//------------------------------// // Council for the Defence (Part 1) // Story: The Trial of Cozy Glow // by Latecomer //------------------------------// Whoever the visitor was, they did not seem in any kind of hurry, nor did the mare return or any other guard pass by; and while a quick glance around revealed the barred-door cells to be the norm, none seemed to be occupied by any being interested in conversation. So Cozy was left just as alone in her new cell as her old, to slowly dry out and ponder who might want to see her. Well if she thought of it in terms of wanting, then the answer was obvious: her parents. Unless what happened to Cozy had been kept secret, then the news would have reached Stratusburg days ago, and she had no doubt they would have dropped everything and rushed to their dear daughter’s side. But the fact that they had not appeared yet after a week meant that somepony (likely the Princesses) didn’t want them to see her, and Cozy didn’t see what leverage a pair of ordinary unconnected ponies could exert to change that even if they had the will to (her parents being sadly lacking in that department). So she set them aside and considered other possibilities. Thinking of ponies who might both have the right connections and care about her, there were her erstwhile friends in the Cutie Mark Crusaders; they were the Professors’ sisters, so a week of mithering might have won them access. But the problem with that possibility was that she could imagine several different reasons why they might want to see her, and each would require a custom-tailored response. If they had come to show sympathy for a pony they still thought of as a friend, she could put on her most pitiful face and play up her current circumstances - lots of broad gestures drawing attention to her chains and maybe even a look of utter mortification as she asked them to turn away while she used the bucket. If they wanted to know her reasons then she would hit them with a revised version of her “Empress of Friendship” speech; they had missed the first one, after all, and she was pretty sure she’d figured out which parts she had gotten wrong that time. And if they were just here to gloat (which wouldn’t be very friendly) she would ask them if they had come to pick out their own cells; after all she couldn’t have done it without them, and it wasn’t like they’d done anything to help stop her in the end. That train of thought brought her to the ragtag bunch that had somehow stopped her; there were definitely gloaters (and perhaps a sympathizer or two) among their number. But it was at that point that she remembered that the guard had not said “visitors” but rather “a visitor”, which ruled out not only them but also all of her previous options. Unless one of the group members was coming alone… No, a single pony most likely meant one thing: one of the Princesses, or their lackeys like Starlight Glimmer. They might be coming to find out about her plans, the ones she hadn’t shared with Tirek; that would be good if they asked questions (Cozy could work with questions), but bad if they just used their terrible magic to rip her thoughts out of her head. (Counsellor Starlight was supposed to be good at such spells, wasn’t she?) Or they might already know all they thought they needed to and were just coming to finally cast her into Tartarus. Some part of Cozy was still surprised that they hadn’t taken her there straight from the Friendship School, but then she had already subverted the place’s security once -perhaps they feared she would lead a mass breakout? Of course, beings too dangerous for Tartarus to hold rarely met better fates: Cozy was old enough to have seen the Mare in the Moon for most of her life, and she definitely remembered her lesson on Discord a few months ago - hadn’t Headmare Twilight been ready (and more relevantly, able) to visit the same fate on “Professor” Rockhoof? But Cozy was ultimately a positive pony, and so she pushed the fearful thought of eternal imprisonment in stone aside and reminded herself that all of the above had come out on top in the end. And as for Tartarus, it could hardly be much worse than her current accommodations – perhaps even better, as at least Tirek had described a decent view. Oh, perhaps they would put her with him! – well not in with him, he was a stallion and still kind of creepy even if he couldn’t touch her magic as he was now, but maybe her own nice little cage next door, where they could have pleasant chats and come up with revenge plans together but still allow each other some privacy when needed. (The letters had been useful, but Cozy felt friendship was so much better shared in person.) It was while she was thinking of the perfect words to greet her former pen pal turned neighbour that Cozy heard hooves approaching and turned to look as far up the corridor as her new view allowed. It took longer than she thought – she guessed she could hear them from further away through the bars – and when the hooves stopped she thought perhaps it wasn’t her long-awaited visitor after all. But the pause was just to open some kind of gate – Cozy heard it creaking – and not long after the hoofsteps resumed and a pony – no, two ponies – came into sight. Both of them were unicorn stallions, but besides that they were quite different in appearance and posture. The brown one bringing up the rear was clearly a guard, so between that and her poorer view of him Cozy set him aside to consider the one in front. The most noticeable feature she could make out was an oversized moustache, though she could also see enough of his mane to determine that either it’s snow white colour was natural or he dyed both; together with his pine-tree coloured coat and crimson lounge jacket, he almost looked like he was trying to bring some out-of-season Hearth’s Warming cheer to the dreary dungeon. An unlikely-seeming interrogator, but perhaps he thought to get her guard down. Or knew mind magic… Once again there was a flaw here in Cozy’s plan. She was so prepared for all the various things an interrogator might say that she was completely surprised by the newcomer’s actual opening line. “Miss Cozy Glow? My name is Evergreen, professionally known as Paper Shield, and I have been nominated as your advocate and legal adviser conditional on your approval…” He trailed off and looked back at the guard, who was just standing there. “Aren’t you going to let me in?” This guard’s voice was so to the point he could probably use it in place of a spear. “The prisoner isn’t supposed to have any more contact with ponies than necessary. You can talk through the bars.” “With you standing there listening? That’s hardly standard…” Speaking of standing there listening, it was the tactic the surprised Cozy had fallen back on. With an unknown, it was always better to get a sense or their personality before choosing her own. “Hardly a standard prisoner, is she? Unless you’ve forgotten already.” The guard’s horn suddenly lit up and Cozy saw Evergreen or Paper Shield or whoever he was flinch, but the glow slowly died down again without anything happening. “It’s for your own safety.” The other pony was momentarily shaken, but channelled his discomfort into an aggressive response. “You really don’t think if she could take one of ours she could take both?” His composure returning, he continued, “Not that she’s been proven guilty of taking any, of course. And while I appreciate that you may feel I need a guard and bars to protect me from a fettered foal, I disagree, and I have a right to meet with my client directly and privately…” Cozy was a little impressed – this pony had backbone, or at least too much ego to be easily intimidated. The guard seemed to either exhausted his patience or taken the implied warning to heart, because he didn’t bother with any more resistance, just pulling out his ring of keys. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And if you really want private time with her so much … well, keep it professional and knock when you’re finished.” And one hurried shuffle later, both Cozy and the moustachioed stallion found themselves locked in her original cell (which now met the highest standards for both dampness and dankness but lost points for, just like Cozy, smelling strongly of soap). While Evergreen adjusted to his cramped surroundings, Cozy took her time to closer scrutinize him. She immediately confirmed that his professional name matched his cutie mark as well as his actual name matched his coat, and she casually noticed the logo of Hoity Toity’s Best of the Best Boutique on his jacket pocket – who’d have thought Professor Rarity’s classes could have real life application? So between his obvious means and how much offense he had taken at being contradicted by a mere guard, Cozy felt she had his measure as a pony – one of the surplus of unicorns with more money than sense that this city grew like mould on cheese, albeit one with perhaps with slightly more steel in him than most. But she was also thinking about the profession he had claimed – an advocate. Now it wasn’t that Cozy was unfamiliar with the idea of lawyers and trials – she had played courtroom board games before, and occasionally been called as a witness in less formal classroom proceedings. But she had never thought of them as relevant to herself, because they were part of the adult world – and she had until recently been quite certain that by the time she entered that world, it would be as the one passing judgement on others. This was one of Cozy Glow’s biggest blind spots. She had occasionally (before her talent fully bloomed) been punished as a naughty foal, and more commonly (especially later on) brought such punishments on others; they were a known risk of the games she played. And she had more or less resigned herself, over the last few days, to being remembered as a great villain in the company of Discord and Tirek and Nightmare Moon, none of whom had been dealt with by any process of law. But though the world of such legends may seem closer to a foal’s life than the everyday reality their parents live in, even in such a magical land as Equestria it is usually farther away than it looks. Cozy had come closer than most to making the leap from playground games to higher matters, but she had been so focused on reaching the very peak in one move that she had completely overlooked the middle ground that she had now fallen to – had never even entertained the thought that she might be treated as a criminal. On the one wing, it was embarrassing – criminals, especially those stupid enough to get caught, were a group that she like most ponies had looked down on with condescension. But on the other, at least this was no petty crime – given that great villains didn’t usually go to court, it was if not the worst crime in Equestrian history at least surely in the top ten. And on the tail, that meant that her existing experience with handling authority figures probably wouldn’t be much use here – a tearful apology wasn’t going to cut it and she couldn’t put together any good blackmail from inside a cell. At least, not without a friend on the outside… one with money and power all the better. And that brought her back to- “Miss Glow? Sorry about that – allow me to introduce myself again…” -the effete stallion who had finally managed to assume a reclining position against the opposite wall and was now repeating the pitch he had started with. This time, however, Cozy cut in at “advocate and legal advisor” with “So like, my lawyer?” “Yes – a Princess’s Counsel in fact – that’s the highest grade of lawyer.” He gave a wry, self-effacing chuckle. “Well, to be honest there isn’t much which sets us apart from ordinary barristers, save in exceptional cases like this.” “Exceptional? You mean it’s special? Or does that just mean I’m in really bad trouble?” “Well, both.” The stallion assumed the “lecturing-in-one’s-field” posture and tone that any School of Friendship student knew well. “Ordinarily a filly like you would go before a Junior Court, which can only issue limited punishments – your parents would be the ones officially mounting your defence and any lawyer would be one they hired – likely a solicitor who specializes in foals. “But since this case involves a treason charge - technically still a capital offence - that means it can only be tried in the Highest Court, before a Princess.” Cozy could just hear the capital letters. “And the rules for those kinds of trials haven’t been changed since the days when adulthood came with one’s Mark.” Evergreen gestured at the tower on her flank, clear and visible once more after her bath. “And another one of those old rules is that only a Princess’s Counsel,” he waved at himself “can speak for another pony in the Highest Court. You can always choose to speak on your own behalf, of course, but I wouldn’t recommend it – if you demonstrate any legal aptitude you come off as having been expecting to get in, as you said, “really bad trouble” and if you don’t you look like you aren’t taking the whole thing seriously. No, it’s better for you to appear cooperative but naïve, and that means letting me – or, I suppose, some other Princess’s Counsel – do most of the talking.” He sounded quite assured of her agreement. Cozy decided to challenge that assurance. “How many Princess Councils are there, and why should I use you?” “There are about two dozen Counsels in all, but not all of them would be willing to represent you – I’d say about a quarter, if we don’t count the ones who would take the case just to lose it. “As for why me in particular, besides being willing to give it my best shot I’m also not lacking in talent and experience if I do say so myself – I admit I’ve never handled a case of quite this scale before, but my record -“ “Is for arguing in front of normal judges, right? Not the Princesses?” “Well, yes, but for one thing it isn’t only the Princesses we have to convince – and anyway, I graduated from the School For Gifted Unicorns, so while I may not know Her Majesty as well as, say, Princess Twilight does I-“ “I thought ponies from there went on to be mages? How come you’re a lawyer?” “Shall a pony not follow his destiny? I earned my mark defending classmates against accusations of cheating, so it’s only natural I put that talent to use protecting ponies. Especially the innocent and falsely accused of course, but sometimes the guilty need a shield as well.” “So which do you think I am?” “It could be the biggest frame job in Equestrian history as well as the biggest crime, but not only is that a hard sell based on the evidence I’ve seen, I’m also an uncle.” The last bit seemed like a non sequitur, but he quickly clarified, “I pride myself being able to tell which of my nieces actually broke the rules when even their parents can’t; and that means being very good at telling when a filly really doesn’t know what you’re on about, when she didn’t do it but knows who did, and most relevantly, when she absolutely did it but would rather prefer to get away with it. “Now if you want my professional advice – some ponies will tell you that the best lawyer is one who always believes in your innocence, but that’s generally only true when they’re right. A lawyer who tries to defend a client without knowing all the facts is like a pony trying to walk across a cluttered floor with his nose in the air – he’s going to trip up on something, maybe several somethings, and end up hurting. If he knows all the facts, however, it’s as if the ceiling was turned into a mirror – he can step around all the inconvenient truths without ever actually looking at them directly – that is, bringing them up in court.” “But if I was guilty of everything they’re saying about me, why would you want to defend me?” Cozy couldn’t imagine herself being very popular among unicorns. “I don’t think any pony could be guilty of everything they’re saying – I’m pretty sure you didn’t let Tirek out the first time, for instance – and as I said, I have nieces about your age. It doesn’t hurt that Highest Court cases don’t come along every day – just having argued in front of the Princess has a certain cachet in lawyer circles.” A vaguely convincing answer, with just the right mix of sentiment and self-interest, but Cozy wasn’t sure that she bought it. Still, challenging it directly wouldn’t accomplish anything – she’d just have to keep asking questions and watch for signs of other possible motives. “Are there any ponies speaking up for me?” She didn’t really expect any, but it would be a nice surprise. “Some – mostly the sort who can’t believe that when a cute filly faces down griffins and dragons and changelings she’s on the wrong side. Some who wouldn’t believe the palace if they said pegasi could walk on clouds, either – they think you’re some kind of scapegoat for a plot of the Princesses that went wrong. And of course, your parents are telling everypony who’ll listen that you’re a good filly and this must be some kind of mistake or trick, not that anypony believes them.” Evergreen sighed wistfully. “I’m almost envious – I'm half expecting mine to disown me for getting this involved in a "scandalous affair" .” That was more than Cozy had expected from her parents, to be honest. But if that was the case… “How come they haven’t come to see me?” “Ah, well, I’m afraid that as you heard before the Crown has ordered that you be kept in strict isolation outside of necessary visitors such as myself. Something to do with your, um, “unknown and potentially dangerous magical capabilities”.” Unlike when he had mocked the guard before, he said the last part with a forced casualness, as if he was very determined not to sound interested in it. So that’s your angle. Cozy almost laughed out loud – she hadn’t expected to strike gems so quickly. But was it a personal bid for power, or an unconventional interrogation tactic? Best to lead him down that path carefully. “Um, I don’t exactly have Meadowbrook’s Eight Enchanted Items here to work with. Do they think I can just cast spells? I’m not a unicorn.” “Neither was Meadowbrook. There are ponies in every generation whose magic transcends the usual potential of their Kind, just as there are ponies who embody that potential.” Well Cozy couldn’t argue with that, not when most of the teachers at the School had been one or the other. But if he thought her a natural oddity like Professor Fluttershy or Professor Pinkie, what was he looking to gain? (Actually, the thought that the Princesses knew as little about her capabilities as anypony did about Professor Pinkie’s made the previously extreme-seeming security suddenly look like an underreaction – Cozy herself had never been quite sure that the magic drain would weaken the party pony or Tartarus hold her, although in typical Cozy style she had dealt with this doubt by ignoring it and going ahead anyway.) Evergreen wasn’t finished, however. He leaned in, close enough to almost whisper, “Confidentially - that means I’m not allowed to tell anyone – can you do any magic as you are?” From a rational perspective – that of the calculating game player – it would make sense to lead him on and manipulate him with hollow promises of the forbidden magic he sought. But Cozy’s rationality had been rattled of late, and the implication that any magic a mere pegasus could cast a Gifted Unicorn could quickly copy pushed several of her buttons. (Also, neither the past week in the cell nor the fact that she hadn’t relieved herself in nearly a day made for calm rational thinking.) So Cozy went with a much shorter-term, petty manipulation instead; if it drove him off he would never have been useful anyway. “The unknown and definitely dangerous magic I know quite well” - He couldn’t hide the signs of optimism on his face - “is based in redirecting flows of power. You don’t strictly need legendary artefacts or a harmonic nexus” - By now he looked like a griffin who’d spotted a lame, fat sheep - “but some kind of power source and amplifier is a must - bare stone and one barely-fed pony isn’t going to cut it.” His eagerness receded a little, but not much - after all, for his purposes it could be better if she couldn’t achieve results in here but he could outside. Time for the shock tactics. “So no, the only magic I’ve been doing in this cell is transfiguration” - His face grew hopeful again - “turning week-old lettuce into fresh horseapples!” He winced back from the sudden leap in volume, while Cozy doubled down, “So if you’re only here to pry out my magical secrets, I’d really rather you just left – I’m just about ready to start casting today’s smell – I mean spell.” She punctuated the word with a half-step towards the bucket, for once grateful for how the heavy chains added weight to even such a small movement. It was a win-win bluff - if he actually fled she could at least see to her quite genuine bodily needs, but more likely… As she’d hoped, his face narrowed defensively. “Now I don’t think there’s any need for such rudeness. As I said, a lawyer needs to know the facts-” “The facts are these; you saw a filly pegasus upstage you – upstage everypony – in magic. And that’s all you hornbrains care about, isn’t it? So you had to prove to yourself that you could do anything I could do. Am I not right?” “About as wrong as can be, and rather tribalist to boot,” came the sardonic reply. “Though to be fair, its probably my fault for concealing one of my motives; I was rather foolish to think that such a cunning little filly wouldn’t notice the signs – or that a filly who could learn so little from the School of Friendship wouldn’t totally misinterpret them!” In a slightly calmer voice, he continued “I want to know about your magic because it’s what’s got ponies so afraid of you – even Tirek could be fled or hidden from, but taking everypony’s magic no matter where they are? Between that, communicating with Tartarus, and hiding right under a Princess’s nose for months a lot of ponies have convinced themselves that you’re some kind of demon in foal form. Fighting that perception is key to any defence.” “So it’s all for my sake?” Cozy didn’t even try to disguise her sarcasm. “Okay, maybe I am interested in an unknown form of magic that allows such impressive effects – who but a fool wouldn’t be? If such spells could be worked regardless of the casters power, the benefits to Equestrian civilization-“ He reined himself in, for once noticing or perhaps guessing at Cozy’s lack of interest. “In any case, a little incentive is hardly a bad thing. Do you know how many of my learned colleagues would have taken this job meaning to lose? With how many ponies you’ve made your enemies without ever meeting, you can hardly afford to be picky about why your allies are on your side.” A good point … but if she looked desperate then her “allies” would just use her anyway, like she’d used Tirek. And she doubted he’d quit now, not when he was already planning her defence. So a bit more pressure … “Oh, I understand incentives. That’s why I want to see you actually helping me before I give you anything. So unless you’ve got some trick in your pockets- “She was already turning away. “Your wings! I’m pretty sure that I can get your wings released!” That got Cozy looking at him again, at which point he sheepishly qualified “Well, seventy percent sure.” “I’m pretty sure the only way they’ll take off these straps is if they decide it’s safer to just cut …” She trailed off – there were some fates no pegasus would speak of lightly. “Or are they saving that for after the trial?” “Permanent deflighting is employed only when strictly necessary, even on convicts, and I believe they only take the pinions anyway,” said Evergreen, in as dry a voice as if he was talking about the weather. “Now if you had a horn it might be a different story – given what you’re accused of, some might find cutting it off fair exchange – but your spell never quite reached the point of raining ponies from the sky, and it’s not as if you used pegasus magic to commit any crimes, did you?” “Well I was flying for some of it…” mused Cozy, before realizing she was still missing some pretty relevant information. “What are the charges anyway? You haven’t told me yet?” Evergreen slipped straight back into lecture mode, his near dismissal quickly forgotten. “Well, the main charge is what we call a trunk offense – that is, most of the other charges are hung on it like branches, and you’ll usually be convicted on either all or none of them. The trunk here is “Inducement of Disaster”, to wit, mass magical depletion, and then they’ve piled on everything from High Treason – since the Princesses were drained too – on down.” He floated a thick scroll out his jacket pocket. “The full list would take all day to read-” he unfurled the scroll all the way to the cell’s ceiling to demonstrate, then rolled all but the top part back up “-so I’ll just go through the most important ones.” He skimmed over several line before beginning to read, “Disrupting the Celestial Cycle – that’s an old one, Making False Act of War, several counts of Ponyslaughter-“ “Ponyslaughter?” Evergreen seemed to interpret Cozy’s surprised response as a challenge. “I’m sure I can argue them down to Negligent Equicide in pre-trial. Which still isn’t a good thing, but- “ “I mean – ponies died? And they’re saying it’s because of me?” Evergreen’s face took on one of those annoying looks of pity Cozy hated, the ones that grown-ups got when they thought you were too young to understand why they were angry. “Draining all magic from a nation which relies utterly on it for day-to-day living on both the national and personal scales – yes, Cozy, ponies died.” He sighed. “Well, at least any compunctions I had about adopting a defence strategy based on your foalish naivete are gone. Speaking of which, we should probably get around to talking about defences – I can’t stay all day.” “First, are there any more important charges?” “Not on the trunk I don’t think – just an endless parade of middling to minor ones I suspect are largely meant to tire us out challenging them – but there are a few standalones, largely related to your actions after casting the spell. “Now you’ll be pleased to know that there’s nothing regarding your little rebellion against Chancellor Neighsay – he wasn’t acting on any legitimate authority in the first place and I don’t think they want to charge all your schoolmates as co-conspirators.” “Figures.” “Unfortunately, that still leaves Unauthorized Communication with Tartarus, Conspiracy With an Enemy of the Realm, Incitement to Riot and several counts of Attempted Murder for Princess Twilight and her friends, as well as Starlight Glimmer.” He paused and looked up. “Not going to make a fuss about that one?” For a moment Cozy thought to contest this charge too, but on reflection… “I was just trying to get them out of the way … but I suppose I didn’t actually expect all of them to survive. I probably shouldn’t say that in court though, right?” “Ah, defence strategies. Now we’re talking.” Evergreen seemed much more enthusiastic about this part. “Now the first possibility to consider is an insanity plea - it’s a surprisingly old form of defence-“ “I’m not crazy. I’m Cozy.” And then, after a moment’s thought, “But if I made them think I was mad, what would happen?” “Well, it really depends on the timing. If we can convince them that you were never sane, or at least not recently, then the charges would all be dropped and you would be sent to a special hospital for treatment. If, however, we only manage to convince them that your mind broke upon your arrest, then you would get the same treatment without any reduction in charges – they’d just throw you back in here the moment the doctors cleared you.” “What kind of treatment?” A hospital sounded a lot more comfortable than the other likely options, and she was sure she could string a few doctors and nurses along. “Well it depends on quite what you’re diagnosed with, but usually some mix of medicines and reformation spells – unlike normal criminals, the criminally insane can’t refuse them. Oh, I should probably check your feelings on them too- “ “Nope. And no to insanity too, if it means I can’t say no to them.” Cozy wasn’t quite sure what a reformation spell did, but while this “treatment” might be good for madponies it would likely have the opposite effect on a sane one like herself. “Are you sure? If it’s your … issues with unicorn magic that’s the problem, then given the scale of the case I could probably appeal for a use of the Elements of Harm-“ “Definitely no to those.” Cozy never wanted to go near that cursed tree or it’s fruits again, and she suspected the feeling was mutual. “Look, it’s my defence, right? Nothing that ends in drugs or spells. I’d rather be turned to stone.” “Well, without the Elements involved that’s not a particularly likely result, but it’s still not good.” Evergreen looked a lot less confident now. “You must understand, while every sane pony has a legal right to refuse reformation, few actually do – it makes you look unrepentant, which can in turn lead to a harsher sentence.” “Harsher than what? What kind of punishment does all that- “She gestured at the scroll with her muzzle “-add up to anyway? “Well as I mentioned, some of the treason laws still refer to the death penalty- “ “You did?” Now Cozy was a little worried. “Yes, I said it was technically a capital offence.” “I just thought that meant it had to be tried in the capital, because that’s where the Princess is.” Now Cozy was a lot worried, and also uncomfortable; her wings were trying to stand up under the straps. “It means both – for the last two hundred years or so before she ended the practice, only Princess Celestia could sentence a pony to death. Many believe that that was why she did away with it, in fact – because she had to make enough life-and-death decisions in the rest of her job.” “So ponies can’t be put to death anymore? Even for treason and stuff?” Cozy’s body relaxed – a bit. “Well technically it’s at the Princess’s discretion – most laws for lesser crimes have been rewritten since, but not the treason ones. And so these sorts of trials do tend to bring the ponies who want to turn back the clock of justice out of the woodwork.” Cozy wasn’t reassured. “But you must remember that Princess Celestia is the one who banned executions in the first place, and even in all the centuries of her reign before that I don’t believe she ever condemned a foal. “ The lawyer finished confidently. I thought that for this trial I was a mare, was what Cozy didn’t say; Evergreen seemed quite sure about this and she would only get more uncomfortable dwelling on it. Instead she went with an option she had already prepared herself for. “So if she won’t kill me what will she do? Send me to Tartarus?” “While there is certainly quite the vociferous faction agitating for that, their cause is based in a misunderstanding, or perhaps just blind fear of your “unknown powers”. Tartarus is not part of the legal system, but rather a place for the containment of monsters too dangerous to imprison conventionally.” “Really? Like bugbears and chimeras?” “Well I hear there may have been some recent issues with overly broad categorisations of “monster”, but certainly no pony can be declared one without the Princesses revoking their Equestrian citizenship, and if they were going to do that then there wouldn’t be a trial in the first place; monsters can’t commit crimes, per se.” “You're sure?” Cozy was actually curious about this – was that why no previous great villains had been tried? “There’s established precedent – the Princess did it quite a bit in the first century after she stopped signing death warrants. Never since, though.” “So not death, not Tartarus … Any other good news?” “I’m afraid that’s the last of it.” The stallion seemed to have lost a lot of his earlier optimism. “Given the severity and number of your crimes as well as your refusal of reformation, any conviction without a remarkable amount of mitigation would mean a sentence of life in prison without parole. Most probably to be served in Tartarus’s mortal cousin - Grayvale Permanent Isolation Center.” “So I’d just sit in a box like this until … I die?” Cozy was great at thinking in the medium term, but she had never really considered beyond that, certainly not to the extent that the words “life in prison” suggested. “Well a bit of a step up from this in some ways – the cells in Grayvale definitely have beds, and if I recall correctly they’re bringing in flush toilets next year – but worse in others – most of the prisoners are kept permanently dosed up on bindweed, and they still see more wing clippings and horn cuttings than anywhere else in Equestria. Are you sure you wouldn’t be willing to reconsider reformation spells?” Cozy weighed up the apparent options – a spell twisting her thoughts to some warped ideal of Harmony, or spending every day in a box, flightless and without magic, until she simply lost the will to go on – and rejected both. She was Cozy Glow, her story was not going to end like that. She just needed – it would be helpful to convince Evergreen of that, too. Perhaps if she played on his pride… “I’m sure any old lawyer could get their client off with a reformation plea. But you’re a Princess’s Counsel, right? Defending ponies is your special talent. So surely you don’t need a crutch like that?” He thought about it for a moment. “Hmm… Well, if playing ponies subtly is your talent then you’ve lost your touch – but I do have some ideas, and to be blunt I don’t get a worse sentence for trying and failing. So as long as you feel like taking the risk, I’ll give it a shot.” I play ponies whatever way works – sometimes obvious is best. “For me it’s being reformed that’s the risk, given that death and Tartarus are off the table. But this Grayvale seems pretty bad too, so what kind of ideas?” “Well obviously our foremost advantage is your youth, especially since you look even younger than you are. You can play that up too right – come off as less mature than you have here?” In her sleep. “Yes mister lawyer sir – I’m good at playing pretend. Now am I in grounding trouble, or-” she gulped “-spanking trouble? He nodded approvingly. “Yes, just like that. If ponies see you as a naughty filly who got in over her head, then it’ll be harder for them to imagine sending you to prison at all, let alone Grayvale.” That answer seemed a little odd – what did it matter what ponies thought, besides the Princesses. But Evergreen was already continuing, “And there’s more to youth than just innocence – by its very nature it means you have most of your life ahead of you, and that should be an advantage when it comes to sentencing.” “How? Is there a limit on how long a pony can spend in prison or something?” “Not exactly … but how long you’re staying affects where you stay. Ponies get thrown in Grayvale so that everyone can forget about them; forget the terrible things they did, forget that for the most part they refused reformation, or worse, committed more crimes despite it, and ignore the things done to them that would make most ponies sick. They can do that because even the very few that aren’t lifers will only ever be moving out into a retirement home.” “But if we can knock out some of the charges, blow the Princess away with mitigation, or preferably both – well to show any leniency at all they’d have to drop below life. And even something like a thirty or forty-year sentence would see you free before you’re an old mare, so they’d have to send you to one of the normal prisons that help prepare ponies to eventually rejoin society. There are one or two which specialise in reformation refusers, and have a decent success rate with them too.” “Your most optimistic guess is thirty years?” For the fourteen-year-old filly, it was hardly easier to imagine than “life”. “Well prisoners with good behaviour – which I know you can at least fake – can usually apply for parole after serving half of their sentence. So the actual best I can imagine, presuming conviction, is fifteen years or so – I know, still longer than you’ve been alive, but you’d be out by my age, and I assure you that I hardly see my best days as behind me.” So things might not be as bad as Cozy thought – but she wasn’t ready to give up so easily, even if her bladder would prefer she brought the meeting to a close sooner rather than later. “You said “presuming conviction” – is there any hope of me getting off?”