Starlight did her best to maintain her composure as she stood outside the doors of the throne room, but even an untrained eye could see she was trembling in fear.

What would the princesses decide? Would she simply be sent to the castle dungeons for some time? Would they demand she make reparations to her village in some capacity?

Or would she be banished to Tartarus for her actions?

The guard leading the group of ponies tapped his hoof against the door, where a muted "Enter!" could be heard from behind it. With permission granted, the lead guard turned and nodded to his subordinates.

Two of the guards on either side of Starlight moved forward and grasped a door handle, pulling them open to reveal the throne room in all its glory.

"COMPANY, FORWARD!" barked out the guard, to which the others complied, moving forward through the doors.

Starlight was prodded in her flanks in order to get her moving, the mare taking step after cautious step as she tried to distract herself with the spectacle surrounding her.

The first thing she noticed was the marble floor tiles, which her hooves softly clicked against as she moved, or at least they would have if the metal shoes of the guards didn't drown out the sound. After that, she noticed the large stained-glass windows, depicting events such as the original banishment or Nightmare Moon and the first petrification of Discord, but she then also noticed the changeling invasion and defeat of Tirek, which also featured the six mares that she had previously tried to imprison and brainwash to join her village.

Guess I should add "Assault National Heroes" to my list of crimes, she thought to herself.

After taking notice to the tapestries between each window, Starlight's attention could only go to one more place: the dais and throne.

The dais was fairly plain, with only white marble steps and nothing else she could see from ground level. At the top of the dais was the throne of Equestria; an ornate chair with golden inlays and a decoration of the sun and moon joined together at the top.

And sitting in that throne was none other than Princess Celestia herself. The white mare sat in her golden regalia, her prismatic pastel mane seeming to flow in a nonexistent wind. Her lavender eyes pierced straight through Starlight, but strangely, they didn't seem to hold any malice in them for her.

After a moment, Celestia looked past her and then smiled warmly. "Welcome, Princess Twilight," she spoke.

Twilight moved past Starlight and in front of the dais, dropping into a kneeling position once she had gotten into place.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," she returned. "I have brought this mare before you to receive judgment for crimes she has committed against harmony and Equestria."

"I see," the princess replied, her gaze turning towards Starlight to consider the mare. "I have read the letter you sent to me, but please repeat those crimes so that they may be properly recorded."

At this remark, Starlight looked around, and found a unicorn mare standing to the left of the princess, a quill and parchment in front of her as she watched the proceedings before her.

Twilight then began going over the list of crimes. "This mare, Starlight Glimmer, is responsible for some very reprehensible acts involving the members of a village to the northeast of Canterlot. She has led them to believe that they can achieve true happiness and friendship by abandoning their destinies and giving up their cutie marks."

"Giving up their cutie marks?" Celestia questioned.

"Yes, giving up their cutie marks. She and some other ponies created a spell which is able to remove a pony's cutie mark from their flank indefinitely. She then used some specially enchanted glass cases to keep the cutie marks from reuniting with their rightful ponies. Besides this, she has taken ponies prisoner in her village and brainwashed them to follow along with her line of thinking."

"Brainwashing?"

"She locks them in a one room house and plays messages over loudspeakers day and night. It's enough to drive a pony mad!"

"That certainly doesn't sound good," Celestia conceded. "What else has she done?"

"Assaulted my friends and myself," Twilight continued. "Also, evading capture and escaping custody."

"Is this all?"

"That's everything I can think of. She's been rather unpleasant since we originally took her prisoner, but unfortunately, being rude isn't a crime."

"As much as I would like for it to be," Celestia agreed. "These are indeed some serious charges that you bring before me. I shall have to think over what an appropriate course of action regarding a punishment will be. For now, I would like to be left alone with Starlight Glimmer so that I may speak with her privately. I have prepared a guest suite for you and your friends to stay in. Please retire to there until I have called for you again."

"Oh, and Miss Dash, you are free to fly around the castle grounds if you feel yourself becoming restless. All I ask is that you try not to break anything, even if by accident."

Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and neck. "Um, thank you, your highness," she answered, giving a small bow to the princess.

"We await your summons," Twilight replied to Celestia, then turned to her friends. "Let's go girls."

The six mares then left the throne room. Celestia then looked to the guards who escorted Starlight in.

"I thank you guards for your hard work. Your shift assignments have been covered, so you are all dismissed for the day."

The guards saluted the princess and made their way out of the throne room. With the door closed, Starlight and the princess were alone. There was nothing but silence for nearly a minute until the princess spoke.

"Starlight Glimmer," she began, "my student and fellow princess has brought charges against you which are quite grievous. If there is any merit to them, then I must act in accordance with them, but before I am to pass any kind of judgment, I must ask if you wish to refute any of the charges being levied against you. Have you anything you wish to refute?"

Starlight stood in terror for a few moments, but eventually calmed herself down. She didn't dare look at the princess as she gave her response, the memories of the dream coming back to her and reminding her of what the cost would be if she betrayed herself and Sunburst now.

"I have nothing I wish to refute."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, surprised by the unicorn's acceptance of her fate. "Then do you perhaps wish to make a statement in your defense? You have the right to do as such."

"I do not wish to make a statement," Starlight answered as she looked up at the princess. "What Princess Twilight has told you is all the truth. I have done horrible things. In fact, I've done everything she's said and possibly more, though what those other things could be escape my mind at the moment."

"I can't give any good defense that could rationalize what I've done. All I can say is that I acted out based on what things that I felt at the time. I was a young filly, and I had a friend, but then he found his destiny and got his cutie mark, and he was taken from me and sent to your school."

"When I lost my friend at such a young age, I blamed the only thing that made sense in my young mind: his cutie mark. Everything changed when he got that, and so I swore I would never get mine."

"But then, I did! I got it one day in a forest. I cursed it, hated it, wished it could go away, that I could tear it off like a band-aid! I wanted to take away that cutie mark so it could never hurt me again!"

"But cutie marks are a part of you," Celestia countered. "As you said, they can tie in to your destiny and help guide you to your purpose in life."

"I know that now!" Starlight shot back, tears in her eyes and sobs threatening to break past her voice. "I was so hurt by my friend leaving me as a filly that I let my mind twist itself around until I believed that ponies were better off not having cutie marks, that they were better friends that way."

Starlight sat down as she continued her explanation.

"I imagined ponies becoming close friends, and not feeling jealous of one another, or that they were inadequate based on what another pony could do. All it would take was taking away what made them special, what made them unique."

"So I worked on the spell, and I convinced my first villagers to let me use it on them."

"But you never used it on yourself, did you?" Celestia inferred.

"I didn't," Starlight admitted, "and I justified it in my mind that I would need my talent and magic to carry out my vision."

"Then it would seem that you are guilty of being a hypocrite too?"

The princess's question/accusation was spot on. Starlight hung her head in shame.

"Yes, that's true."

Celestia stood up and approached her. "So all of your actions have been motivated by the loss of your friend as a young filly?"

"Yes."

"And you never heard from him again after he left?"

"No, not once."

"And you also never thought to write him yourself?"

"No. I realize now I should have, but I guess that way back then, I was feeling too much pain to really think straight."

"So, you can only say to me that your actions have been motivated by feeling that you were abandoned by somepony you cared about?"

"I... suppose that's all I can say."

Celestia said nothing as she approached and sat down across from Starlight.

"Let me tell you a story," she spoke to the unicorn. "A long time ago, there was a pony I knew. She was a very talented artist, and could paint such great pictures with her true medium, but nopony appreciated her artwork. She came to me and asked me to help her artwork get the praise and appreciation it deserved, but alas, there was nothing I could do to help her."

"She felt betrayed, and abandoned. She wished to make others appreciate the beautiful work she had made, and ultimately, it led her to becoming a jealous monster who wished to usurp me."

Starlight figured out quickly who Celestia was referring to. "You're talking about Princess Luna?"

Celestia nodded. "She painted such lovely night skies in the past, but nopony stayed awake long enough to show appreciation for them. When the elements banished her to the moon for a millennia, I had to pick up the pieces she could no longer wield."

"The experience of carrying on the night and painting her sky was... humbling."

Celestia's voice became sadder as she contiuned speaking.

"I could never paint a sky as beautiful as hers could be, but when I felt I had made something special, I had sought out somepony to show my work and receive acknowledgment, but there was nopony around to see it. At last, I had felt my sister's pain, if only but a small sliver of it."

"To do such a beautiful thing and have nopony see it or show appreciation for it? It wounded me, and if hurt further when I realized that this was my sister's half of our rule; doing things that nopony acknowledged."

Starlight winced a bit to herself; many times herself, she would go to sleep and not even consider looking up at the stars in the sky and admiring how beautiful they looked.

"When I realized that, I resolved to make a change. When my sister returned, I would see to it that she would receive the recognition she deserved. No longer would ponies take her efforts to serve them for granted."

"I cannot understand the pain that you felt first hoof, but I believe there is somepony that does."

A door opening caused both Celestia and Starlight to turn and look. Stepping in past the dais was Princess Luna, her regalia shining in the light. She looked to Celestia and bowed. "Sister."

Celestia returned the bow. "Thank you for joining us."

"It was no trouble," Luna replied as she approached, regarding Starlight. "And this is the mare on trial?"

"It is," Celestia answered. "Her name is Starlight Glimmer."

Luna came within a few ponylengths before stopping and regarding Starlight. Eventually, her eyes fell onto the mare's flanks. "That is a most unusual cutie mark."

Realizing what the princess meant, Starlight looked away in shame. "It's not a real cutie mark. It's part of a spell that I made."

"Yes, I am familiar," Luna continued. "You created it because you wished to create a world without cutie marks, where everypony would be equal."

Starlight said nothing, but nodded.

"Very well," she concluded before addressing her sister. "I would like to discuss this whole matter with you, privately."

"Of course," Celestia agreed with a nod, then turned and called for a guard, who entered and gave a salute.

"Take Starlight Glimmer to my personal study," she instructed, "and have her wait there until we call for her again."

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replied with a bow, then gestured for the unicorn to follow them. Once they were both outside, Celestia turned to Luna.

"So, what do you make of this Starlight Glimmer?"

"She was hurt at a young age, and she allowed that pain to shape her view of the world. She certainly could be a powerful enemy of Equestria."

"Could?" Celestia questioned.

"Yes. Despite the potential, her recent failures and her experience with the spell she has cast on so many has given her new perspective, and as a result, she has shown remorse for her actions and a desire to atone for her mistakes."

Celestia nodded grimly. "She will still need to be punished for all she has done."

Luna let out a heavy breath. "Yes. It will not be easy to decide a punishment that will be harsh enough to dissuade her from trying to return to this destructive path, but one that will be fair and appropriate, given what I have learned about her."

"I don't wish to knock your talents, sister, but there are bound to be ponies that might not accept what you have said about Starlight and her feelings of remorse."

"I understand this, but the dream we have subjected her to has shown that she regrets what she has done, and that demonstration of guilt is something I must consider when I suggest a punishment for her."

"You mean when we decide on her punishment?"

"We will decide, but I am sure that your ideas regarding her punishment will be different from mine, and we will have to discuss at length to come to a consensus that we both feel is appropriate."

Celestia sighed, but then gave her sister a smile. "You have changed a great deal since your return, dear sister. I only wish I had understood better what you were feeling back then. The nightmare may very well might not have taken you, and we would have ruled together."

Luna bowed her head. "What has happened in the past has happened and cannot be changed without major repercussions to the future. Besides that, the events transpired in such a way as to teach us both something. For you, it was humbling you by making you feel a true sense of empathy for my station. For me, it was showing me what happens when I allow jealousy to cloud my judgment. In the end, we both came out better ponies for it."

"We did," Celestia agreed, "and now, we must set into motion events that will make Starlight Glimmer a better pony than she is now."

"Yes, we must."

With that, Celestia and Luna called for a pot of tea, and began discussing how to set about punishing and reforming Starlight Glimmer.

Author's Note

Now it is up to Princess Celestia and Luna to pass their judgment on Starlight for her crimes. How far will they go? Only time will tell (and significantly less than between this chapter and the last one).