to the stand, that she would be able to lie easily and manipulate the jury into believing her.

A couple minutes later the bailiff announced, "All rise, court shall resume. Overseeing the proceedings is the Honorable Balanced Scales."

Balanced Scales took his seat and said, "You may be seated."

The Questioning of Chief Silver Shield

He then turned to Moonstone and asked, "Who does the defense wish to call to the stand?"

Moonstone replied, "The defense would like to question Chief Silver Shield."

Silver Shield headed up to the stand where he was asked, "Do you, Silver Shield, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Silver Shield replied, "I do your Honor."

Moonstone began, "Silver Shield, according to prior testimony you were met at the police station by two of Silver Dime's security guards and Princess Twilight Sparkle, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"From prior testimony, it has been stated that you accompanied Twilight and the guards to the crime scene. When you saw the bodies, what was your reaction?"

"Well I was shocked that such a crime would happen in Ponyville."

"After discovering the bodies, what did you do next?"

"Well I headed to the station to get the proper materials to store the evidence in while Twilight Sparkle and the guards remained at the scene."

"Do you think that Princess Twilight may have done something such as use her magic to create the mane that was discovered in Mr. Dime's fists?"

"No, I do not. The mane was already there when Twilight and I both arrived at the crime scene."

"What about Locked Vault? He is a unicorn and he could have created the mane using his magic to try and frame Silver Spoon."

"I honestly don't think Locked Vault would do such a thing and I doubt his magic is strong enough to do so to start with."

"Alright, after gathering evidence from the crime scene, what happened next?"

"The guards headed off on their own while Twilight and I headed to the home of the defendant to do a search."

"And what did this search turn up?"

"The search turned up the bloodied brass knuckles that are believed to be the murder weapon."

"From what the defense understands, after taking the defendant's children to a family friend, you and Twilight took Silver Spoon and Shadow Blast in for questioning, correct?"

"Yes that is correct."

"From what the defendant had said in earlier testimony, you were attempting to get the defendant to confess to crimes that she did not commit, correct?"

"No. The questioning that I did was standard protocol that all officers do in situations like this. Neither myself nor Twilight tried to do anything to get the defendant to incriminate herself."

"I do have a question, were you happy to arrest Silver Spoon? Were you as happy as Princess Twilight was?"

"I'm going to admit, I don't enjoy arresting other ponies. I had to arrest her because she assaulted a police officer along with a princess and these assaults were caught on the station's security cameras."

"After that, you then transported the defendant to the jail up in Canterlot, correct?"

"Yes, I transported her to the jail after that."

"Very well. Your Honor, I am through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Does the prosecution wish to cross examine?"

"We do your honor."

Legal Eagle then approached the stand and became a bit nervous. Cross-examining had never been his strong point but knew it had to be done. "Officer, during the search of the crime scene and the defendant's home, did you ever once think that perhaps the evidence was planted or created using magic?"

Silver Shield replied, "Such things do not cross my mind. I treated this like I would any other crime scene investigation and home search. I went in, I collected the evidence and then I transported it to the crime lab. Long story short, I followed protocol."

"From what I understand the defendant and her wife were asking you to not file the report regarding the defendant assaulting a police officer. What was your reaction to that?"

"I handled it calmly. I told them that since it was captured on camera, that I had to report it and that it would be up to Princess Twilight to grant the defendant a pardon."

"One thing some may wonder is how well do you get along with the defendant. Was this arrest in any way related to your personal opinion of her?"

"To be honest, I had never even met the defendant prior to this. I had heard about her past but when it comes to my opinion of her, I was indifferent. It is kind of hard to make an opinion of somepony you have never met."

"Very well. Your Honor, I am finished questioning this witness."

The Questioning of Apple Bloom

The judge turned to Moonstone and asked, "Who does the defense wish to call to the stand next?"

Moonstone replied, "The defense would like to call Apple Bloom to the stand."

Apple Bloom headed to the stand a bit nervous. She knew that this would be her chance to get the jury to see that there was no way her friend could have killed her father yet knew that even one little slip up would be used as ammo by Legal Eagle.

Upon arriving Apple Bloom was asked, "Do you, Apple Bloom, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

Apple Bloom replied, "Ah do your Honor."

Moonstone asked, "Apple Bloom, from what the defense understands you are a very good friend of the defendant. Would you say you know her very well?"

Apple Bloom replied, "Ah would say Ah know her very well. Ah'm probably her best friend."

"How long have you and the defendant been close friends?"

"Ah would probably say six t' seven years."

"What was it that caused you two to be friends anyway?"

"Well in the past Ah didn't particularly care for Silver Spoon but when she apologized to mah family, that is when we became friends."

"I am assuming that over time you have grown to know the defendant very well. Do you think that she has the physical strength to commit the murders that she is accused of?"

"No, Ah have known Silver Spoon long enough t' know that there is no way she would be physically strong enough t' beat three ponies to death and Ah know she could never strangle anypony t' death."

"You probably know a lot about Silver Spoon's personality. Would you say that she would ever consider murdering anypony for any reason?"

"No, Silver Spoon is a kind and carin' mare. She loves her family and she would never harm anypony for any reason."

"From what I understand another friend of yours, a police officer, has a bad history with Silver Spoon. Do you think that friend would try and frame Silver Spoon? Do you think that maybe this other friend felt that the defendant was undeserving of a happy life and decided to frame her for her father's death."

"Ah honestly do. Ah know how mah other friend became once she got into police work. Ah know that she recently became the head of the national police and Ah'm sure she is smart enough to frame somepony like this."

"Apple Bloom, regarding this friend that is a police officer, how well do you get along with her?"

"Well we used t' be great friends but once Ah forgave Silver Spoon, our friendship went downhill cuz she views Silver Spoon as an enemy."

"What happened to cause her to view her as an enemy?"

"In college Silver Spoon cheated on mah other friend and that broke apart their relationship, and caused her t' become consumed with hate."

"Very well. Your Honor, I am through questioning this witness."

Balanced Scales turned to Legal Eagle an asked, "Does the prosecution wish to cross-examine?"

"We do your Honor."

Legal Eagle turned to Apple Bloom and asked, "You said that you and the defendant have probably been friends for six to seven years. Was there ever a time when you and the defendant didn't get along?"

Apple Bloom froze upon hearing the question. She knew that telling the truth would portray Silver Spoon in a very negative light yet she also knew that lying in court was a crime so she had to be honest, "Well no. When we were fillies, she and her friend always bullied mah friends and Ah for not havin' our cutie marks."

"What would she and this friend say to you?"

"Well her and Diamond Tiara always called us blank flanks, they would always laugh at us and one time she turned mah cousin against us."

"During those times, did you ever wish she would just go away? Did you ever think that Ponyville would be better off without her?"

Again Apple Bloom was getting nervous. She could tell that the district attorney was going to do whatever it took to get her to soil Silver Spoon's name yet she also knew she had to be honest, "Well yeah, for quite a long time Ah wish somethin' would just cause her t' leave."

"What about later on in life? Were there any times later in life when you thought it would be best if nopony had to put up with her?"

"Well when she broke Sweetie Belle's heart. Sweetie was nothing but good to her yet she used and manipulated her. At that time, Ah could honestly say Ah hated her."

Sweetie Belle had a smirk on her face as she saw Apple Bloom speaking the truth and revealing things that may not only make Silver look bad in the eyes of the jury but maybe even put their friendship in jeopardy.

Legal Eagle continued, "How did you feel when Silver Spoon went to jail for a year for shoving your friend? Were you happy about it?"

"Well Ah'll admit, Ah was happy about it. Ah was happy that justice was....."

"APPLE BLOOM, HOW COULD YOU? I THOUGHT WE......"

"Order in the court!" Balanced Scales banged his gavel and said, "Silver Spoon, because of your behavior, I am adding an additional two years onto any sentence you get. Your next outburst will get you five years, understood?"

Silver Spoon meekly replied, "Yes your honor."

Twilight could see Sweetie Belle smirking and gave her a slight nudge, smiling in return. Sweetie Belle felt like everything was falling into place. She felt that it would not take much more for a conviction to be guaranteed.

The judged turned to Legal Eagle and said, "You may continue."

Legal Eagle had a smile on his face as he said, "The prosecution is finished questioning this witness."

The Questioning of Sweetie Belle

The judge turned to to Moonstone and asked, "Who does the defense wish to question next?"

Moonstone looked right at Sweetie Belle and said, "The defense would like to call Sweetie Belle to the stand."

Sweetie Belle headed to the stand with a look of confidence in her eyes. She knew that this could very well be her chance to not only disprove Silver's wild accusations about her being the killer but to bury Silver Spoon entirely and she was confident that she could do it.

Upon arrival Sweetie was asked, "Do you, Sweetie Belle, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury?"

"I do your Honor."

Moonstone questioned, "Sweetie Belle, from what the defense understands you have a long and very bad history with the defendant, is that correct?"

Sweetie replied, "That is correct. The defendant and I have not been on good terms for well over a decade."

"Are you on bad enough terms that you would want to try and frame her for a murder that she did not commit?"

"No, I would not. I am in the same mindset as Princess Twilight, lives should not be taken unless it is in self-defense."

"Sweetie Belle, while you say you would not take a life I am curious. If you desired to do so, would you be able to pull something like this off?"

Sweetie Belle knew that she had to be honest here and believed that by being honest, she could easily convince others that she had nothing to hide. "Regarding me having the know how to do something like this, I do. However, just because I am on bad terms with the defendant does not mean I would kill a pony, especially one who has never wronged me in any way, shape or form."

"Sweetie Belle, where were you on the night that the murders were committed?"

"I was headed to Omareha roughly three nights prior to the murders taking place and didn't return to this region until over two weeks after the murders. Long story short, I was in Omareha well over a thousand miles away."

"Sweetie Belle, you are a unicorn. Do you know how to teleport?"

"I do but for me to be present here, I would have had to teleport over one thousand miles and outside of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who are natural born Alicorns, I doubt anypony could teleport that far."

"Is there any way to prove you were in Omareha on the night of the murder?"

"Certainly. Contact the Ramareda there and their records will indicate I was there. Also, feel free to contact ET&T Mobile and check my cell records and it will show that my phone's signal was bouncing off of cell towers there, not here."

Moonstone had a flustered look on her face and this was exactly what Sweetie Belle was hoping for. She was hoping that she could fluster her. She continued to stand there flustered before stating, "Your Honor, the defense rests."

Balanced Scales then turned to Legal Eagle and asked, "Does the prosecution wish to cross-examine this witness?"

Legal Eagle replied, "No, we're good."

Balanced Scales said, "Very well then. All evidence and testimony will now be turned over to the jury. Court will resume when they have reached a verdict. Court is in recess."

As the courtroom began to empty Twilight gave Sweetie a smile, "Wow, you put that defense attorney in her place. I'm betting she wasn't expecting you to suggest they check your records!"

Sweetie replied, "Well I have nothing to hide so why would I be nervous about them checking my records?"

As Silver Spoon was being led back to jail, those closest to her had a very sick feeling in their stomachs. Shadow Blast was less than thrilled with Apple Bloom, "Apple Bloom, why did you say what you did? You made my wife look bad in front of a jury."

"Shadow Blast, Ah had t' be honest. Ah can't go lyin' in court cuz that would be perjury and Ah'd wind up in jail too."

The rest of their friends were quiet. They weren't sure what to expect but knew that even if Silver Spoon was acquitted that she would still have an entire decade in prison. The most they could do at that point was hope that Twilight would either have a change of heart or Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would intervene.

The Deliberations

It was already late afternoon when the evidence was turned over to the jury. When the jury headed to the deliberation room, they decided to do some quick discussions before calling it a day. One of the jurors, Morning Glory asked, "Well the first thing we need to do is appoint a foreman who will keep in touch with the bailiff and judge." She paused before asking, "So who here has experience being on a jury?"

Nopony responded so she continued, "Well I have served on multiple juries back in Fillydelphia so who all thinks I would do a good job?"

Everypony raised their hands and appointed Morning Glory as foreman. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was five. She said, "Well everypony, it is time to call it a day. Let's come back tomorrow morning at eight and remember, we can not watch any news, we can not read any newspapers nor can we discuss the case outside of this room." She raised her voice and added, "To be honest, I think it would be best if we avoided TV and the radio altogether."

The other jurors nodded in agreement and the jurors headed to the hotel where they were staying. Morning Glory was unsure as to what the other jurors were thinking but she was hoping for one thing, that they could come to quick decisions and she could get back home to her family.

The following morning arrived and at eight, the jurors convened in the deliberation room. The first to speak was Morning Glory, "Alright everypony, I think we should get a good idea on where we stand on this. Based off of the testimony and what we know about this alone, who here thinks that the defendant is guilty of the crimes she is being charged with?"

Eleven of the twelve jurors raised their hands and when the foreman asked about who thought Silver Spoon was not guilty, one raised her hand.

Morning Glory began, "Very well, lets get started on this. Alright, the mane that was found at the crime scene, the crime lab determined that it did belong to the defendant. Is there anypony here who thinks that it could have got there by a source other than the defendant being there and committing the murder of Mr. Silver Dime?"

The one juror who believed she was innocent replied, "Have any of you taken a look at the defendant? She is rather dainty and there is no way that she could have tried to strangle the victim in a way that there would be any kind of struggle."

Another juror countered, "While the defendant is rather dainty, she may have beat the victim enough with the brass knuckles that he would not fully be able to defend himself but could still grab her mane in a struggle to get her off of him."

A third added, "Now magic being used to create the evidence was brought up. Do any of you think that such a thing could have happened?"

A fourth laughed, "You're kidding, right? I highly doubt that anypony has that kind of ability in Ponyville, even Princess Twilight and even if she did, I am quite sure she would not do such a thing."

Morning Glory said, "Moving on. Now about the brass knuckles being found under the defendant's bed. With those being there, that points to the defendant having committed the crime. Do any of you think that they could have wound up by other means, such as them being planted?"

Only one pony thought it was legitimate. She replied, "They very well could have been planted. Somepony could have bought those brass knuckles elsewhere, came into town, killed Silver Dime and his guards and then planted those things under their bed."

A second asked, "And how would this happen? I highly doubt those bloodied brass knuckles were there prior to the party that was being held for the defendant. After all, it is believed that it was after the party that Mr. Dime and his guards were murdered. Trying to get into the defendant's bedroom and planting those would be impossible without waking the defendant or her wife."

Morning Glory moved on, "Alright, from what I understand the defendant and her wife sleep in a loving embrace every night and woke up in the same embrace they went to sleep in. Does anypony here think that they could still be in the same embrace even if Silver Spoon went and committed the murders?"

The one dissenter replied, "I honestly don't think so. It would be impossible for her to get out of that cuddle, go commit the murders and then return to bed and wrap Shadow Blast around herself perfectly without waking her up."

One juror quickly countered, "Has it ever occurred to you that the wife is lying? None of us were there so nopony knows whether she was speaking the truth or not and I highly doubt the wife would say anything to incriminate her wife."

The room went silent before Morning Glory continued, "Now about the questioning where the defendant shoved not only the police chief in Ponyville but also Princess Twilight Sparkle. Was this just a matter of her being overly stressed or did she shove them because she truly had something to hide?"

One juror said, "Well given her behavior not only during the questioning in Ponyville but also in the courtroom yesterday, I believe she has things to hide. A pony who has nothing to hide would have been composed during the initial questioning and would have been calm and collected in the courtroom. If you ask me, I think she's guilty."

The dissenter countered, "But she was being put under a lot of stress. How many of you could simply stay calm and collected when you are being questioned and then accused of killing a family member?"

A third commented, "You do make a point but still, a pony with nothing to hide wouldn't behave in such a manner."

Morning Glory moved on, "Alright, now about the financial side of things. The defendant was set to receive fifty billion bits upon the death of her father. He winds up dead and evidence is found that points her to crime. Now many ponies would think that she was wanting to collect that money early and to me, that makes perfect sense."

One juror agreed, "That is a huge amount of money and I could see many ponies willing to kill to collect that kind of money. With that much, she'd be set for life and then some."

The one dissenter countered, "But she was already being helped out by her father plenty. He even helped her open her business and was very good to not just her, but her wife and their children. She would have nothing to gain by killing him and everything to lose by doing so."

Another said, "Yet her mane was found at the crime scene and the DNA of the victims was found on the murder weapon under her bed. Explain that away."

The dissenter froze and she began to think about things more than just hoping that Silver Spoon would be innocent. After a minute of silence being stared at by the other eleven she sighed, "Well maybe she did do it but I still can't help but wonder about that Sweetie Belle pony along with Twilight Sparkle. It is well known that both of them hate the defendant and would likely have no issues doing something to frame the defendant."

Morning Glory brought up things from the questionings, "Regarding Sweetie Belle, she stated that she was in Omareha at the time and given the fact that she freely offered to have both the hotel records checked and her cell records checked, I don't think she tried to frame Silver Spoon. A pony with something to hide would never actually suggest that her records be checked."

Another added, "And Princess Twilight and Sweetie Belle both stated that lives should only be taken if it happens in self-defense. I do not know Sweetie Belle at all but Princess Twilight does not remind me of the type who would go and frame somepony."

A third added, "And Sweetie Belle has just been promoted to being the chief of national police. Why would a pony such as her do something that would cause her to lose everything?"

The dissenter held her head low, "I just really wish that she was innocent but I'm beginning to realize that everything points to Silver Spoon being guilty."

Morning Glory continued, "Now on to the coroner's report. The report shows that even after the deaths, that the bodies continued to be beat and bloodied. Normally something like that is done to make sure that the victims truly are dead although some may simply delight in beating a dead body like that."

One said, "Given what we know about the defendant, I have a strong feeling that she did this to ensure that they were dead and given her past as a bully, she may well have got pleasure out of abusing the corpses."

Another added, "I do believe she committed the murders and I do believe that she got a great amount of joy in mutilating those corpses."

The one who was dissenting quickly agreed, "Agreed, anypony who would go murdering three ponies like this could very well take delight in mutilating the corpses."

Morning Glory replied, "I am in the same mindset." She paused before adding, "Now that it seems we are more on the same page, I want to know if we are ready to come to verdicts."

Every single juror nodded and she asked, "On count one of murder in the first degree, who all finds the defendant guilty?"

All twelve raised their hands. Morning Glory asked, "And on count two on murder in the first degree, who finds the defendant guilty?"

All twelve raised their hands again. She then asked, "And on count one of murder in the second degree, who finds the defendant guilty?

All twelve raised their hands. Morning Glory breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that they still had the mutilating a corpse charges to discuss. She continued, "Now on to the mutilating a corps charges. On count one of mutilating a corpse, who finds the defendant guilty?"

Everypony raised their hands causing Morning Glory to ask about the other two and with them, everypony also raised their hands when asked if they found the defendant guilty. This brought a great amount of relief to Morning Glory as it looked like she might be able to get home to her family rather soon after all.

One juror asked, "So do we determine her sentence or is that up to the judge?"

Morning Glory replied, "In many parts of the country it is up to the jury but here in Canterlot, the judge is the one to do so." She paused before finishing, "So who here wants me to contact the judge and let him know we have come to a decision?"

All twelve raised their hands so she replied, "Very well, let me contact him."

Morning Glory took the phone and dialed the judge's direct number. When he answered he asked,

"Judge Balanced Scales Speaking, who is this?"

"Your Honor, this is Morning Glory and I just thought I would let you know that we have come to a decision."

"Wow, that was quick."

"Well the evidence is pretty clear so when will you reconvene court?"

"Let me get a hold of everypony who needs to be present and we should be able to take care of this at nine tomorrow morning."

"Alright your Honor, you have a great day."

"You as well."

*END OF CALL*

Once she got off the phone she informed her fellow jurors, "Tomorrow morning at nine. For now though, lets go and get something to eat, I'm hungry."

She and the other jurors left the courthouse and headed to the restaurant district. Morning Glory felt a sense of relief that this did wind up not taking so long to come to a verdict on and that soon she would be back home with her family.

Author's Note

Morning Glory's Dialogue

Balanced Scale's Dialogue

Sweet Revenge

After two days of traveling the skyline of Whinnyapolis was visible. This brought out a great sense of relief to both Twilight and Sweetie Belle as soon Silver Spoon would be locked up, never to see the light of day again. Once they got into the city Sweetie commented, "Oh Silver Spoon, don't you just love this place? Don't you just love the city that led you down the path to wind up in this situation?"

Silver Spoon knew exactly what Sweetie was talking about. It was Whinnyapolis where she had traveled to to spend spring break with Diamond Tiara when she had initially planned on taking Sweetie to Las Pegasus. She began to angrily cry, "Oh I know you're just loving this! You're probably thinking that it is poetic justice that this is where I'm getting locked up."

Sweetie laughed, "Actually, I am. You cheated on me here and now you're going to get locked up for life here. Karma bitch, karma!"

Twilight added, "I used to think the whole karma thing was a bunch of nonsense but this changes my mind entirely. This truly is karma at work."

Silver let out a loud screech before going quiet. After thirty minutes they passed the very hotel where Silver and Diamond spent their week together, the week that would forever change Silver's life. They hit a stoplight right in front of it and Sweetie heard her crying and mocked, "Oooh, look at me. I'm gonna go cheat on Sweetie Belle with Diamond Bitch and ultimately wind up in a super-max!"

Twilight asked, "So Silver Spoon, is that the hotel where you flushed your life down the toilet?"

Silver began to cry louder and breathe heavily causing both Sweetie and Twilight to know it was. The two however decided to not respond to it and talk among one another.

Twilight began, "So Sweetie, what do we say when we get to the gate? I don't know if they'll just let us in."

Sweetie replied, "Chances are either Princess Celestia has notified them of my coming or Legal Eagle did. All I'll have to do is flash my badge, tell them who I am transporting and they'll let us in."

Twilight said, "Good because I am hoping we can get this one locked up and then be able to forget she ever existed." She paused for a moment before adding, "And hopefully my friends will finally realize I was right all along about her."

Silver heard this and screamed, "I did not kill them. Hell I honestly believe that little miss Sweetie Belle killed them and found a way to frame me."

Sweetie laughed, "Oh aren't you and your crazy conspiracy theories so adorable?"

They then reached the gate Sweetie rolled down the window and was approached by a guard. He asked, "Hello, who are you?"

Sweetie flashed her badge and replied, "I'm Sweetie Belle, head of the Equestrian national police and I am transporting an inmate that goes by the name of Silver Spoon."

He said, "We have been expecting you."

He opened the gate and Sweetie pulled the car on through. By the entrance of the building were several guards waiting for the prisoner's arrival. Once Sweetie pulled up the guards approached the car but not before Twilight was able to stand in front of the back door. She said, "Let us handle getting this one out, the Chief has a vested interest in handling this one."

The guards stepped back and Sweetie was able to unbelt and throw Silver Spoon out of the car by her mane. After Silver Spoon hit the concrete Sweetie ordered, "Hands behind your back, NOW!"

Silver was not happy with the way she was ordered but knew that with that many guards around, that not following orders would only make things worse so she complied rather quickly. Once she was cuffed, Sweetie and Twilight grabbed Silver by the arms and said, "Lead us to her cell so we can get her locked up."

Normally it would be up to the prison guards to lead a prisoner to a cell like that but with it being Princess Twilight and the chief of national police handling her, they figured it would be best to just let them do this. As they were heading towards the prison building Silver Spoon looked around realizing that this would likely be the last time she would see the outside world. She knew that none of the princesses would pardon her and that even if evidence was to show up that would clear her, that Legal Eagle would simply discard it.

Once she got into the prison one of the guards said, "Before we take her downstairs, we need to take her to the changing station so she can get into her prison uniform. Prisoners aren't allowed to stay in their own clothes."

Silver Spoon was briefly uncuffed as she was led into a closed off room where she would change. Joining her was Sweetie Belle to make sure that she did not try to harm herself and to make sure she didn't have anything on her. As Silver was changing, Sweetie was checking her out from head to toe. She laughed, "My my, those girls of yours are even bigger. Must have been from you feeding MY DAUGHTER and those other brats, right?"

Silver screamed, "Stop staring at me! I'm a married mare damn it!"

Sweetie simply laughed before Silver was fully dressed and was cuffed again. She was led out to where Twilight and multiple guards were waiting. Sweetie suggested, "Shall we? Shall we get this one taken care of?"

The head guard replied, "Yes. I'm sure you two are looking forward to getting back home."

Soon they reached a door that led down a dimly lit stairwell. Soon they reached each individual row of cells but as they continued to go down, there were fewer and fewer cells in each row. Ultimately they got to the bottom row where there were only five cells. They then headed towards another door that led to another stair well. After going down a dozen stairs, they reached a wall that had a single door on it, one that led into a dimly lit room. Silver Spoon was uncuffed and led into there.

She then sat down on the cot and looked at everypony with a look of despair. She knew that soon the only ponies she would interact with would be the guards who would take her meals to her. The one that she looked at with the most despair though was Sweetie Belle, a look that did not go unnoticed.

Sweetie removed her sunglasses, revealing those emerald eyes that at one time Silver Spoon loved so much. Sweetie had a huge smile on her face as she began, "You know Silver Spoon, I bet you never once imagined that when you cheated on me with Diamond Tiara right here in Whinnyapolis that you would wind up down here, locked away from the rest of the world and cut off from everything you love. You can claim to have loved your family so much but killing your father only proved....."

Silver screamed, "I did not kill my dad. Hell I bet YOU killed my dad and framed me for it!"

Sweetie laughed, "Uh-huh. Anyway, to kill somepony just for all that money, that shows that you are driven by one thing and one thing only, GREED." She turned back towards the other guards and Twilight and requested, "Could I have a moment alone with this one. There is something I really want to tell her alone."

Everypony else gave Sweetie her space and she continued, "You know Silver Spoon, one part of me was really hoping you'd have to share a cell and become some bad mare's little bitch but being locked up way down here all by your lonesome, it will be worse on you." She developed a smirk on her face as she continued, "Soon you will break psychologically and fall into such a horrible state of despair you will have no desire to live. Maybe you'll quit eating, quit drinking water or maybe you'll try to bash your brains out on the wall."

Silver began to cry in agony as Sweetie's ruthless comments were tearing her heart to shreds. She knew that Sweetie had turned into a ruthless monster but never did she imagine that Sweetie would be this bad. After about a minute of Silver's crying, Sweetie continued, "You know something Silver, this is karma biting you in the ass for what you did to me and this is the ultimate revenge for me, getting you locked up in the bottom most bowels of a super-max prison." She then gave her one final smile and laughed, "You know what this is for me, SWEET REVENGE!"

Sweetie then motioned for the guards and Twilight to return. Twilight then decided to address Silver Spoon, "You know Silver Spoon, this doesn't really surprise me. With the way you were as a filly, how you were nothing more than Diamond Tiara's little lackey, we all should have seen this coming. My former friends and Apple Bloom bought into that stupid lie printed in the Ponyville Tabloid but I always knew what the real you was. What a shame your kids will only have one parent raising....."

Silver screamed, "I did not kill my dad! I know either you or Sweetie did."

Twilight blew it off and sighed, "Well Sweetie, shall we?"

Sweetie replied, "Let's do. I'm ready to get home."

A guard then began to shut the door and Sweetie was standing there to where Silver could still see her. She was shaking her finger at her and uttered one final set of words to her, "We're done Spoonie, I won!"

The guards then led Twilight and Sweetie back upstairs and out of the prison. One of the guards followed them out and said, "Well you two have a safe trip home."

Sweetie replied, "Oh we plan on it."

The two then got in the car and left the prison compound. Once they got out on the road Twilight held her fist out and Sweetie gave her a fist bump. Twilight gave her a smile, "Well Sweetie, we did it! We finally got that little bitch locked away where she should be!"

Sweetie replied, "Well Legal Eagle and Silver Shield are the ones that made it possible. I think credit should be given to those who made it happen."

Twilight commented, "True, very true." She paused before adding, "Now if only Diamond Tiara would do something that would require her being locked up too. I despise her even more than I do Silver Spoon."

Sweetie suggested, "Well maybe we should contact the ERS and suggest they file tax evasion charges against her. She has failed to pay her taxes here recently."

Twilight got a smile on her face, "That would be nice. Have them not only lock her up over tax evasion but seize all her assets! Now that would be sweet, seeing that bitch be penniless."

Sweetie laughed, "It would be. Seeing the two bitches that caused everypony so many problems locked away would be nice."

Twilight commented, "What I want to see is a Ponyville that is not only Silver Spoon free but also Diamond Tiara free. With you being the co-chief of the national police and me being a princess, I'm sure that together we can make this happen!"

Sweetie belle gave her a smile, "Oh I'm sure we can!"

Sweetie then cranked her music up and began to blare it loud to prevent Twilight from bringing up Silver Spoon any further and then maybe her smiling big or bursting into laughter. The last thing she wanted was for Twilight to suspect something and then think that she may have killed Silver Dime and his guards rather than Silver.

Confrontations & Sadness

Three days later as Sweetie and Twilight were returning to Ponyville, they rolled down their windows and Sweetie cranked her music up loud. The first couple times she rode with Sweetie, Twilight wasn't overly fond of the volume of the music or the kind of music she listened to. By this point she loved the metal Sweetie listened to and loved to blare it loud, and that was what she planned on doing with her music now, blare it loud.

As they approached Twilight's castle, they noticed that there was a large group of ponies blocking the entrance. Twilight immediately began to scowl while Sweetie wasn't any less displeased. She pulled rather quickly in front of Twilight's castle, slamming on the breaks right before they hit the crowd. The crowd gasped and one pony yelled, "Watch it, you could have it us."

Sweetie yelled, "Well next time get out of the way."

The two got out of the pickup and were greeted by Twilight's former friends, Apple Bloom, Shadow Blast and her kids. Twilight gave the group a glare and asked, "What are you doing here? Why are you blocking the entrance to my castle?"

Applejack was the first to respond, "Y'all should know why we're here, y'all should know we ain't one bit pleased."

Shadow Blast was more sad than angry as she addressed Twilight, "Twilight, I just don't understand why. Why wouldn't you give her a pardon?"

Given that Shadow wasn't angry and didn't have a disrespectful tone of voice, Twilight responded to her, "Shadow, I have said this many times before and I am going to say it again, your wife was convicted on three counts of murder and three counts of mutilating a corpse. Giving such a pony a pardon would make me look soft on crime."

Sweetie 'Silver' Belle cried, "But why? D-don't you want me and m-my family to be happy?"

Twilight knew that she couldn't go off on the filly the way she could the adults, "Sweetie, you have to understand, your mother committed some very horrible crimes and if I was to pardon her, Celestia may think I'd be too soft on crime and not let me take over."

Sweetie again began to cry but Sunrise Gold was not one bit happy, "What? All you care about is whether Celestia will let you take over when she retires?"

Pink Pretzel added, "You don't care anything about our family, all you care about is yourself?"

Twilight sighed, "Look, this isn't about me. This is about me not being soft on crime."

Sweetie Belle added, "And who would want somepony who would go pardoning ponies who commit multiple acts of murder in power? I certainly wouldn't."

Shadow snapped, "You know what Sweetie Belle, I don't care how that jury ruled, I will always believe you killed them. Silver Spoon is not filled with the same hate you are and given your long history in law enforcement, doing this was probably beyond easy for you."

Sweetie groaned, "Whatever, you just can't handle it that your wife is a murderer and Twilight won't just let her get away with it."

Rarity then addressed her younger sister, "Sweetie Belle, if you did kill Silver Dime and his guards, just admit to it. You would have far more honor doing that than you would be......"

Sweetie cut her off, "I was in Omareha, remember? The hotel records and my cell records prove that and you know I can't teleport over a thousand miles."

Rarity then turned to Twilight, "I just don't get you, at one time you were so kind and caring and now you've turned into exactly what" she pointed at Sweetie and continued, "she has become. A ruthless, heartless monster."

Twilight raised her voice and yelled, "Why the hay won't anypony listen to me? I'm not going to pardon a pony who killed three ponies! If I did that, she'd just kill again because she would know she could get away with it!"

Applejack brought something up from the past, "Twilight, Ah remember when ya wouldn't forgive Silver Spoon for what she did when she was a filly, Ah remember when ya wouldn't give her a second chance." She raised her voice and continued, "Look, we gave ya a second chance after ya tried t' bring us down t' earth with yer schemes."

This was something that did not sit well with Twilight at all. She flared up her horn in anger, "What the hay are you talking about? When I came here, I befriended the five of you and never once did I try to bring any of you down to earth. That right there is just as much of a crock of bullshit as that article in the paper regarding Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon was."

The whole crowd went silent and despite him being very angry with Twilight, Spike came to her defense. "Applejack, never once did she try and bring anypony down to earth!" He paused for a moment before adding, "Yeah she made mistakes like using magic during that first winter wrap up and didn't assimilate easily but she never tried to bring anypony down to earth."

Applejack stood there in silence for a minute before correcting herself, "Alright, ya didn't try t' bring any of us down t' earth, Ah'm just so mad at ya for not forgiving and now not pardoning Silver Spoon."

Fluttershy spoke up, "Uhm Twilight, I know you think she did it but what if she didn't? She isn't any stronger than me."

Pinkie added, "Yeah, you know she ain't all that strong. She never could have strangled her dad."

Rainbow pointed at Sweetie and finished, "But she could have. For all we know, she left her cell phone in Omareha, drove here, killed her dad and his guards and found a way to plant the evidence there." She raised her voice and added, "Why didn't that defense attorney bring that up?"

Sweetie laughed, "Wow, your conspiracy theories sound just as nutty as Silver Spoon's."

Twilight added, "Agreed. Sweetie Belle and I neither one are the types to just go killing others like that and you know how Sweetie Belle is, she is about law and order. She is likely the last pony in Equestria who would break any law!"

Apple Bloom approached Sweetie Belle with a look of hate, "Ya know what Sweetie Belle, Ah will always believe ya framed her. Ya were horrible with that letter ya gave me t' give her with the sperm, ya have turned against me fer forgiving and befriending her, I know ya hated the fact that she was happy and Ah know ya sought to destroy her when ya learned of what her inheritance would be!"

Sweetie sighed, "Apple Bloom, I will admit, I was less than thrilled over her being happy in life but I would never frame her for murder. I would think that even you would know that I would have far too much to lose over trying to put somepony I despised in her place." She then put her hand up and finished, "Buck this shit, I'm done with you and your treasonous ways."

Apple Bloom screamed, "Fine, Ah don't know why Ah stayed friends with ya fer so long t' start with!"

Twilight turned to her friends and added, "And I would love to know why you all feel so bad for her? You know as well as I do that the article that was in the Ponyville Express was nothing more than tabloid nonsense. You know they will print garbage lies like that when it is a slow news day, it was all A LIE!" Her friends began to grumble as she continued, "Tell me, do you really think she could have changed just like that?"

Sweetie Belle added, "Remember what she did to me in college? Remember how she cheated on me and don't you remember all the crap that Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara put us through together?" She paused before adding, "For all we know, those two may have been in cahoots in writing that and it was their plan to fool us all into trusting Silver so she could destroy the town."

Shadow began to cry, "I-I can't stay here. Come on kids, let's go home."

Apple Bloom added, "Ah'll come with ya, Ah can't stay here either."

Spike and the rest of Twilight's former friends had looks of shock on their faces. They weren't sure what to think about what Sweetie Belle said. The first one to finally speak up was Fluttershy, "Sweetie Belle, but-but she could have changed."

Rainbow added, "Yeah, look at you! You're nothing like you used to be!"

Pinkie continued, "Yeah, you used to be nice now you're a meany-mean hooves!"

Rarity put her two cents in, "Darling, I've seen your change the most. When you were betrayed, you pretty much forced yourself to change, for the worse."

Applejack finished, "Yeah, ya are the ultimate proof somepony can change and prison changed Silver Spoon for the better. She learned her lesson" she then turned her attention to both of them, "and Ah wish both of y'all could understand that but y'all are so filled with hate that y'all won't!"

Twilight groaned in frustration, "Yes, Sweetie Belle changed quite a bit but that doesn't mean Silver Spoon changed at all. You're talking about two different ponies here." She saw her friends roll their eyes and she finished, "You know what, forget it. None of you will ever listen so just go. Sweetie and I simply want to relax."

The six sighed in frustration and left, allowing Sweetie and Twilight in their castle. Twilight sighed in frustration, "You know Sweetie, I don't get it. They're willing to throw away decades of friendship away over Silver Spoon of all ponies." Twilight began to cry, "I just wish things could return to how they used to be, I just wish they'd see the light and want to be friends again."

Sweetie grunted, "Don't count on it. They bought into that stupid tabloid bullshit in the newspaper." She raised her voice and added, "At least the ponies in the rest of the country never saw that lie. Hell maybe you should see if Celestia could retire early, you could take over for her and both of us can forget any of them existed."

Twilight knew how Sweetie Belle felt on the issue, she knew that she pretty much despised anyone who felt the slightest bit of sympathy for Silver Spoon and viewed those who support her and befriended her as traitors to all that is good in the world. Twilight rushed up to her bedroom and continued to sob, "I'm sorry Sweetie, I want to try to make amends even though they care about her. I just want some time alone."

Sweetie grunted, "Whatever."

As Twilight rushed into her room, she was feeling a sense of despair. She was beginning to see the irony in all of this. Here she was the Princess of Friendship but outside of Sweetie Belle and her fellow princesses, she had no friends. She cried, "Why, why, why? Why did this happen? What can I do to fix this?"

Sweetie had followed her upstairs and stood outside her door and was disgusted by her crying. She sighed in disgust, "What can you do? You can get over it like I did. Ponies like them aren't deserving of friendship, traitors like them don't deserve to have a princess as a friend."

Sweetie then went into her room and slammed the door. As she was laying on her bed, she began to think about her future. She began to wonder if a time would come when Twilight would ultimately betray her in one way or another, and maybe even ultimately Celestia. She then began to think about her life in general. Everything she had wanted in life ever since Silver Spoon betrayed her had come to pass. She didn't have to worry about money, Silver Spoon was locked up for life, she was working directly under a princess and she was in the process of sinking her other enemy, Diamond Tiara.

She was definitely happy but then she began to get this nagging feeling that others may betray her in the future, maybe even Twilight. She thought about how Twilight was wanting to make amends with those who used to be her friends. She had her concerns that Twilight might even go as far as pardoning Silver Spoon if it meant that her friends would welcome her back into their lives. She let out a slight growl, "If she does that, there will be hell to pay and she will learn that betraying me is a fatal mistake."

To Be Concluded?

The Verdicts & Sentence

The following morning arrived and everypony had arrived in the courtroom by 8:45. Legal Eagle was talking with Twilight and Sweetie Belle. He had a smile on his face, "You know Princess, you know Chief, a quick verdict like this normally means they are guilty. It looks like we're going to have a victory here."

Twilight replied, "Good. Maybe this conviction will get my friends to realize that I was right all along about her. Maybe after this they will welcome me back into their lives and things can be like they used to be."

Sweetie added, "And this will be karma's way of teaching her to never betray anypony. Murder is one of the worst forms of betrayal and with any luck, that money her dad willed her will go into the treasury."

Twilight commented, "I certainly hope so! I don't know what she would do with that kind of money if she is locked up, especially in a super-max!"

The three began to laugh over the comment. The three felt like justice was going to be served and that life could hopefully return to normal for everypony.

On the defense's side of the courtroom, Moonstone was talking with a clearly nervous Silver Spoon. "Silver Spoon, I want to warn you that quick verdicts like this generally don't bode well for the defendant and if you are convicted, please don't have any outbursts. You have had enough already and any further ones will only add to whatever you get sentenced to."

Silver had her head held low and sobbed quietly, "Ok, I just hope that if I am convicted that they will put me in a prison where I will still get to see my family."

"Hopefully so but if you get sentenced to a super-max, it would take the act of a princess to free you from that fate and I can tell by the way she behaves that Princess Twilight certainly won't grant you one."

Silver asked, "What about Princess Celestia, Princess Luna or Princess Cadence?"

Moonstone replied, "I'm not sure about Celestia, she tends to side with the district attorney and simply waking Luna up in the day to tell her about this would anger her. When it comes to Cadence, I don't know if she even could. She rules in the Crystal Empire which is kind of its own separate city state. I know she works very closely with Equestria's princesses but I doubt she has any kind of power like that here."

Silver held her head low and continued to sob quietly. Before everypony knew it was nine and the bailiff announced, "All rise. The verdict is in and presiding over this is the Honorable Balanced Scales."

The judge came in and got sat down before stating, "You may be seated."

Everypony got seated before the judge turned towards the jury and asked, "Has the jury come to a verdict?"

Morning Glory stood and replied, "We have your Honor."

Morning Glory had been a juror multiple times, including the foreman in a couple so she handed the verdicts to the bailiff. He then began to read them.

"In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count one of murder in the first degree.

In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count two of murder in the first degree.

In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count one of murder in the second degree."

After the convictions on the counts of murder were announced, not only did Silver Spoon start to cry in agony but so did Shadow Blast and Apple Bloom. This did not sit well with the judge, "Order in the court! Silver Spoon, I am once again holding you in contempt of court. This will add another five years onto any sentence I give you. Shadow Blast and Apple Bloom, calm down or I will hold both of you in contempt of court, which will result in you getting thirty days in the minimum security prison down in Ponyville."

Shadow and Apple Bloom nodded their heads signaling they understood while Silver Spoon continued to cry. Balanced Scales finally grasped her in his aura to silence her. He sighed, "Very well. Now about the verdicts for the mutilating of a corpse."

The bailiff then began to read those off, "In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count one of mutilating a corpse."

"In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count two of mutilating a corpse."

"In the case of Equestria v. Silver Spoon, we the jury find the defendant guilty on count three of mutilating a corpse."

Balanced Scales grabbed the verdicts in his aura and began to read over them. He went silent as he began to think of what would be an appropriate sentence for such heinous crimes. He knew that the district attorney had been hoping for the harshest sentence possible under Equestrian penal codes.

He then looked up and addressed the defendant, "Silver Spoon, the crimes you have been convicted of are very severe. Never before have I dealt with a pony who has committed as many crimes as you, not to mention such heinous crimes. For the crimes you have committed, I have no choice but to sentence you to life in prison with no chance of parole in the Mares' Super-Max Prison just north of Whinnyapolis." He banged his gavel and said, "Court is adjourned." He then turned to Sweetie Belle and said, "Chief Belle, Princess Twilight Sparkle, would you mind transporting her to the prison?"

In unison the two replied, "We would be happy to."

Sweetie Belle then grasped Silver Spoon in her aura and said, "Come on Spoonie, let's get going. Twilight and I want to get you transported as soon as possible."

Balanced Scales left the courtroom and some ponies in the courtroom erupted in cheers of joy while others began to cry in agony. As she was being forced out, Shadow Blast and Apple Bloom rushed towards Silver but would be stopped when Twilight put up a force field. Shadow Blast cried, "Twi-Twilight, please give her a pardon! Think about her family, think about her business, think about her friends!"

Silver Spoon tried to talk but Sweetie strengthened her hold on her, preventing her from speaking. Twilight had a bit of a bite to her voice as she replied, "You know what, if I was to pardon a pony who was convicted on SIX horrible crimes, I would have ponies thinking I am soft on crime and I do not want that. I do not want ponies thinking they can get away with multiple counts of murder thinking they can get pardoned so no I will not pardon her."

Apple Bloom too cried, "But Twilight, ya know she was wrongfully convicted. There is no way she could've committed those murders!"

Twilight ignored her and suggested, "Sweetie Belle, how about we get going before we have anypony else begging me to pardon her."

Sweetie agreed, "Yes, it is a long ways to Whinnyapolis and chances are we will have to house her in a couple local jails on the way while we stay in a hotel."

Twilight replied, "Alright, let's get going."

Once they got Silver Spoon out to the cruiser they would be transporting her in, Sweetie Belle proceeded in getting Silver Spoon handcuffed and belted in. She gave her a hateful glare and began, "You know what Spoonie, had you never cheated on me in college none of this would have ever happened. You'd have a clean record, you'd have me as a loving wife, you'd be a successful singer but instead you chose disloyalty and paid a very hefty price for it."

Silver Spoon broke down crying realizing that Sweetie Belle did make a point. It was right after her cheating on Sweetie that her life began to go downhill. She sobbed, "I-I'm sorry Sweetie. Could y-you please talk to Twilight about pardoning me?"

Sweetie laughed, "No, you brought this upon yourself. Let this be a lesson that betrayal will lead to nothing but disaster." She had her belted in and gave her a smirk before closing the door, "Karma's a bitch, isn't it Silver Spoon?"

Sweetie closed the door and got in the driver's seat, with Twilight beside her in the passenger seat. Sweetie started the car and said, "Well Twilight, it looks like we have a horribly long drive ahead of us." She paused before adding, "Too bad we don't have a way to get there quickly."

Twilight replied, "I do know teleportation but Whinnyapolis is well over a thousand miles away. The only one who could do that would be Discord and I have a feeling that he may not care for me too much since Fluttershy doesn't."

Sweetie sighed, "Well let's get this thing a full tank of gas and get going."

Once they gassed up and got on the road, Silver Spoon saw only one thing in her future, darkness. She knew that the chances of any of the princesses giving her a pardon was zero. She knew Twilight despised her, she knew that Celestia would likely side with the district attorney and she knew that disturbing Luna during the day would be a grave mistake. She also knew that when it came to Cadence, that she likely didn't have the power to grant somepony in Equestria a pardon.