TCB - Zero Hour

Prologue part II. The Trial of Celestia

Princess Celestia was being led through the halls of the Nuremberg court rooms, the same walk that her sister Princess Luna had made only days before. When she arrived at Court Room 5 – where her trial was to be held – she could see that it was already a buzz with activity. The prosecution was readying his notes and consulting with other senior barristers and the jury were talking amongst themselves. Her guards led her into the dock and stood either side of her, stony faced waiting for the trial to commence. She looked over and saw that the bearers of the elements of harmony were present – they had been cleared of all charges a few days ago – to see their Princess charged as a criminal
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Eventually the court was told to rise and the Judge entered, he was an older man with silvery hair, a bushy silver beard and small watery blue eyes. As the court came to order he addressed her.

“Princess Celestia, you have chosen to defend yourself...is that correct?”

“It is” She said confidently

The judge nodded before continuing, “Very well, Princess Celestia of Equestria, you stand charged with crimes against Humanity and conspiracy to commit genocide...how do you plead”.

“I plead not guilty, for I have committed no crime” She answered firmly

The judge nodded and sat back in his chair to listen to the opening statements. The prosecution was the first to speak:

“Your honour, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. You will hear today presented before you evidence that proves that Princess Celestia, being in her right mind and with malice of forethought did create the barrier that surrounded the land of Equestria. You will hear how she created the thermatic radiation that leaked from the barrier and poisoned our world, and you will also hear how – with monstrous precession – she expanded that barrier with the express intention of wiping us from the face of the galaxy, and with diabolical intent constructed a web of lies to hide her true purpose both from us and her own people”.

With his speech concluded he sat down again, but not before looking over at Celestia to see if he had rattled her. He was disappointed. The Princess of the sun stood tall as she walked from the dock to the front of the court room, and began her opening statement:

“Your honour, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. I am guilty of no crime against your people; I only wanted to help your people. To save you from a world devoid of magic and love, today you will hear evidence that proves that I am a friend not an enemy”.

With her speech finished Celestia returned to the dock. The prosecution then stood again and cleared his throat.

“Princess Celestia says that she is our friend and that she only wanted to save us, were we ever once asked whether we wanted to be saved. And if she only wanted to save us then why did we have to convert into ponies, why not save us as we are. Your honour I call my first witness”.

The clerk of the court then stands and says, “Call Twilight Sparkle”

The Lilac Unicorn walked slowly to the witness box, and swore the oath. The Prosecution then began speaking. “Miss Sparkle could you tell the court what your relationship to the accused is”

“Princess Celestia is my mentor...she’s been like a mother to me since I first came to her school” Twilight stated.

“Now if I understand correctly...you represent the element of magic, is that correct?” the prosecution asked

“Yes that is correct” Twilight answered

“With that responsibility and being the Princess personal protégée she must trust you immensely, did she confide in you her plan?”

“Yes” Twilight stated

“The entirety of it?”

“Yes” Twilight said firmly, “She said that you humans were violent, devoid of love and that the only way to make you worthy of our friendship was to ponify you...all of you”

“I see, and did it ever occur to you that what you were doing was wrong...that maybe your Princess was wrong...that maybe she was, dare I say it, lying” The Prosecution asked her.

“Of course not, the Princess would never lie to me...or any of us for that matter” Twilight answered defiantly.

The Prosecution nodded slowly before saying, “So never once whilst you were leasing with Earth did you think that what you were doing was wrong?”

Twilight thought for a moment before saying, “No...Princess Celestia said what we were doing was right, she’s a goddess...a real goddess that we can prove exists. She is also kinder and wiser than any other pony in Equestria, how could she be wrong?”

The prosecution turns to the jury before saying “so it would be fair to say that you were just doing you were told” Twilight nodded and the prosecution stated that he had no further questions

Princess Celestia then proceeded to the front of the court room to cross examine the witness.

“Twilight, did you believe what I was doing was right?” Celestia asked

Before Twilight could answer the Prosecution shouted OBJECTION! The judge nodded to say that he could continue. “This question has no relevance, your honour. It is based purely on belief not fact and could therefore mislead the jury”.

The judge nodded and said “Objection sustained, Princess you must follow a line of questioning that can be based on fact”.

Celestia now looked frustrated and so instead questioned her student about what she had seen on earth. Twilight answered that the humans – although they had a bad history – were starting to work together and were very friendly towards her and eager to accommodate all of her requests.

“now Twilight in all the time that you have known me, have you ever known me to lie?”

“well...no never” Twilight answered

“Then why would I lie now?”

“I don’t know Princess...but if what they’re saying is true then...I don’t know anymore” Twilight said

The Princess returned to the dock. The Prosecution then questions the other elements and higher members of the Royal Guard, all give similar testimonies to both sides. One Royal guard becoming so angered at the prosecutions questions that he had to be removed from the court room. Then the Prosecution called Celestia as a witness. Slowly she made her way to the witness box and the prosecution began his line of questioning.

“Princess Celestia, when you came to Earth you created the barrier that surrounded Equestria, we can understand that you were simply looking out for your people, but could you please explain to the court what the purpose of the thermatic radiation was”

“I needed a way to make sure that people were ponified...” The Princess started but was cut off by the prosecution

“You told us that ponification was always a choice, yet by admitting that the purpose of the thermatic radiation and presumably expanding the barrier as well was to pressure us into conversion, you have just admitted to everyone in this court room that you lied. So Princess, why did you want to destroy humanity”.

The Princess was taken aback; things were not going her way. “I never wanted to destroy...” the princess started only to be interrupted again by the prosecution

“But you’ve just admitted that you wanted to destroy our physical forms, our cities, our art and our culture. The question I am asking you is why?”

The Princesses calm demure finally crumbled “Because your...human nature would have polluted my perfect world. I saw your society, your gambling houses, your violence, your soulless technology; I couldn’t let that ruin the happy lives of my little ponies. So I created the conversion serum and the barrier and the thermatic radiation to destroy that annoying human nature of yours and turn you into good little ponies. But then you ruined all of that when you started that war, you selfishly never thought that I was offering you a better life, thus proving why you needed ponifying!” she exploded, then calming down she looked at the faces of everyone in the court staring at her, mouths agape in shock.

The prosecution smirked and said “No further questions your honour”.

“Very well” the judge said, “Princess do you have anything further to add”

Princess Celestia shook her head, incredulous at what she had just done. The judge then asked the prosecution if he had anything else to add, the Prosecution stood and began his closing statement:

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the testimonies of some of the Princesses closest friends, they have presented evidence that shows that what Celestia was planning and what she told her people were two very different things. You have also heard Princess Celestia herself admit that she wanted to destroy us and our very way of life. I trust that you will now make the right decision and find Princess Celestia guilty.”

With his speech completed he sat down and the judge then addressed the jury, telling them that they had heard all of the evidence and that they must now go and deliberate. With that the jury left the room but returned less than five minutes later with their decision. Once the jury had settled the judge addressed them.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a decision by which you are all agreed?”

“We have your honour” a man from the jury said standing

“Very well” the judge said nodding, “On the first count of Crimes against Humanity, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?”

“Guilty” the juryman answered

“very well, on the second count of Conspiracy to commit genocide, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?”

“Guilty” the juryman said again before sitting back down, his task complete.

The judge then addressed Celestia herself, “Princess Celestia of Equestria please stand”. The Princess stood without a word and only stared at the judge; she had incriminated herself and now calmly awaited her sentence. “Bring in the other defendant” the judge commanded; and Celestia was shocked when they brought her sister Princess Luna into the court room and stood her in the dock beside Celestia. She wore a stern face but Celestia could see the fear in her eyes and gently nudged her to reassure her. “Princesses Celestia and Luna you have both been found guilty of Crimes against Humanity and Conspiracy to commit Genocide. You are both dangerous individuals to the people of Earth and it is my belief that as long as you are free you will attempt to destroy us, you have both told an uncountable network of lies to cover your tracks and to ensure that there was no resistance to your diabolical scheme. If there was one human that your actions resonate with it is a man by the name of Adolf Hitler, he and his minions ‘the Nazis’ instigated a plan of genocide against the Jewish community because they too believed that a race of people should be destroyed. It is also ironic that his followers were tried in this very court room over 60 years ago, and here we are sentencing two more individuals for almost identical crimes”. He paused for effect before continuing.

“It is now down to me to sentence you. Under normal circumstances I would be passing a sentence of death for these crimes; however we are not even sure if we can kill either of you. So instead you will be imprisoned for life, at the conclusion of this trial you will be taken from this place to a facility specifically designed to contain you, and there you shall be imprisoned from now until the day you die. You shall never again set hoof in Equestria’s green pastures, and you shall not only be cut off from your own people but all of civilisation...and I think that this is a rather fitting fate for both of you. Take them down”. Celestia was shaking as she was taken down from the dock and lead out of the court room, she looked over at her sister to see tears running down her cheeks and splashing onto the floor; leaving a trail of sorrow in their wake.