The ride to Canterlot was quiet. Nobody knew just quite what to say. After about an hour, and several requests, Rainbow Dash finally convinced Scootaloo to take a few bites out of the muffin, but she pushed the rest away with a queasy expression. The rest of the trip carried on in silence. As the chariot landed behind Celestia's castle, an unexpected, but friendly face greeted them.
"Morning Skies!" Twilight greeted. "I didn't know you'd be meeting us here! How are you?"
Morning Skies smiled at the group. "Well I had to see my favorite little filly again before we lose her to the wonders of the big city. I'm great, how are you all?"
There was a moment of silence. The tension was palpable.
"Nervous." Scootaloo finally said.
"Aw, what for?" Morning Skies asked, gently lifting the filly's head to match her gaze. "Why, there's eight things alone we can get that big bad stallion on, and an extremely strong case. There's no way we're gonna lose this!"
A spark of hope showed in Scootaloo's eye. She gave a small smile for the first time that day. "You really think so?"
"Oh darling, I know so. Now what do you all say I show you to your rooms? Princess Celestia has picked out two for us, free of charge! And then we can go get some ice cream and explore!" Morning Skies chirped.
Wow, this mare is almost as optimistic as Pinkie Pie.
Scootaloo's ears perked up at that. "Yeah, let's do that!"
"And this is where the court proceeding will be, when you'll finally be able to live with Rainbow Dash." Morning Skies announced. "Wanna go see what it looks like inside?"
Scootaloo nodded, too busy with her ice cream. She was currently standing on Rainbow Dash, her hind legs against Rainbow's withers, and her forelegs resting on the back of her head.
Morning Skies led the group inside the courthouse, through the grand hallway, and into the central room. The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed was the room was neatly split in half. There were seven rows of pews on each side, separated by the walkway. In front of them there were two long tables, and then the judges booth. Attached to the judge's both on each side was a lower booth. And off in the top right corner there was a small, unassuming desk.
"Oh! I know all about this now!" Twilight's eyes sparkled, eager to pass on, and maybe show off her knowledge.
She pointed at the pews. "This is where the jurors will stay, as well as the Princesses in all likeliness. They determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty after everything is done." She pointed at the long table on the right. "This is the table for the prosecution. That'll be the four of us." She pointed at the table on the other side. "This is the defendant's table. Thunder Chaser will be sitting here."
Twilight stopped for a moment to allow everyone else to pick their jaws up off the floor after gaping at her incredible knowledge. Nobody did.
Undeterred, Twilight pointed at the large booth. "The judge here sits in the center. He's the final say on what happens. To his left is the clerk pony, who handles all the documents. When we're accusing Thunder Chaser of assault, he'll be handing Rainbow Dash's medical records to the judge. And on the judges right side is the Bailiff. He tells ponies to 'All Rise' when the judge enters and leaves, and serves the same role as a guard essentially."
"What about that?" Scootaloo asked, pointing to the desk in the corner.
"That's the court reporter. They write down everything we say, or any evidence we bring. Their work serves as the official record of the trial." Twilight beamed.
"That sounds like a terrible job." Rainbow huffed. "I'd go crazy stuck writing behind a desk all day."
"They probably makes a lot of bits." Scootaloo offered.
"Well hey, if we're all done here, who wants to jump in and surprise my parents? I'm sure they'd love to meet you two!" Twilight asked.
The two pegasi agreed as Morning Skies said her goodbyes and made her way back to the castle.
Twilight gingerly knocked on the front door of a very unassuming house. Scootaloo jumped off Rainbow, brushing any dirt off her coat. Her parents had always lectured her on making a good first impression.
The door opened to reveal a unicorn mare. She had a light gray coat, blue eyes, and a two-tone pinstripe mane, switching between a cool purple and white. She had three purple stars as a cutie mark, and the same mane-cut as Twilight herself.
"Twilight!" She greeted in a happy tone, throwing a hug around her daughter. "And I take these are the two ponies you wrote me about?" She turned to Rainbow. "You must be Rainbow Dash, am I right?" She held out her hoof to shake.
"Sure am!" Rainbow smiled, shaking the mare's hoof. Velvet then leaned down and regarded Scootaloo. "And you must be the mighty, brave Scootaloo. Aren't you just adorable!" She grinned.
"I am not adorable!" Scootaloo huffed indignantly, scrunching up her nose. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
All three mares laughed.
"Oh Night Light is here too!" Velvet said, popping back up to her hooves. "I bet he would love to meet you two as well!" She cheerfully led the trio inside.
Rainbow Dash fixed Twilight with a bemused expression. Twilight just chuckled and followed her mother. The house started off as a hallway, right off to the right they had a grand kitchen with many windows and a painting of a star spanning the entire ceiling. Off to the left was a grand library.
Figures that the queen of eggheads would grow up in an actual library.
Following Twilight up a flight of stairs, the house ended with two doors on each side. Rainbow Dash assumed that was the parent's room, the bathroom, and Twilight's and Shining's room. Velvet was busy knocking on one of the doors, a big smile on her face.
The door opened and a blue unicorn with hazel eyes stepped up. He had a short dark blue mane and a cutie mark of a small white moon trapped in a larger yellow moon facing the opposite way. As soon as he set eyes on Twilight, he calmly walked up and gave her a hug. Then he broke it and regarded Rainbow and Scootaloo.
"You must be the two Twilight writes about. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, right? She absolutely raves about you two. Especially you, Miss Dash." He looked at Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow and a suave smile.
Twilight's cheeks flushed.
"Dad! Don't say that, they'll take it the wrong way!" Twilight accused.
Night Light led out a laugh. "I don't know Twiley. You never bring home a stallion, and now I see you visiting with a very close mare friend, and you two even have a foal with you? What am I supposed to think?" Night Light winked at Scootaloo, electing a giggle from her and causing Twilight to blush harder. "In any case, glad you landed the element of Loyalty. Should work well for you."
Rainbow Dash snickered, covering her mouth with a hoof. Twilight shot an accusing glare at Rainbow at that.
"Well I wouldn't want your future girlfriend to not get to know the Twiley I got to watch growing up. You two wanna come see her baby pictures?" Night Light offered.
"DAD!" Twilight nearly yelled, her face more red than purple. "They don't want to see my baby pictures!"
Rainbow Dash had fallen over in laughter at this point. "Oh no, Mr. Night Light, that sounds incredible."
If looks could kill, the one Twilight had fixed Rainbow with at the moment would have turned her bones into dust. Regardless, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash eagerly followed Night Light into his room, giant grins on their faces. "Oh no Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, you two might as well get used to addressing me as 'dad' and 'grandpa' now, knowing my little Twiley." There was another round of laughter from the pegasi and Twilight, moping, brought up the back.
"Oh, and this one is the afternoon after we got back from her entrance exam into the Princess' prestige school. She was so happy that day she was bouncing around until we made her go to bed." Night Light cooed, smiling at the memory. "Of course I can't pretend Velvet and I weren't equally as thrilled."
"Oh! Oh! That was the time Twilight heard the Rainboom and went all magic crazy, right?" Scootaloo asked excitedly, wings buzzing. "And she hatched Spike and got her cutie mark?!"
"It is indeed Scootaloo. Very good!" Night Light smiled.
Scootaloo beamed.
Velvet knocked gently on the door and pushed her head in. "Hey gang, dinner's done! I made plenty for everyone! It's Twilight's favorite! Chili!"
Twilight jumped to her hooves with a happy gasp. "Oh mom's chili is the best! You guys have got to try it!" Twilight trotted out of the room happily.
Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow with a confused expression. "What's chili?"
Rainbow blinked back in confusion. "It's like, chile peppers and beans and stuff. Doesn't sound good, but it is. How have you never had chili before?"
Scootaloo just shrugged and followed Twilight.
The four ponies made their way down to the table and set down as Velvet levitated a big pot of chili to the table. As everyone helped themselves to a healthy amount, Velvet just smiled and sat down. "Well, dig in!"
Rainbow eagerly took a large spoonful of chili and almost coughed it out as the insanely spicy food hit her tongue. She fumbled for her glass of water and instantly drained it. It did next to nothing. She glanced desperately at Twilight, tears streaming down her face as Twilight fell over onto her back, dying of laughter.
"And as per Sparkle family tradition, we throw a couple slices of ghost pepper in there." Velvet grinned. "Adds to the adventure."
"You three sure you don't want to stay overnight?" Velvet offered. "We still have a mattress in Shiny's room that Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash can use."
"I'd love to, but Celestia set up a room for us and I think wants to meet us before the trial tomorrow. But hopefully we'll see you before we had back to Ponyville."
"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle!" Scootaloo shouted happily, hovering for a few seconds as she waved. "Twilight, your parents are AWESOME!" She said, turning back to face the alicorn.
Rainbow Dash agreed. "Minus the part where you mom tried to burn my tongue off, they were pretty cool."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well now you're just being sensitive. Even Scootaloo got a ghost pepper slice and you don't see her moaning about it."
Scootaloo giggled as Rainbow Dash bumped flanks with Twilight. "Are you challenging me, Twi? I could top you in anything."
"Says the pony who came dead last in the Running of the Leaves that one time." Retorted Twilight with a laugh. "You lost to a pony that had never even run before."
"Oh yuk it up egghead. You win this round." Rainbow complained.