//------------------------------// // Illegal Hero // Story: Soren The Alicorn Part 4: The Rift // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// The Appaloosa Court House was filled with as many ponies that could be seating inside. The medium sized court room was like any other. An elevated stand for the judge, a lower stand for his stenographer, an equally high stand for anypony called up there, separate seating for the Jury and audience, two areas for the defense and prosecutor, and guards protecting every entrance. The crowd had mixed feelings of wanting justice and realizing this case was unnecessary, but most of the audience leaned towards the former. His Honor took his seat as he looked at the two ponies who stood before him. To his right was the sheriff, who was the prosecutor, and to his left was Soren, who decided to defend himself. For this case, Soren realized that no pony could defend him better than himself. The Doctor, Sunny, Derpy, and Bastian sat in the front row behind Soren. They were unsure how this trial would end. "Order in the court!" the judge said as he banged his gavel on the wood. "Let us begin. The prosecution may give his opening statement." "Thank you, your Honor," the sheriff started. "This pony, Soren Melody, has brought the wrath of the Evil Ones on our heads just because he felt confident enough to take them on. This brought death and destruction into Appaloosa. That is all." The judge nodded. "The defense may now give his opening statement." Soren nodded. "Thank you, your Honor. The only thing I can say is that the Evil Ones are no longer evil. I have defeated them and changed their mentality to good. I understand the fact that I am being arrested for my unauthorized authority that ultimately led to deaths of your townsfolk, and I feel awful about that but it had to be done. That is all." "Are you are saying you are guilty?" "Of some things, yes, but they cannot deny the fact that I practically saved this town. You lost a lot fewer lives due to my actions than if I left this town to the Evil Ones." The judge nodded and paused for a minute. Finally, he asked: "Soren Melody, do you know the charges being placed against you?" "Yes, your honor." "Do you accept the charges of almost destroying this town?" Soren looked around the courtroom and made eye contact with the dozens of ponies in the room, including his friends. "May I plead my case to the court?" "What say you, Jury?" the judge asked, looking at the ten ponies that made up the jury. They silently conversed before one looked at the judge and gave the Jury's answer. "We will allow the defendant to plead his case on the grounds that if he is still found guilty, his punishment shall be more severe." Soren's friends became more nervous, while he himself didn't flinch. "What say you, Soren Melody?" "Let me start from the beginning of my little adventure in your country. Keep in mind, although some of you already know, that I am a time traveler. You heard me right, a time traveler; that's how I arrived here. It all started when I left my own funeral..." Soren gave a quick summary of his adventures in their Equestria. He explained: how the worlds are a little different, the necromancy, the rift, the Doctor, how he became the Doctor, and why he chose to stop Twilight and her friends. "As you can see," Soren concluded, "I am used to being put into conflicts. It's practically my job at this point. The Doctor and I help everypony we can. Lives will be lost at some point, but that's life. It isn't fair, I know, but it is better than losing an entire town. I'm sure they would agree. Please, I only wanted to save this town, and I have. I rest my case." "Thank you for the very...informative backstory, Mr. Melody. Or do you prefer Doctor?" "My new name is fine, thank you for asking." "Does the prosecution have anything left to add?" Everypony looked at him as they waited for a response. "N-No, your Honor." The sheriff gave up and sat down. "Very well. Jury, you may now deliberate Soren Melody's fate in the back room. We await your response. Everyone return to the courtroom in thirty minutes." The judge banged the gavel to signal recess. After thirty minutes passed, everyone was already seated and waited for the Jury. "Jury, have you come to an agreement?" "We have, your Honor. We find the defendant, Soren Melody...not guilty." The audience began cheering, the Doctor and Derpy jumped for joy, and Sunny and Bastian smiled and each clapped their hooves. The cheering was silenced by the sound of the judge's gavel. "Order! Order! The Jury has not finished yet!" Everyone was now confused. "Continue." "We find Soren Melody not guilty with the exception that he must leave Appaloosa forever to avoid further destruction." Mumbling could be heard throughout the crowd. Soren smiled. "I accept your terms," he agreed happily. "I will leave Appaloosa today." "Very well. Soren Melody, I hereby banish you from Appaloosa. It is strange to punish someone who was found innocent, but your case in quite unique. You are guilty for nearly destroying our town, but you are innocent because you saved it. May Faust watch over you on your journeys." The judge banged the gavel twice and dismissed the court. Everypony exited the building then watched as Soren walked out on his hind legs, smiling and stretching. "Ahh, that went better than expected," he commented as he landed on all fours. "Soren!" He turned to see his four friends trotting up to him. The Doctor was the one who called his name. "Congratulations! You were technically found innocent." "But he is banished," Bastian added. "Good," Soren retorted. "The judge and sheriff were right; I could have destroyed the town due to angering Twilight and her friends. Luckily, I'm an idiot." "How is that a good thing?" "Because he can get away with stupid things!" someone else shouted. The five ponies turned towards the parting crowd that was making way for the no-longer-Evil One. The six mares were looking brighter in color than Soren last remembered. Twilight was with them this time. "Twilight!" Soren said excitedly. "How are you feeling?" "Like the town still hates us. Look, I appreciate what you did but—" "Say no more. Of course, everyone will still fear you girls. It was only yesterday that you sent a zombie horde upon them. If you give them time, if you choose to remain here, they will know that all of you have definitely changed." Twilight nodded with a smile, and Rainbow walked up to Soren. "We heard you got banished. Is that the worse you got?" Soren shrugged and smiled. "Before you go, I need to thank you on behalf of all of us." She stepped closer. "Since we know you, we know what you have been through, what you have left..." Rainbow sat down, as did Soren, and took his hoof in hers. "...who you have left. And I just want to thank you the way you need to be thanked, especially since I look like your Rainbow." She leaned in to kiss Soren, but he stopped her. He looked down, almost ready to cry. With her hoof, Rainbow tilted his head up and kissed him anyway. Knowing who it was, Soren began tearing up and kissed back while hugging her tightly. After a few seconds passed, Soren and Rainbow broke the kiss and continued to look at each other. Sunny stepped forward. "Soren...you should just leave." Soren and Rainbow stood up and looked at her. "Leave this world. Go back home with the Doctor and Derpy. Go back to your friends and Rainbow Dash. There's nothing for you here except agony." "That's not true," Soren replied as he stood in front of her. "I have you. Plus, this rift wasn't an accident. Something powerful created it. This 'something' gave Twilight alicorn magic, opened a dimensional rift, and is a threat to your world and possibly mine." "Are you going to close the rift when you defeat that pony?" Soren hadn't thought about that. If he does, he'll have to leave Sunny behind. Or will he? "We'll see what has to be done. Doctor, I think it's time we all leave." "Right. Derpy, ready to go? Derpy?" The stallion looked at his companion to see half of her face buried in her hooves as she cried. "Touching moment?" She nodded. He chuckled. "Come on." "Well Sunny?" Soren started. She looked at him. "Ready to find the pony who can create dimensional rifts?" "Well when you put it like that. Are you sure you want to keep putting yourself through all of this?" Soren put a hoof on her shoulder as they looked into each other's eyes. "I'm sure. Oh wait, before we go...Twilight, are you sure you can't tell me anything else about the pony who gave you your knowledge and powers?" "There's more than one pony, first of all, but the leader of that group is the pony with all of that magic. He's an alicorn as well. Unfortunately, Celestia and Luna do not exist as ponies in this world." Soren was surprised. She must have known I was looking for alicorns, specifically the princesses, when I was surprised that I found one alicorn when I saw her. "Let me guess, they are literally the sun and moon?" She nodded. "Makes sense. Who are these ponies?" "You'll find them soon enough. Do not underestimate them." "I never do that to my enemies. That's when they get the upper-hoof. Thank you for that information, but now we must be going." "Thank you for helping us," Twilight bowed. Pinkamena now walked up to Soren. "I know you have a marefriend and all, but how about one last—" "Pinkamena, no," Soren said. "Down girl. Find someone else." She looked at the stallions of the few ponies that were watching the scene the entire time. The stallions avoided eye contact, but some of them blushed at Pinkamena's sultry eyes. "Anyway," Soren continued as they began walking away, "I hope I get to see you all at some point in the future." "The feeling is mutual," Rarity shouted at the departing ponies as they walked towards the church. "If you leave the rift open, you can!" Soren's joy went away after that comment. What was he going to do with that rift?