//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: Not So Open and Shut 
// Story: Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

The courtroom was massive, the size of a stadium. Two massive sets of seating arched around a central area that was open floor. In that open area were two tables, each with a single bench. At the head of the room sat a large number of thrones, most of which were currently occupied by Alicorns. The occupied thrones bore the markings of their owners, the unoccupied had no markings. The center-most throne was larger, there sat the Twilight Princess.

Icy Moon escorted us past the seating to the central area and indicated we should occupy the table on the left. We quickly took our seats at that table, with the exception of Sunset who stood beside the table. Icy Moon then turned and bowed low to the Alicorns, before leaving the way she entered.

"This court recognizes that the plaintiffs have arrived to face the accused," the Twilight Princess spoke, again her voice magically carrying throughout the room,despite seemingly not raising it. "The accused my now enter so they may be present to defend themselves."

While the Twilight Princess spoke there was no other sound in the room but her voice. When she ceased speaking the roar of the masses was near deafening. The four of us didn't turn to see if the Thestrals had entered the room, but we could hear jeers and insults being yelled from the crowd that indicated they were walking towards us. A moment later we saw them taking their seats at the table. They were under guard by two guards of the Twilight Guard, they were no longer armored, and most of them looked nervous..all but one. One of the stallions sat looking defiant. His face was one I would be glad to forget when this was over. He led that patrol, and it was he who raped me. Just looking at him made me shiver and feel dirty.

"The court recognizes that the accused have arrived to defend themselves," said the Twilight Princess. "Who shall defend the accused? Let them present themselves to us."

A few moments passed and a white unicorn stallion, with a red mane, came forward and bowed. He had a plain looking set of saddle bags on, which I guessed contained his notes on the case.

"I am public defender Hard Case your Most Holy," he said. "I have been appointed to defend the accused to the best of my ability, and shall do as my duty commands."

A parchment and quill appeared in front of the Twilight Princess, and a note was quickly made. The parchment and quill continued to levitate in place after the quill stopped moving.

"You are noted now as their defender," she responded. "Take position near your clients. You may speak to them in whisper, but keep the sound low."

He bowed and did as he was instructed. Going behind his clients, lowering his head close to them, and instructing them on some matter or another.

"Who shall prosecute this case on the part of the plaintiffs?" The Twilight Princess asked the room. "Let them present themselves to us."

Starlight Glimmer then hopped down from her throne and walked defiantly to the center area. The sounds of shocked gasps and whispering echoed throughout the chamber. Hard Case and the Thestrals paled noticeably at the sight. Apparently the fact she would be the prosecutor was not a known fact to most ponies.

"I am Starlight Glimmer, Alicorn of Empathy, and Patron to the Unwanted." Starlight recited. "I recuse myself from passing judgement so that I may seek justice for these ponies. I claim this right as their Alicorn whom they worship, and qualify my recusal in saying I am incapable of unbiased judgement for the same such reason."

The Twilight Princess did not pretend to be shocked that Starlight took this action. She was well aware of it before this after all. She simply leviated her parchment and quill closer to herself.

"Are there any objections from the court to the Alicorn of Empathy's request to recuse herself from judgement?" She asked out loud, no Alicorn raised any.

"It is noted that no objections were raised, and it is so allowed," she continued. "Does any member of this court raise any objection to the Alicorn of Empathy claiming her right to defend her worshipers in court?"

There was a mix of reaction from among the Alicorns. Some had no visible reaction, some seemed to be unhappy with the idea, and some seemed to be giving those who were unhappy sly smiles. There was something going on with this, but I had no idea what it might be.

"Since no objection was raised you shall serve as prosecutor, Starlight Glimmer," the Twilight Princess said, and then quickly made another note on her parchment.

"Prosecutor, please name who you represent, and what crimes are alleged to have been committed against them," she continued.

"My little ponies are named Pearlwort of the Thestral tribe, and Bibulous Bottom of the Crystal Pony tribe," Starlight began. "Both of them charge that the members of the Lunar Guard sitting at the other table did willfully commit assault and battery against both of them, and behaved in ways unbecoming of a guard meant to protect ponies. Pearlwort charges the leader of said guard with rape, and the others with assessory to that rape."

The crowd let out cries of anger and disgust in a deafening chorus. Whatever they may have felt about me personally, they definitely had much more hate for the Lunar Guard members. It felt kind of hypocritical, as I doubted any of these ponies would have given the smallest care about it happening if this trial had not been so heavily promoted.

The Twilight Princess just took some more notes on her parchment, and then turned to address the other table.

"Public defender," she began. "Please name who you represent, and how they plea to these charges."

"Yes, Most Holy, the ponies I have been charged to defend are named Rose Thorn, Dusk Breaker, Thistle Bottom, Brush Fire, and Somber Song," Hard Case replied. "Dusk Breaker, Thistle Bottom, and Somber Song plead guilty to all charges against them. These charges being assault and battery, behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, and assessory to rape. Brush Fire pleads innocent to assessory to rape and to behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, but pleads guilty to assault and battery. Rose Thorn pleads innocent to all charges. These charges being assault and battery, behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, and rape. I request that these ponies be handled in separate trials as they have separate pleas."

Shocked gasps echoed around the courtroom. The bloody Tartarus-be-damned bastard claimed innocence on everything, I was so angry I wanted to charge him right then and there, and end him myself. How dare he claim innocence for what he did to me, the unrepentant bastard! I just stared at the table and breathed to try to control myself, remembering Sunset's warnings. Biblo gripped one of my hooves in her one of her fetlocs. Again the Twilight Princess added the notes to her parchment.

"Your pleas are noted," the Twilight Princess said. "For those that plead guilty, we shall consider your open confession should a guilty verdict be reached, for those who plead innocent, we shall also consider that plea if a guilty verdict is reached. They shall be tried together rather than seperately. The prosecutor and public defender may now present their opening arguement to the court, prosecution first."

"Thank you, Twilight," Starlight said with a slight bow of her head. "There is little to debate here. My worshipers were attacked, without reason, by these Thestrals. They cornered my worshipers in an alley, where Rose Thorn made threats. The accused, Brush Fire, held Bibulous Bottom against a wall, and gave her several blows to the stomach area. The remaining accused physically assaulted Pearlwort, and then held her still while Rose Thorn raped her. These former guards are unquestionably guilty, and Rose Thorn in particular deserves harsh punishment befitting his crimes. The case for justice is clear and unquestionable."

Again gasps, jeers, and insults rang out from the crowd. The Twilight Princess made some more notes. She then motioned silently for Hard Case to present his argument. He bowed his head and stepped forward.

"Most Holy, the plaintiffs' accusation is not so cut and dry as they make it out to be. We will argue that the Thestral mare Pearlwort was subject to the guidelines of Thestral communities, and it is the right of those communities to take actions against her for violating those guidelines. The Thestrals are a proud tribe, with a far more defined culture and values than most other pony tribes. As such they have a right to police their own. The rest of the Twilight Realm may not fully understand their reasons, but they shall respect them, and will not interfere. The same policies are taken often with the non-pony races within their communities, we do not interfere with them policing their own, using their own cultural standards and laws. The plaintiff, Pearlwort, broke those standards, and was subject to the consequences. The plaintiff, Bibulous Bottom, interfered with Thestral matters, and is subject to the consequences of that as well. The defendants are guilty only of upholding their own cultural rules within their own tribe, this is not a crime. To say it is a crime is to spit on the diverse cultures of our great land. I will prove my clients' innocence, not only for their sake, but for the sake of others that maintain independent cultures within the Twilight Realm."

I squeezed hard on Biblo's fetlock, if she were less muscular than she was I might have hurt her. As such she said nothing, only letting her eyes mirror my own rage. I hadn't known what they could concoct as a defense for their actions, hadn't put any thought into considering how they might defend themselves, to be honest. But here they were, saying that they had a right to do what they did to me. There was no terror in me anymore, just white-hot rage.

The Twilight Princess once again made notes with the same look on her face as she had from the start. She examined them for a moment before addressing Hard Case again.

"You are well named," she said to him. She then turn to Starlight and questioned her. "Prosecutor, what do you wish to present as evidence of the crimes accused?"

"I will be more than happy to," Starlight said with a sneer directed towards the Thestrals. "I will present the actual memories of my little pony, Pearlwort. I can project them before the court for all to see."

"Objection!" Hard Case shouted. "The holy prosecutor has already stated that she is biased. She could alter the memory projection to falsify evidence."

"I assure the court that I will do no such thing," Starlight responded. "What I show will be unaltered, nor presented out of context."

"Objection overruled," said an orange Alicorn with a blonde mane. "There is no falsehood in Starlight's claims. So says the Alicorn of Honesty, who no pony can successfully lie to."

"The memories shall be permitted as evidence," the Twilight Princess declared. She made a few more notes and then addressed Hard case again. "You have permission to call upon any memory from Pearlwort you feel is pertinent to your case as well, if the prosecutor refuses to present them then she will cease to have permission to use the plaintiffs memories as evidence. Do you bring any evidence for the accused' defense?"

"I submit to the court an omnibus of cases handled by non-pony races," Hard Case answered. "They show that we have to this point maintained the rights for these races to maintain their own justice standards."

"No Thestral rulings within their communities?" Luna spoke up from her throne. "And on a side note, do you mean to suggest that Thestrals are not ponies and should be treated as a different race?" There was a dangerous tone to her voice as she asked.

"No, your Holiness," Hard Case replied. "Thestral rulings within their communities are few and far between. They tend to take more direct action. We do still assert that since they are such a segregated tribe, that they should be treated with the same respect we give non-ponies to conduct their own views of justice."

Luna said nothing more, leaning back into her throne to consider. The Twilight Princess continued to make notes.

"The rulings shall be permitted as evidence," she said. "Again the prosecution may reference them as well, for any information they feel is pertinent to their case. If the defense refuses access to any parts of this omnibus then they cease to be able to use it as evidence. Starlight, you may begin presenting your evidence."

Starlight walked up in front of the table. and looked me in the eye. I knew what she wanted, she wanted my permission to do what needed to be done. I gulped and then nodded an affirmation to her. She nodded back before materializing a floating jar next to her horn.

"To explain my actions," Starlight addressed the court. "I will be removing Pearlwort's cutie mark for the duration of this, it can cause..complications, due to its nature. I have received her permission to do so, and will return it back to her when no more memories must be seen."

No pony raised any objections. I doubt most ponies even had a clue about any details of any of Starlight's magic. The Alicorns had permitted it, so who was any other pony to object? She lit her horn and quickly removed my marks from my flank, sealing them in the jar. She then set the jar down on the table, with my mark floating serenely within.

"I will show the memory of the crime," Starlight announced to the court. "However, I will be displaying all that happened in the hour before to give full..context," she lingered on the word, glancing around the ponies in audience, "of what transpired to Pearlwort that day."

She started casting the spell and her magic enveloped me. It felt disturbing to say the least. I could imagine her flipping through my memories trying to find the right one. This was likely the preview of what it would feel like when Biblo went and removed the memory from my head for good. I wondered what all Starlight was seeing, and how much she was able to actually learn just searching for the right one.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for. An image materialized high in the air of the room for all to see. It was me and Biblo looking at books in the bookstore. What Starlight was doing was obvious, she was going to not only present the crime commited by the Lunar Guard, she also was going to shame the ponies of Harmony for their treatment of me and Biblo.

The events played out in real time as all watched. Biblo and I sharing an embarrassed blush at the book that she wanted to buy, the shopkeeper insulting us and turning us out of his shop, me following as Biblo led us blindly through the streets, Biblo crying in the alleyway. It was all there again. My throat tightened as I watched, and tears formed in my eyes.

Sunset came over and separated Biblo from touching me as we watched. We both glared at her, offended at being seperated. She shook her head silently and touched a hoof to Biblo's head. We got the message. She was concerned about Biblo absorbing my feelings from this memory. Biblo nodded grudgingly and put a little distance between herself and me on the bench. We turned our attention back to the memory on display.

I had spotted the Lunar Guard by this point in the memory, and was trying to lead Biblo away from them. Now Biblo had seen them and had signaled them. Beside me in the present, Biblo's ears dropped in shame seeing her past self commit the horrible mistake. My breathing meanwhile was getting more labored as I watched events unfold once again.

I started shaking as events neared the climax. Our past selves were trapped in the alleyway. The Thestral I now knew as Rose Thorn was taunting me. We watched as Brush Fire held Biblo against the wall, and punched her in the stomach. I could not turn my eyes away from what was happening to see Biblo's reaction to this memory. The beating had commenced, and now I could barely breathe as I watched, my body shook violently, and tears rolled down my face in steady streams.

Now came the final moments, they had me positioned to be mounted. Blows still rained down on me as I struggled, and then it came. The silence that had held the courtroom as they watched my memory was broken as I screamed in chorus with my past self, and hid under the table in panic.

"We shall pause a few minutes while the plaintiff pulls herself back together," I could hear the Twilight Princess declare. "This court is still in session, we are not in recess."

I saw Starlight's face looking under the table with concern. She reached a hoof out to touch me, but I pulled away from it. I didn't want to be touched. Why did she make me have to relive that? I wanted to run away, but I was too frozen with fear. 

I heard Sunset let out a sigh somewhere behind me, then hoovesteps. I saw her face as she looked under the table for a moment judging me.

"Biblo, do what you need to do to get Pearl calmed down," Sunset said unhappily. "I don't like it, but you are the only pony who might have some success right now. Starlight, you and I are going to have words later--loud, angry words."

"What's a visit from you without that?" I could hear Starlight reply. "You know that this was necessary, we both agreed on it, so don't lecture me on it. Pearl will be free from this soon enough."

Biblo crawled down under the table with me. I tried to push away from her and tried to beat at her with my hooves to keep her from touching me. Biblo wasn't having it though. She pulled herself close and grasped me. She ignored my hoof blows, I was unsure if they hurt her or not, only that she refused to get beaten back.

She held on to me, and began again to pet my mane, attempting to soothe me. I stopped struggling against her, and just started sobbing into her fur again. Her fur started becoming extremely damp. 

"It seems you didn't forget your lesson weed," I heard called out from somewhere. 

My sobbing ceased immediately, replaced again by rage. Both Biblo and I struggled to get ourselves quickly out from under the table to go confront the speaker. 

"Mister Thorn," the Twilight Princess called out. "That was unacceptable behavior in this court. You will not be warned again before I have you locked away for contempt of court. Starlight, please restrain your worshipers, before they do something unacceptable as well. I will not have an open brawl break out."

Starlight did indeed quickly wrap us in her magic, and deposited us back on the bench. We struggled briefly, but eventually just settled for glaring menacingly at Rose Thorn. The bastard was just laughing away in his seat.

"Now that we are resettled," the Twilight Princess continued. "I ask the public defender to respond to the evidence that was just presented to the court."

Hard Case was busy looking through notes on his case. He knew that the actual crime being played out for all the world to see was almost impossible to defend. He couldn't have anticipated that it was even a possibility that our memories of the event could be put on display before coming to court. He looked at a single smaller scrap of parchment that seemed to have been tossed into his notes for a long moment, and then smiled like he had just been thrown a lifeline.

"Mister Hard Case," the Twilight Princess addressed him again with a hint of annoyance. "Please, present your counter to this evidence."

"My apologies, Most Holy," he responded, turning back to face her. "I had to consult my notes. Miss Pearlwort's testimony may seem to paint her as a helpless victim, but I would like to present to the court that she is a pony worthy of having harsh justice from these gentlestalions visited upon her. Their methods might have been a bit cruel, but it is no less than she deserves for her own crimes."

"And what crimes would these be, defender?" The Twilight Princess replied. "This court saw no crimes committed by her in the evidence."

"The crime in question happened over a year previously," Hard Case replied. "I call on her memory to be accessed to replay the event in question. An event involving a certain diamond dog in Starlight's Folly. I tell the court now, Pearlwort is a murderer who escaped justice, and was worthy of vigilante justice being taken upon her."

My heart sank as I heard him speak. No one knew the full details of what had happened back then but me. Hard Case was grasping for straws, but he might have just found one that could damn me. I began to shake and tremble again. Starlight took notice.

"The prosecution requests a recess before calling on any further memories from my worshiper," Starlight said to the Twilight Princess. "She is still not recovered from the last memory, and has need to regain her composure before anything else may be brought before the court in such a manner."

"Permission for recess is granted," the Twilight Princess agreed. "This court shall readjourn in one hour. I expect her ready to provide what has been requested at that time. Court is adjourned for now."

Starlight didn't even wait a second. She gathered me in her magic. and quickly marched back to the room we had waited in previously, with the other three following quickly behind. She placed me on a floor cushion and looked me in the eyes as the remainder of our group finished entering the room.

"What is in this memory that they are calling on?" she demanded an answer. "What did you do?"

I was still shaking. Trying to control my breathing. It took me a minute or two to be  able to answer. The others waited for me to calm down. Concern for me was painted on Biblo's face.

"You shouldn't be concerned about the incident with the diamond dog," Hot Sticks spoke up. "Every pony knew that was self-defense back then, and the court will not fault you for doing what you needed to defend yourself."

"There is more to it," I confessed, still crying. "I made the conscious choice to kill her when I didn't have to do that," I looked up to the shocked faces of my friends.

"Hard Case is right, I am a cold-blooded murderer."

I didn't want to talk about what I had done, not in front of my Alicorn, not in front of Sunset, not in front of Hot Sticks, and definitely not in front of my fiancee. It would all be put in front of every pony to see anyway. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it.

"Starlight," I finally said having come to a decision. "Can you just look at the memory now, and not say anything about it. So you can bring it up quickly out there, and know what is coming? I will talk about it later with every pony else, I just can't right now. You will all see what I did. All I can say is I am deeply ashamed of what happened, but you will all get to make your own opinions."

Hot Sticks looked like he wanted to say something. His mouth moved as if to speak more than once, but he caught himself each time. Sunset gave no emotional response. I had just accused myself of murder, and told her she would see the whole event happen again shortly. Biblo just grabbed onto me with a hug, feeling my shame, and my fear.

"Let me touch you as the memory is being shown," Biblo said. "I know what you are feeling now, I want to know what you were feeling then."

"That is not a good idea, and you know why," Sunset told her. I had to agree.

"Biblo," I spoke to my fiancee softly. "You know Sunset is right. I made a conscious decision back then to end another's life in cold-blood. Do you want to expose yourself to what I was feeling back then? Do you want to risk absorbing that into yourself?"

"Maybe I don't care," she responded back in a grim tone. "Maybe I actually want to absorb it," that part made us all look at her in shock. She looked back at all of us with a steadfast expression. "I don't know what you were feeling then, but I know what you are feeling now. You are afraid, you are also ashamed, but guess what? You do not have one hint of regret about it still. You felt justified then, and you feel justified now. I will know where you draw the line in the sand, on whether another deserves to live or die, and hopefully I will take that into me too. I am committed to you, and I will make that line my own."

"Biblo," Starlight said softly. "No pony should be able to make a decision like that."

"And have you never had to make such a decision in your lifetime?" Biblo asked her Alicorn back. She turned to Sunset. "And since you threatened to put me down yourself, you must have your own line as well. You said it yourself, I can become dangerous. The Alicorns are afraid of me," she glared briefly back at Starlight, before returning her glare to Sunset, "and you worry I will get where I will kill indiscriminately."

"I will not be taken from Pearl," she continued, while looking now at me. "I am going to be around a long time as a result. There will be times I will have to have to do terrible things, thousands of years is too long to not have that happen. Let me decide where my line is drawn. I trust Pearl completely, she is a good pony, and I will share her judgement."

"You aren't going to dissuade her," Hot Sticks said in support of Biblo. "I think it is foolishness, but I know a lost cause when I see one. Biblo is going to fight for this kicking and screaming if it comes to that. I would rather not have her get us held in contempt of court. We can call it stupid, because it is, but we can't stop her without sabotaging ourselves."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"I agree with her on one thing," he continued. "I trust Pearl, and I knew of the diamond dog that she killed. That one killed many a pony, and sent many more to my infirmary. I don't know the circumstances, yet, but I am not sorry she is gone from this world."

"Let me see what we are dealing with," Starlight said with a resigned sigh. I just realized my cutie mark was still sitting in a jar out on our table as she spoke. "Hold still, while I search out the memory and review it."

Magic enveloped me again, along with the strange sensation in my head, but no projection this time. Starlight just sat concentrating for several minutes. I had no idea if she was still searching for the memory, found it and was reviewing it, or what. After a few minutes she stopped and looked back at us.

"It will be bad showing this," she finally said, "but I think I can make a good arguement defending your actions. Ironically, the defense's trying to justify vigilante justice actually plays in our favor here, which could also defuse any political sentiment they hope to use as well. Though I will have to make further arguments about how you did not deserve such vigilante justice yourself as a result. We must make our way back to the court, the recess is nearly over."


***


"Court is re-adjourned," the Twilight Princess declared. "Picking up where we left off; Starlight, are you prepared to show the memories that were requested?"

"Yes, Twilight," Starlight replied. "I will show the entire incident in question, as requested."

"Then let's not waste any further time," the Twilight Princess replied.

Starlight bowed her head slightly to our almighty ruler, then she turned to me. Biblo gripped me tightly, which ellicited a grimmace from Starlight, but she didn't put a stop to it. Starlight's horn lit, and we began once again.

The image came into focus for all to see and I found myself getting lost in the memory.

I was there again, in the wastes. I had just recently started scavenging. The wastes were very hard for me to navigate safely, as I had yet to even purchase a compass at this point. I had followed the cliffs and found a rock out cropping that I could fly to the top of and search for crystals. I would then be able to follow the cliff wall safely back to Starlight's Folly.

I was searching around the rocks, and found some rocks that looked promising to possibly have crystals hidden within. With several strong bucks and stomps of my hooves I found I was right. This was indeed a less scavenged area and I was due to bring in, what I at the time considered to be, a large haul.

As I was gathering the precious crystals into my saddle bag, I heard a scratching noise behind me. With a start I whirled around expecting some monster of the wastes. What was there was an entirely different sort of monster though.

A large diamond dog female pulled herself up onto the cliff face with me. Diamond dogs were natural climbers of rock, with claws that easily dug out their own grips in the stone. I didn't know her name, but I knew her reputation. I had heard things spoken in whispers about her, and I had seen ponies come back hurt, or not at all when she followed them. Now she stood alone in the wastes with me.

"Magic-born girl gets pretty high up cliffs," she said to me, half growling as she spoke. "Magic-born should be more careful, she might fall and hurt herself."

I knew that was a veiled threat, but I tried to pretend I was not intimidated.

"I have been called a lot of names, but never magic-born," I replied. "What do you mean by that?"

She laughed at me like I was stupid. It came out as a sort of heckle.

"Stupid magic-born doesn't know what magic-born is," she growled. "All like you are magic-born. All you things that are not dog or Klugian. Vile things, full of magic, that try to pretend they better than us. Pony, griffin, hypogriff, dragon, all the same, all magic-born, all need to be put into correct place."

"I have done nothing to you or any other diamond dog," I replied back. "I might have some grudge with Klugians, but I have never personally met any. I have done nothing to bother you. I just want to be left in peace."

"Magic-born bothers dog by living. Magic-born needs to know that dog is better. Dog needs to teach magic-born that dog is better," and without warning she pounced, knocking me on my back and pinning me to the ground with her massive clawed arms.

"Don't struggle magic-born," she growled. "Be good and this be over quickly, and dog  will know magic-born know her place."

She kept holding me down with one clawed arm, and began reaching down with the other. I had seen enough other ponies return bloody to know what she was intending. I wouldn't let it happen. I threw my head forward and sank my fangs deep into the arm holding me down.

She yelped in pain and released me. When she did I took my hind legs and bucked straight up at her head, fazing her briefly. I rolled and got right side up and ran for the cliff side. I jumped and did a clumsy glide back down to the ground, landing in a tumble. I was hurting from landing wrong, and I had a great deal of scratches from where I had rolled through rocks, but I was away. Now I just had to make my way back to town and report to the guard what happened. I had a clear path to return, and she would take time getting back down to the ground to follow.

"Ow! Magic-born has a strong bite," I heard her call down to me, heckling again. "Dog will leave magic-born alone. Dog respect strong bite, strong bite does not need soft magic. Magic-born lucky they not hurt from fall. Last magic-born who fell down that way not so lucky."

Something about what she had just said prompted me to look around. I just saw lumps of rock sitting around. I looked closer and scraped at the ground with a hoof, I recoiled from what I saw. Beneath the snow there were mangled bones, some of them still had meat on them, frozen-solid by the snow. There were also strips of cloth that I recognized as the remains of a saddle bag. She must have seen me from above because she heckled like mad.

I needed to get back to town and report her. She had tried to assault me, and she all but admitted to having thrown another pony off the cliff here. I could easily find this place again, and show them the bones for proof. They would either lock her away, or banish her from the town. I started walking.

I made it a good distance when I came to a halt. Was there any place to lock her away in town? Would any pony actually take action about her. Every pony in town knew what she had done already, plenty of the ponies in town were her more fortunate victims. I thought of the blood on those ponies, and the bones I had just seen, and then something primal woke up inside me.

My birthright as a Thestral was calling me back to the diamond dog. It was in my blood, it was my duty to protect ponies from the monsters in the night, and I would not walk away from this one.

I quickly moved back the way I came, moving low to the ground as I did. Adrenaline and instinct pushed me, and I would never be able to move like this normally. The wolf in me was fully awake, and the wolf was on the hunt.

I saw her trying to climb down the side of the cliff. My bite had actually injured her enough that she was struggling with using that claw, which slowed her progress significantly. The wind was at a rare extreme low, the weather favored me and allowed me access to fly, I obliged.

I took to the air silently and circled her from above, she didn't look up and notice me. I could still let her be, return to town and seek justice, but every instinct said no. She was a monster that hurt ponies, she was guilty, she needed to be put down. I gave into my bloodlust and dove at her.

I hit her hard, and she went tumbling down to the ground as she lost her grip on the rock. She bounced off several rocks below, before coming to a stop in the snow. Suprisingly she started pulling herself back to her feet. She was now severely injured, dripping blood from cuts all over her body.

I came back down to the ground just a few pony lengths away. She spotted me and let out her heckling laugh again.

"Magic-born asserts its dominance," she heckled. "This magic-born not so soft. Dog recognizes magic-born's strength, dog submits to that strength. Does magic-born wish dog to leave magic-born's territory? Dog will do so after dog get back. Dog recognize strongest and make home elsewhere."

Again, I had the chance to just let her go. She had accepted leaving the town. I didn't need to do this, but the scent of her blood and my drive to punish the guilty that had hurt my town was too strong, it would not accept giving mercy.

I was on her again in a minute, diving at her through the air. I knocked her back as she had knocked me earlier. I bit down into her throat and she tried to scream, but couldn't get it out. She flailed about with her clawed arms and knocked me away, and when I was knocked away I took the flesh of her throat with me.

She stopped moving quickly after, no longer able to breathe with her throat ripped out. She was dead.

Biblo had a death grip on me and was breathing hard, caught up in my emotions. From here in my memory I should be walking back to town, where every pony would realize what had occurred, but never confront me about it. However, my memory played on and showed something else still.

I stood over my kill, the scent of blood filling my muzzle. Bloodlust was still raging in me. There was still one thing my wolf instinct demanded. I began to tear into the flesh of my kill and devour it

In the present I recoiled from this suppressed memory. I didn't recall doing this until now. I don't know if I had been so caught up in bloodlust that the memory just suppressed itself, or so horrified after that I suppressed it then, but I knew this was real. I could hear sounds of horror and disgust echo throughout the chamber. Many of the Alicorns looked a bit pale at my final actions. Hard Case looked ready to be sick, he had not anticipated this final part either. Suprisingly the former members of the Lunar Guard, and Luna as well, were all looking on at me with something almost akin to respect. I didn't know how to begin to feel about that.

"This court shall take another hour recess to compose ourselves and let us digest what we have just seen," after she spoke the Twilight Princess's eyes went wide, realizing what she had just said in a slip. It was the most animated I had seen her face. I could hear some ponies with a sick sense of humor laughing in the audience. Luna and Pinkie Pie apparently had sick senses of humor as well, and broke out into unceromonious laughter.

Starlight didn't say anything, simply motioning us to retreat back to our waiting room. We all quickly complied with her unspoken order. I could see ponies giving me disgusted looks and looks of fear as we passed. I was disgusted by myself right now as well, and could not blame them.

We made our way into the room and I plopped myself down on the floor with my legs extended in four different directions. Most of the others kept a distance from me, no doubt feeling the same horror for those final moments. Biblo didn't keep her distance, she just sat quietly beside me, tilting her head as she processed what she had felt.

I looked over at my fiancee wondering what was going on in her head. Did she still think me a good pony after that? I hadn't just done murder, I had gone bestial and cannibalized the corpse of the one I murdered. It was impossible to just accept that.

"Well?" Sunset asked Biblo. "How do you feel about what you just witnessed and felt?" We all turned to Biblo to see what her response would be.

She continued to sit still, head tilted, sorting through the feelings. Then she looked to me, lifting up one of her forehooves and gently running it across my mane. She was smiling now, and the fact that she was smiling somehow disturbed me.

"You are still mine," she said. "and I find no fault with you. I told you that I would make your line my own, and I have," her eyes hardened and the same bloodlust that I imagined my eyes held during the events of the memory entered into Biblo's.

"The dog was dangerous," Biblo continued. "She was a monster, she was guilty of hurting and killing ponies, Pearl was right to kill her. I would do the same in her position, now," her voice became increasingly more vicious as she said each word.

"And the final bits of the memory?" Sunset asked. "The part where Pearl ate the dog?"

Biblo's ears fell. She wasn't as okay with that part it seemed.

"No, I wouldn't do that part," she replied back.

Sunset seemed satisfied and turned to Starlight to start addressing her.

"I wouldn't do that, because I obviously don't have the teeth for it," Biblo finished her halted reply with a toothy grin.


***


"Hopefully every pony that needed to empty their stomachs has done so," the Twilight Princess declared. "Court is now back in session. The defense has the floor to discuss..what we just saw."

I looked nervously at Starlight. I hoped she was right and she could actually use that memory to further the case, because now ponies were thinking I was some sort of monster. The defense's case was weak before, now I was not so sure. I felt monstrous myself after seeing what I had blocked out from my memory. 

The only pony that didn't seem appalled was Biblo, and the reasons for that were even more disturbing. She no longer found anything wrong with the concept of cannibalizing a corpse, she took the full feeling I had in the memory, not my current feelings. For the first time I actually considered whether Biblo was a pony the Alicorns should be nervous about.

"I think that the images speak for themselves," Hard Case said to the court. "Pearlwort killed a diamond dog in cold-blood when she had ample opportunity to report her to the authorities instead. She also feasted on her victim. The plaintiff is a monster."

"Objection!" Starlight called out. "Pearlwort is not one of the ponies on trial."

"But she did demonstrate she is a pony worthy of justice being visited upon her," Hard Case rebuked.

"Objection overruled," the Princess intoned. "While it is true that Pearlwort is not on trial, the defense may argue the claim she was a pony worthy of harsh actions taken upon her."

Starlight sneered and grumbled silently to herself. The Twilight Princess meanwhile made some more notes.

"Now," the Princess continued after finishing her notes. "Please explain miss Pearlwort's actions to the best of your ability, prosecutor."

"Glady," Starlight said with a hint of anger. "The defense wishes to defend vigilante justice, but is quick to condemn it being done by the plaintiff. I will agree with the defense that some tribes and races should be allowed to make their own justice within their own communities. I would also argue that this should extend to settlements that operate beyond where Realm laws are enforceable. The settlement she was living in had no effective civil government that could deal easily with criminals and murders within its own borders. They had no prison or police force. The closest such authority was two days travel away."

"This particular diamond dog was a known threat within the community," she continued. "As you may have deduced from her broken speech, she had a penchant for abusing and murdering ponies. You could see in the memory the remains of a pony that the dog heavily implied she murdered," Starlight turned her attention to the former Lunar Guard members.

"I wonder what any self respecting Thestral would do when faced with a monster hurting and killing the ponies of their town," Starlight said with a hint of mockery and sarcasm. "Oh, I know this one! They take the monster down. The dog would have continued as she had been doing, due to the lack of means to properly deal with her, so something needed be done. Pearl did her duty as a Thestral and protected her town from a monster."

"And the cannibalism of the corpse?" The princess interjected. "What part of duty did that involve?"

"I assume most in this courtroom are not familiar with Thestrals," Starlight said. "They can be overcome with instinct for a moment, just as any other pony can. A large part of their instincts are deeply predatory. The same drive that had Pearlwort ready to kill in order to defend her town, also drove her to feast on her kill. Thestrals are predators, when they kill something they eat it. If any of these other Thestrals has ever fought and killed a dangerous beast, they likely did similar with that beast as well. It is raw instinct, and we cannot blame a civilian giving into them in a highly stressful situation, not when she has never received any training to help keep instinct in check."

I had a sudden horrible thought about whether I had done this many times before, and simply blocked it out of memory each time. I had killed more than just the diamond dog in the wastes, I had killed undead more than once, I had even killed one the day I met Hot Sticks. I wondered if I had chowed down on undead flesh right after, and repressed the memory much as I had with this. I was not sure if I even wanted to know if I had done so or not. The thought of having eaten one of those things made me want to vomit.

"I can confirm this," Luna spoke up. "Further, I can say that this compulsion helps keep ponies safe. When beasts happen upon the partially devoured remains of others like them, they are dissuaded from being in the area. Killing a hydra and leaving a half eaten corpse behind sends a clear message to any other predator that there is something threatening to them in the area and it they should go elsewhere. It is brutal, but effective, and many a town would be swallowed up by dangerous wildlife if Thestrals didn't do this."

"As I said," Starlight said with smug assurance, "most ponies may not understand it, but it is perfectly natural behavior. Behavior that keeps our ponies safe from threats. Pearlwort was confronting a threat to her town, and she did what her heritage as a Thestral compelled her."

"And also to make clear," Starlight prepared to close her statements on my behavior. "This matter with the diamond dog was not what motivated these former members of the Lunar Guard to do what they did. I actually think it is unlikely that they even knew about the incident. This entire display of Pearlwort doing her duty as a Thestral, and then trying to misrepresent that as her being a monster, is just a distraction. One that is not just discriminatory towards her, but towards the entire Thestral race as well. Let us move on from this to what motivated the assailants in truth. My worshipers are not on trial here, the defendants are, for a rape and assault that occurred in this very city, in case any pony has forgotten."

The Twilight Princess made more notes on her parchment. I wondered if she had already known all this or not. It would seem likely she did, she was the Holy Twilight Princess, it was part of her job to know details of all the pony tribes. This was all just for show. They were as upset with the prejudice shown towards Thestrals in general, and this trial was to make a statement. I was not sure pointing out that we made a meal out of those we killed was exactly the most enduring thing they could be putting on display. But they did seem to be trying to remind ponies that Thestrals were an important part of pony society.

Brush Fire, the one who had assaulted Biblo, was signaling Hard Case to come talk to him. The two began having a very animated discussion. I assumed there was some sort of magic in place to suppress us hearing it, just as there was magic in place so any called upon by the princess could be heard clearly. They both seemed angry with one another, and there seemed to be clear sides among the others between those that supported Hard Case and those that supported Brush Fire. It wasn't an even division, only Rose Thorn seemed to be siding with Hard Case, the rest seemed to support Brush Fire. They may not have been Lunar Guard any longer, but there was a definite mutiny in the ranks happening. Hard Case eventually took a defeated look knowing he was completely outvoted on whatever the issue happened to be.

"Most Holy," Hard Case addressed the princess. "We have no further interest in this bit of evidence. Also, Brush Fire wishes to change his plea to guilty on all counts."

"Your representation of all of them despite different pleas was already questionable at best," the Twilight Princess replied, ignoring the fact she had been the one to cause that sort of representation. "It is now only one client of yours seeking defense. I would recommend mister Rose Thorn being temporarily removed from court, and finding other councel while the others give testimony of their actions and we can determine appropriate sentencing. There is a severe conflict of interest here for him, and we shall now have to rule guilty on all charges except that of rape. The confessions of all the others pretty much confirms he is guilty of the same crimes they were. His sentencing on those crimes shall be determined at a later date after we have independently held court in regards to the rape charge. Unless he wants to confess to that as well now, given this whole court watched him do it."

Hard Case went to check with Rose Thorn and more animated, silent, angry words began to be exchanged between them. I was in shock, they never even got to bring up why my fellow Thestrals actually hated me, and now it looked like there would be an end to the trial suddenly. Ironically this would be a political failure for the Alicorns who wanted to address all the prejudices and one important one was still not even mentioned.

As we were watching the continued arguement I noticed that the ones who had all pleaded guilty were watching me instead.  As one, they dipped their heads towards me in a small show of respect. Had watching me kill that diamond dog actually change their opinions about me to favorable? Was that why Brush Fire had changed his plea? 

Beside me Biblo looked torn by emotion. I could only imagine what was going on in her head. She had a fierce protective nature for me, one that demanded retribution for what had happened, perhaps more than ever after absorbing my Thestral blood lust. However, the majority of the ponies that had attacked us were suddenly showing signs of respect towards me and submitting to justice. It was a circumstance that produced very conflicted emotions in me, it had to be as strange of one for her as well.

"This is going to be a political coup for Starlight," Sunset said from behind me. "She is going to be very pleased with herself, despite not achieving all our goals."

"Why is this going to be a political coup?" Biblo asked curiously.

"Because it will earn her a fair number of converts," Hot Sticks answered for Sunset.

"Yes," Sunset confirmed. "She just stood up and prosecuted a case successfully on the part of her worshipers. She also managed to take what the defense hoped to use to be politically divisive, and turned it to her favor. Ponies will notice and she will gain many worshipers as a result. That is why she made some of the Alicorns uneasy about her prosecuting this case. They knew she would come out gaining more influence."

"So this is just a big political game to her?" I asked disappointedly.

"No," Sunset replied back to me. "She honestly does care deeply about her ponies. She would have done this if there were no gains to be made, but she always takes advantage of any opportunity she can to gain more influence. She has been at this so long she can't help herself."

There wasn't much to say about that, not that I could think of anyway. Alicorns were all secretly crazy from what I had seen so far.

"Since Rose Thorn is still arguing after this many minutes," the princess spoke. "I will assume he is not dropping his plea of innocent on all counts. With that in mind, let us do as I said, and have him taken away for now to focus on the guilty pleas."

Several members of the Twilight Guard came from somewhere in the courtroom to the defense table. Rose Thorn looked like he wanted to argue further, glared at his compatriots, and then gave me a murderous glare as well. He did give in and allow himself to be escorted away though. Hard Case began to consult with the remaining four quietly. The princess waited silently as they did.

"We will still be able to demand certain penalties for your attackers," Starlight began speaking to me and Biblo. "There is no promise that those demands will be carried out, and they will still be testifying about their actions. Ultimately, the court will decide together on what they feel is just punishment. The fact that they confessed typically will lessen what the court will hand down, provided they are cooperative with the details. Often they may agree to act as witnesses for any further proceedings that may need to be done, in exchange for further lessening of punishment, so there is a good chance they will testify against Rose Thorn when the time comes."

"Rose Thorn was the ringleader, and he is the one we want to get nailed to the wall," Sunset added in. "His court hearing will be in a few more days. He must first find new counsel, and that new defender has to have time to gather information to argue Rose Thorn's case."

"Does this mean I will have to go through showing all that again?" I asked. "And that I won't be able to have these memories purged out of my head for days more?"

Starlight and Sunset looked at one another, then the two looked at Biblo. Biblo was giving a death glare of her own in the direction that Rose Thorn had been led out, and not giving the rest of us much attention. The two larger ponies seemed to be debating silently what to do. 

"I think that it may be avoided," Starlight finally said. "At least, I will be able to have your memory still removed from your head and still be usable in any further court proceedings. I know a way of having it stored once it is taken out. That way it can be accessed at any time when needed, and we don't have to have it stay with you. Mind you may have to see it again on the playback, but it will be like watching something happening to some pony else, horrific, but not as horrific as remembering it yourself."

"Will you show me how?" Biblo finally spoke, turning her attention to Starlight. "I know I had said it could be an Alicorn that did it before, but I want to be the one to do it. This is my gift to Pearl, and she already is going to be taking feelings from me. I want to be the one that stores that memory away."

"Biblo," Starlight sighed, "you seem to go out of your way to make yourself troublesome. It is extremely hard to keep anxieties rising about you when you keep insisting on further pushing your boundaries. I already have damage control to do with your absorbing Pearl's more savage instincts. Are you going to add to those anxieties by having us worrying you now have the knowledge to take away, and store the memories of others? You are far removed from the pony you were a month ago, and we have to worry what we are going to be dealing with a century or millennia from now."

"I will handle the storing the memory myself, as well as the entire memory removal," she concluded. "I will even give in with your request to transfer the traits you both wanted to her. We are not going to have any further escalation at this time of things to worry about with you. You know this isn't happening unless it is on my terms, you need to have that cutie mark removed to do it. I am the only pony living who can both do what needs to be done on an empathic level, and has the magic to have the cutie mark temporarily removed. I am also sure you don't want any mistakes to happen because you are trying to do something you aren't familiar with doing."

Biblo glared back at her Alicorn for a moment, but then nodded, before slumping into a sulk. I was just glad it was still going to be happening, even if Biblo wouldn't be the one doing it. I gave my fiancee a little hug to let her feel what I was feeling. She gave me a little smile, but was still clearly unhappy with the fact she wasn't going to be the one doing the deed.

As we were doing this, Hard Case seemed to be done discussing what was going to happen and what kind of deals they wished to try to make for their cooperation. He went to stand before the Twilight Princess again and made a bow. The court went back to a hush.

"My clients are willing to provide full testimony against Rose Thorn," he said. "What they are seeking for their cooperation is the right to rejoin the guard within five years time, public service instead of prison sentences, they also wish the right to make public declaration of repentance. They also wish to say that if any pony should have issue with Pearlwort's actions in the wastes, that they will make any testimony asked of them in order to defend her."

They really did respect what I did with the diamond dog. I felt like crying, this was the first time my tribe had ever shown me any respect for anything.  Sunset did as well, but she was a bit of an outcast like me, so she didn't count. This was finally validation, after years of torment and fear, that I was not a complete embarrassment to my tribe. I didn't even care if they still hated me for everything else, this was a victory I had never thought would happen.

"Are all four of these clients in like mind in their reasoning?" the Twilight Princess asked Hard Case. The public defender nodded the affirmative back. "Then rather than hearing four separate repentance speeches I would have them pick a speaker from among them who will do it for them all. After we have heard what is said we shall discuss their fate."

It seemed that Hard Case had already briefed them about what would be happening and they had already come to a group conclusion on who would speak. Brush Fire came forward and prostrated himself low before the princess, prepared to declare repentance.

"Our tribe is very familiar with pony known as Pearlwort," he began. "We are a very conservative tribe, and those that break with our values dramatically become well known and scorned. Pearlwort, was born a colt, and through means we are not sure of became a mare. We don't approve of what Pearlwort did, it isn't natural, it is against whatever destiny Pearlwort should have been born to do. If Pearlwort was meant to be a female, then Pearlwort would have been born a female. It is the natural order, Pearlwort violated the natural order, and earned our animosity."

"So far your declaration of repentance doesn't sound very repentive," the Twilight Princess observed cooly.

"We wish to only give some backstory, Most Holy," Brush Fire replied. "We are also very proud of our bloodlines, and Pearlwort had a Pegasus father. When Pearlwort began asserting that they were female we combined that with the fact there had been a non-Thestral father and quickly identified Pearlwort as a blight on our tribe, incapable of being a worthwhile Thestral, and a pony that brought shame on all Thestrals by existing."

"Still not seeing that repentance," Biblo whispered with a low growl beside me.

"However, a Thestral's first duty is to defend others from the monsters that would harm them. What we strive to be is protectors that do what others cannot to keep ponies safe. We were born with Luna's blessing to hunt the things that would hunt ponies. Pearlwort demonstrated this in exemplary fashion when she faced that diamond dog, he.." Brush Fire briefly had a verbal stumble as he corrected himself, "..she did her duty as a Thestral and she did it well. We feel pride in seeing dangers put down, and pride in those who put those dangers down. We are still not comfortable with her, but we shall admit she is a Thestral that does not shame her heritage. It is we who shamed our heritage by attacking her, and in hindsight we see the poor nature of what we based our judgement on. We submit ourselves for judgement before you Most Holy, before Holy Luna, before the rest of the Alicorns of this court, and before Pearlwort. We also issue apology to Bibulous Bottom for any harm we may have done her, she was right to stand her ground for her friend, and even though she is not a Thestral, we recognize her steadfast nature to her duty."

I did cry then. I wasn't going to have them recognize me as natural, but I was getting their recognition as a good Thestral. That was more than enough.

"Maybe, that is why I feel so protective of you," Biblo whispered to me with a smile. She was feeling my joy at what was happening and sharing in it. "I am probably as much a Thestral in my head as you are, thanks to how much I have absorbed from you. I need to protect my pony." Starlight noticed our exchange and took on a considering look.

"Since you two seemed pleased, can I assume you accept their pleas and apologies with requests for leniency?" She asked us. "We are still going to get our justice done on Rose Thorn, are we concerned any more with these four? It would go a long way towards mending fences with your tribe to accept this."

That was a surprisingly hard question. I still wanted them punished harshly for what they did, they had hurt me, and they had hurt Biblo. Under normal circumstances I would never stop thinking about it, but this was all going to be going away shortly. If I didn't remember anymore then I couldn't feel a need for retribution. 

"I am never going to forgive," Biblo fiercely said in response. "Pearl may, as she will be forgetting this soon, but I won't be forgetting or forgiving," her face softened after saying that. "But I also want what is best for Pearl. If this will help her, then I can accept it," I nodded silently as she finished speaking, and then hugged her tightly. Starlight and Sunset looked to one another and nodded to one another as well.

"My worshipers accept the criminal's pleas for mercy," Starlight said to the other Alicorns. "We leave it to your judgement what shall be done. We shall pursue our justice against Rose Thorn at a later date, for now we are satisfied."

The Twilight Princess made yet more notes on her parchment. I wondered how small the writing must be to fit all the notes she had made on one parchment. She then signaled Luna, along with the orange Alicorn that had spoken up earlier, to come speak to her quietly. After the three spoke for several minutes the two who had come to the princess went out among the other Alicorns, speaking to each, one at a time. This progressed for some time, and I was getting bored despite my earlier mood. Finally Luna and the other Alicorn returned to the princess and spoke with her again. The Twilight Princess nodded, made even more notes, and signaled the other two back to their seats.

"We have come to our decision for what justice shall be done," she addressed every pony. "For the request that the criminals be allowed back in the Lunar Guard in five years time, we deny. We shall commit such decisions to Luna as to when, or if, they are fit to serve. For the request that prison sentence be substituted by community service we accept such arrangements. Rarity has gracefully agreed to make use of the defendants in her various charities and philanthropic endeavors. However, if she is not satisfied with their efforts a prison sentence of no less than ten years shall be put in place."

"Now a final warning," she said darkly. "This court has been merciful. Our mercy shall not be abused. If there are repeat offenses from these ponies, we shall not only imprison those offenders, we shall commit them to Tartarus, where they will have a very long time to consider their misdeeds."

Shocked gasps rang out across the room, one coming from me as well. The Alicorns said they wanted to make an example, that was an extreme way of making an example. No pony returned from Tartarus, only the worst threats were imprisoned there. It was said that in Tartarus you lived forever, but you lived forever chained away in the dark, with only the three-headed-demon-dog Cerburus to keep you company.

"Justice is served," the Twilight Princess declared, and with that she and the other Alicorns, minus Starlight Glimmer, teleported out of the court.